Say,is the following possible:

textNode.appendChild(elementNode);

elementNode refers to those with nodeType set to 1

textNode refers to those with nodeType set to 2

It's not easy to produce.

The reason I ask this is that I find a function that adds a cite link to the end of a quotation:

function displayCitations() {
  var quotes = document.getElementsByTagName("blockquote");
  for (var i=0; i<quotes.length; i++) {
  if (!quotes[i].getAttribute("cite")) continue;
  var url = quotes[i].getAttribute("cite");
  var quoteChildren = quotes[i].getElementsByTagName('*');
  if (quoteChildren.length < 1) continue;
  var elem = quoteChildren[quoteChildren.length - 1];
  var link = document.createElement("a");
  var link_text = document.createTextNode("source");
  link.appendChild(link_text);
  link.setAttribute("href",url);
  var superscript = document.createElement("sup");
  superscript.appendChild(link);
  elem.appendChild(superscript);
  }
}

see the last line "elem.appendChild(superscript);" where elem can be a textNode?

I think the reason it's difficult to prove it because it's hard to get access to a specified textNode. Have anyone any way to achieve that?

Say,is the following possible:

textNode.appendChild(elementNode);

elementNode refers to those with nodeType set to 1

textNode refers to those with nodeType set to 2

It's not easy to produce.

The reason I ask this is that I find a function that adds a cite link to the end of a quotation:

function displayCitations() {
  var quotes = document.getElementsByTagName("blockquote");
  for (var i=0; i<quotes.length; i++) {
  if (!quotes[i].getAttribute("cite")) continue;
  var url = quotes[i].getAttribute("cite");
  var quoteChildren = quotes[i].getElementsByTagName('*');
  if (quoteChildren.length < 1) continue;
  var elem = quoteChildren[quoteChildren.length - 1];
  var link = document.createElement("a");
  var link_text = document.createTextNode("source");
  link.appendChild(link_text);
  link.setAttribute("href",url);
  var superscript = document.createElement("sup");
  superscript.appendChild(link);
  elem.appendChild(superscript);
  }
}

see the last line "elem.appendChild(superscript);" where elem can be a textNode?

I think the reason it's difficult to prove it because it's hard to get access to a specified textNode. Have anyone any way to achieve that?

• javascript
• dom

• No - in this example elem cannot be a textNode. the array quoteChildren is populated via HTMLElement.getElementsByTagName() which doesn't return text nodes. And elem is the last value in quoteChildren – Peter Bailey Commented Jul 10, 2009 at 19:00
• Right,I've found my mistake.But the question still deserves a answer,right?Have you tried to append an elementNode to a textNode? – omg Commented Jul 10, 2009 at 19:03
• Yup, never had before but it was trivial to exercise. Check my answer below. – Peter Bailey Commented Jul 10, 2009 at 19:06

3 Answers 3

No, text nodes are always leafs. Instead you must add new nodes to the text node's parent - making them siblings of the text node.

EDIT

Here's an example where I attempt to add a child to a text node.

<div id="test">my only child is this text node</div>

<script type="text/javascript">

var div = document.getElementById( 'test' );
var textNode = div.childNodes[0];
var superscript = document.createElement("sup");
superscript.text = 'test';

textNode.appendChild( superscript );

</script>

Firefox gives the error

uncaught exception: Node cannot be inserted at the specified point in the hierarchy (NS_ERROR_DOM_HIERARCHY_REQUEST_ERR)

I don't think so; I'm fairly certain that something like

<div>this is some <a href="...">text</a> with an element inside it.</div>

ends up being:

<div>
    <textnode/>
    <a>
        <textnode/>
    </a>
    <textnode/>
</div>

I don't believe textNodes can have children.

If I had to guess, I'd think that the result of adding a child node to a text node would be to add the element to the text node's parent instead, but I've not tested that at all.

No. Elements may contain attributes, other elements, or text.