DOM: Re-inserting an element without removing it first

[Stanimir Stamenkov]

I've wondered if it is right thing to do:

element.parentNode.insertBefore(element, beforeElement);

where 'beforeElement' is one of the 'element.parentNode.childNodes'?

First, I've used:

var parentElement = element.parentNode;
parentElement.removeChild(element);
parentElement.insertBefore(element, beforeElement);

but then I've noticed it works without the remove statement, too.

--
Stanimir

[Martin Honnen]

Stanimir Stamenkov wrote:

I've wondered if it is right thing to do:

element.parentNode.insertBefore(element, beforeElement);

where 'beforeElement' is one of the 'element.parentNode.childNodes'?

First, I've used:

var parentElement = element.parentNode;
parentElement.removeChild(element);
parentElement.insertBefore(element, beforeElement);

but then I've noticed it works without the remove statement, too.

Yes, all those DOM methods that add/insert an element remove the element
first if it is already attached to the tree:
http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Cor...ID-1950641247:
insertBefore
Inserts the node newChild before the existing child node refChild.
If refChild is null, insert newChild at the end of the list of children.
If newChild is a DocumentFragment object, all of its children are
inserted, in the same order, before refChild. If the newChild is already
in the tree, it is first removed.
--

Martin Honnen
http://JavaScript.FAQTs.com/