JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fourth Edition

Name

HTMLCollection.item( ) — get an element by position

Availability

DOM Level 1 HTML

Synopsis

Node item(unsigned long index);

Arguments

index

The position of the element to be returned. Elements appear in an HTMLCollection in the same order in which they appear in the document source.

Returns

The element at the specified index, or null if index is less than zero or greater than or equal to the length property.

Description

The item( ) method returns a numbered element from an HTMLCollection. In JavaScript, it is easier to treat the HTMLCollection as an array and to index it using array notation.

Example

var c = document.images;  // This is an HTMLCollection
var img0 = c.item(0);     // You can use the item(  ) method this way
var img1 = c[1];          // But this notation is easier and more common

See Also

NodeList.item( )