XML DOM Remove Nodes

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The removeChild() method removes a specified node.

The removeAttribute() method removes a specified attribute.

Remove an Element Node

The removeChild() method removes a specified node.

When a node is removed, all its child nodes are also removed.

This code will remove the first <book> element from the loaded xml:

Example

y = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book")[0];

xmlDoc.documentElement.removeChild(y);

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Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Set the variable y to be the element node to remove
Remove the element node by using the removeChild() method from the parent node

Remove Myself - Remove the Current Node

The removeChild() method is the only way to remove a specified node.

When you have navigated to the node you want to remove, it is possible to remove that node using the parentNode property and the removeChild() method:

Example

x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book")[0];

x.parentNode.removeChild(x);

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Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Set the variable y to be the element node to remove
Remove the element node by using the parentNode property and the removeChild() method

Remove a Text Node

The removeChild() method can also be used to remove a text node:

Example

x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0];
y = x.childNodes[0];
x.removeChild(y);

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Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Set the variable x to be the first title element node
Set the variable y to be the text node to remove
Remove the element node by using the removeChild() method from the parent node

It is not very common to use removeChild() just to remove the text from a node. The nodeValue property can be used instead. See next paragraph.

Clear a Text Node

The nodeValue property can be used to change the value of a text node:

Example

xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue = "";

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Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Get the first title element's first child node.
Use the nodeValue property to clear the text from the text node

Remove an Attribute Node by Name

The removeAttribute() method removes an attribute node by its name.

Example: removeAttribute('category')

This code removes the "category" attribute in the first <book> element:

Example

x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book");
x[0].removeAttribute("category");

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Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Use getElementsByTagName() to get book nodes
Remove the "category" attribute form the first book element node

Loop through and remove the "category" attribute of all <book> elements: Try it yourself

Remove Attribute Nodes by Object

The removeAttributeNode() method removes an attribute node, using the node object as parameter.

Example: removeAttributeNode(x)

This code removes all the attributes of all <book> elements:

Example

x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book");

for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) {
    while (x[i].attributes.length > 0) {
        attnode = x[i].attributes[0];
        old_att = x[i].removeAttributeNode(attnode);
    }
}

Try it Yourself »

Example explained:

Suppose books.xml is loaded into xmlDoc
Use getElementsByTagName() to get all book nodes
For each book element check if there are any attributes
While there are attributes in a book element, remove the attribute

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