Range: selectNodeContents() method
Baseline
Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The Range.selectNodeContents() method sets the Range to contain the contents of a Node.
The parent Node of the start and end of the Range will be the
reference node. The startOffset is 0, and the endOffset is the
number of child Nodes or number of characters contained in the reference
node.
Syntax
selectNodeContents(referenceNode)
Parameters
Return value
None (undefined).
Examples
const range = document.createRange();
const referenceNode = document.querySelector("div");
range.selectNodeContents(referenceNode);
Live sample
This example lets the user select and deselect a paragraph with buttons.
Document.createRange(), Range.selectNodeContents(), and
Selection.addRange() are used to select the content.
Window.getSelection() and Selection.removeAllRanges() are
used to deselect it.
HTML
<p id="p">
<strong>Use the buttons below</strong> to select or deselect the contents of
this paragraph.
</p>
<button id="select-button">Select paragraph</button>
<button id="deselect-button">Deselect paragraph</button>
JavaScript
const p = document.getElementById("p");
const selectButton = document.getElementById("select-button");
const deselectButton = document.getElementById("deselect-button");
selectButton.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
// Clear any current selection
const selection = window.getSelection();
selection.removeAllRanges();
// Select paragraph
const range = document.createRange();
range.selectNodeContents(p);
selection.addRange(range);
});
deselectButton.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
const selection = window.getSelection();
selection.removeAllRanges();
});
Result
Specifications
| Specification |
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| DOM # dom-range-selectnodecontents |
Browser compatibility
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Legend
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- Full support
- Full support