The Node.ownerDocument read-only property returns the top-level document object for this node.

Syntax

document = element.ownerDocument
  • document is the document object parent of the current element.

Example

// given a node "p", get the top-level HTML child 
// of the document object

var d = p.ownerDocument; 
var html = d.documentElement;

Notes

The document object returned by this property is the main object with which all the child nodes in the actual HTML document are created. If this property is used on a node that is itself a document, the result is null.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM4
The definition of 'Node.ownerDocument' in that specification.		 Working Draft  
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification
The definition of 'Node.ownerDocument' in that specification.		 Recommendation No change
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification
The definition of 'Node.ownerDocument' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) (Yes)[1] 6.0[2] (Yes) ?
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support ? (Yes)[1] ? ? ?

[1] Starting in Gecko 9.0 (Firefox 9.0 / Thunderbird 9.0 / SeaMonkey 2.6), the ownerDocument of doctype nodes (that is, nodes for which Node.nodeType is Node.DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE or 10) is no longer null. Instead, the ownerDocument is the document on which document.implementation.createDocumentType() was called.

[2] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/ms534315(v=vs.85).aspx

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 Last updated by: jonathanKingston,