Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Name

add( ) — NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a

Synopsis

add(element, [index])

Adds an already-created element (from the createElement( ) method) to the current collection. The element must be of the OPTION type. By default the new element is added as the last item of the collection unless you specify an index value as a second parameter. The following example sequence appends a new item to a SELECT object:

var newElem = document.createElement("OPTION")
newElem.text = "Freddy"
newElem.value = "Freddy Mercury"
document.forms[1].rockers.options.add(newElem)

Notice that a generic object is created first. Then its properties are stuffed with values. Then the new element is physically added to the SELECT element.

The process for adding an OPTION element is entirely different in Navigator. To append a new item, assign the results of an Option( ) constructor to the indexed option at the end of the array (corresponding to the integer returned by the length property). Parameters to the constructor function are (in order):

1. String corresponding to the text property

2. String corresponding to the value property

3. Boolean corresponding to the defaultSelected property

4. Boolean corresponding to the selected property

For example, the Navigator version of the preceding IE example is as follows:

document.forms[1].rockers.options[length] = new Option("Freddy",
 "Freddy Mercury", false, false)

You could insert the new item anywhere you like in the list by specifying the desired index value of the options array.

Returned Value

None. ...