Document Object Model

Draft

Definition

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a model "in which the document or Web page contains objects (elements, links, etc.) that can be manipulated. So you will be able to delete, add, or change an element (as long as the document is still valid, of course!), change its content or add, delete or change an attribute. You will be able to get a list of all the H1 elements in the document, or all the elements with an attribute CLASS="foo". (W3C DOM FAQ, retrieved 27 March 2008)

More technically speaking the DOM is a series of API's that provide “a standardized, versatile view of a document's contents. By supporting the DOM API, a program not only allows its data to be manipulated by other routines, but does so in a way that allows those manipulations to be reused with other DOMs, or to take advantage of solutions already written for those DOMs. This interoperability also allows programmers who invest in learning to use the DOM calls to apply those skills to other DOMs.” (W3C DOM FAQ, retrieved 27 March 2008)

See also: JavaScript links, XHTML, AJAX etc.

Links

Overviews

• Document object model (Wikipedia)
• Document Object Model (DOM). Short W3C summary.

Standards

• Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification
• Level 2 Recommendations:
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Views Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Traversal and Range Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification
• Level 3 Recommendations:
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Load and Save Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Validation Specification
• Level 3 Working Group Notes:
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Views and Formatting Specification
  • Document Object Model (DOM) Requirements
• Working Draft
  • Window Object 1.0. This is a very frequently used informally specified object...

• See also the W3C Translations page (certaines pages existent en français)

FAQs

• Document Object Model FAQ

Tutorials

• Chapter 17: The Document Object Model, by David Flanagan. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (4th Ed). ISBN 0596000480. Very good (but for technical readers).

• List of DOM Tutorials at xml.com

Links/index/resource pages

• Links and Resources to the W3C DOM (at Mozilla.org)