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DOM Node hasChildNodes() Method

Element Object Reference Element Object

Example

Find out if an <ul> element has any child nodes:

var list = document.getElementById("myList").hasChildNodes();                   

The result of list will be:

true
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More "Try it Yourself" examples below.


Definition and Usage

The hasChildNodes() method returns true if the specified node has any child nodes, otherwise false.

Note: Whitespace inside a node is considered as text nodes, so if you leave any white space or line feeds inside an element, that element still has child nodes.


Browser Support

Method
hasChildNodes() Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Syntax

node.hasChildNodes()

Parameters

None

Technical Details

Return Value: A Boolean, returns true if the node has child nodes, false otherwise
DOM Version Core Level 1 Node Object

Examples

More Examples

Example

Remove the first child node (index 0) inside an <ul> element, if the element has any child nodes:

// Get the <ul> element with id="myList"
var list = document.getElementById("myList");

// If the <ul> element has any child nodes, remove its first child node
if (list.hasChildNodes()) {
    list.removeChild(list.childNodes[0]);
}
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Related Pages

HTML DOM reference: element.childNodes() Method

HTML DOM reference: node.firstChild Property

HTML DOM reference: node.lastChild Property

HTML DOM reference: node.parentNode Property

HTML DOM reference: node.nextSibling Property

HTML DOM reference: node.previousSibling Property


Element Object Reference Element Object