DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument()

The DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument() method creates a new HTML Document.

Syntax

const newDoc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument(title)

Parameters

title Optional (except in IE): A DOMString containing the title to give the new HTML document.

Example

This example creates a new HTML document and inserts it into an <iframe> in the current document.

Here's the HTML for this example:

<body>
  <p>Click <a href="javascript:makeDocument()">here</a> to create a new document and insert it below.</p>
  <iframe id="theFrame" src="about:blank" />
</body>

The JavaScript implementation of makeDocument() follows:

function makeDocument() {
  let frame = document.getElementById("theFrame");

  let doc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("New Document");
  let p = doc.createElement("p");
  p.innerHTML = "This is a new paragraph.";

  try {
    doc.body.appendChild(p);
  } catch(e) {
    console.log(e);
  }

  // Copy the new HTML document into the frame

  let destDocument = frame.contentDocument;
  let srcNode = doc.documentElement;
  let newNode = destDocument.importNode(srcNode, true);

  destDocument.replaceChild(newNode, destDocument.documentElement);
}

The code in lines 4–12 handle creating the new HTML document and inserting some content into it. Line 4 uses createHTMLDocument() to construct a new HTML document whose <title> is "New Document". Lines 5 and 6 create a new paragraph element with some simple content, and then lines 8–12 handle inserting the new paragraph into the new document.

Line 16 pulls the contentDocument of the frame; this is the document into which we'll be injecting the new content. The next two lines handle importing the contents of our new document into the new document's context. Finally, line 20 actually replaces the contents of the frame with the new document's contents.

View Live Examples

The returned document is pre-constructed with the following HTML:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>title</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOM The definition of 'DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`createHTMLDocument`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 4	IE Full support 9 Notes Full support 9 Notes Notes The `title` parameter is required, but can be empty string.	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
See implementation notes.: See implementation notes.