Documento

La interfaz Document representa cualquer página web cargada en el navegador y sirve como punto de entrada al contenido de la página (El árbol DOM). El DOM incluye elementos como <body> y <table>), entre muchos otros, y proporciona funcionalidad que es global al documento, como obtener la URL de la página y crear nuevos elementos en el documento.

La interfaz Document describe los métodos y propiedade comunes para cualquier clase de documento. Dependiento del tipo de documento (ej. HTML, XML, SVG, …), hay disponible una API más extensa: los documentos HTML, que se sirven con el tipo de contenido text/html, también implementan la interfaz HTMLDocument, mientras que los documentos XML y SVG implementan la interfaz XMLDocument.

Propiedades

Nota: La interfaz Document también hereda de las interfaces Node y EventTarget.

Document.all: Da acceso a todos los elementos del documento. Es una interfaz no estándar y no se debería utilizar.
Document.async: Se utiliza con document.load para indicar una petición asíncrona.
Document.characterSet Read only: Devuelve el juego de caracteres que utiliza el documento.
Document.charset Read only: Es un alias de Document.characterSet. Utilice esta propiedad en su lugar.
Document.compatMode: Indicates whether the document is rendered in Quirks or Strict mode.
Document.contentType: Returns the Content-Type from the MIME Header of the current document.
Document.doctype: Returns the Document Type Definition (DTD) of the current document.
Document.documentElement: Returns the Element that is a direct child of the document. For HTML documents, this is normally the HTML element.
Document.documentURI: Returns the document URL.
Document.domConfig: Should return a DOMConfiguration object.
Document.implementation: Returns the DOM implementation associated with the current document.
Document.inputEncoding: Returns the encoding used when the document was parsed.
Document.lastStyleSheetSet: Returns the name of the style sheet set that was last enabled. Has the value null until the style sheet is changed by setting the value of selectedStyleSheetSet.
Document.mozSyntheticDocument: true if this document is synthetic, such as a standalone image, video, audio file, or the like.
Document.mozFullScreen: true when the document is in full-screen mode.
Document.mozFullScreenElement: The element that's currently in full screen mode for this document.
Document.mozFullScreenEnabled: true if calling element.mozRequestFullscreen() would succeed in the curent document.
Document.pointerLockElement: Returns the element set as the target for mouse events while the pointer is locked. null if lock is pending, pointer is unlocked, or if the target is in another document.
Document.preferredStyleSheetSet: Returns the preferred style sheet set as specified by the page author.
Document.selectedStyleSheetSet: Returns which style sheet set is currently in use.
Document.styleSheets: Returns a list of the style sheet objects on the current document.
Document.styleSheetSets: Returns a list of the style sheet sets available on the document.
Document.xmlEncoding: Returns the encoding as determined by the XML declaration.
Document.xmlStandalone Obsoleto Gecko 10.0: Returns true if the XML declaration specifies the document to be standalone (e.g., An external part of the DTD affects the document's content), else false.
Document.xmlVersion Obsoleto Gecko 10.0: Returns the version number as specified in the XML declaration or "1.0" if the declaration is absent.

The Document interface is extended with the ParentNode interface:

ParentNode.childElementCount Read only: Returns the number of children of this ParentNode which are elements.
ParentNode.children Read only: Returns a live HTMLCollection containing all of the Element objects that are children of this ParentNode, omitting all of its non-element nodes.
ParentNode.firstElementChild Read only: Returns the first node which is both a child of this ParentNode and is also an Element, or null if there is none.
ParentNode.lastElementChild Read only: Returns the last node which is both a child of this ParentNode and is an Element, or null if there is none.

Extension for HTML documents

The Document interface for HTML documents inherit from the HTMLDocument interface or, since HTML5, is extended for such documents:

Document.activeElement: Returns the currently focused element.
Document.alinkColor: Returns or sets the color of active links in the document body.
Document.anchors: Returns a list of all of the anchors in the document.
Document.applets: Returns an ordered list of the applets within a document.
Document.bgColor: Gets/sets the background color of the current document.
Document.body: Returns the <body> element of the current document.
Document.cookie: Returns a semicolon-separated list of the cookies for that document or sets a single cookie.
Document.defaultView: Returns a reference to the window object.
Document.designMode: Gets/sets the ability to edit the whole document.
Document.dir: Gets/sets directionality (rtl/ltr) of the document.
Document.domain: Returns the domain of the current document.
Document.embeds: Returns a list of the embedded <embed> elements within the current document.
Document.fgColor: Gets/sets the foreground color, or text color, of the current document.
Document.forms: Returns a list of the <form> elements within the current document.
Document.head: Returns the <head> element of the current document.
Document.height: Gets/sets the height of the current document.
Document.images: Returns a list of the images in the current document.
Document.lastModified: Returns the date on which the document was last modified.
Document.linkColor: Gets/sets the color of hyperlinks in the document.
Document.links: Returns a list of all the hyperlinks in the document.
Document.location: Returns the URI of the current document.
Document.plugins: Returns a list of the available plugins.
Document.readyState: Returns loading status of the document.
Document.referrer: Returns the URI of the page that linked to this page.
Document.scripts: Returns all the <script> elements on the document.
Document.title: Returns the title of the current document.
Document.URL: Returns a string containing the URL of the current document.
Document.vlinkColor: Gets/sets the color of visited hyperlinks.
Document.width: Returns the width of the current document.

Event handlers

Document.onpointerlockchange: Returns the event handling code for the pointerlockchange event.
Document.onpointerlockerror: Returns the event handling code for the pointerlockerror event.
Document.onreadystatechange: Returns the event handling code for the readystatechange event.

Methods

Note: The Document interface also inherits from the Node and EventTarget interfaces.

Document.adoptNode(Node node): Adopt node from an external document.
Document.captureEvents(String eventName): See window.captureEvents.
Document.caretPositionFromPoint(Number x, Number y): Gets a CaretPosition based on two coordinates.
Document.createAttribute(String name): Creates a new Attr object and returns it.
Document.createAttributeNS(String namespace, String name): Creates a new attribute node in a given namespace and returns it.
Document.createCDATASection(String data): Creates a new CDATA node and returns it.
Document.createComment(String comment): Creates a new comment node and returns it.
Document.createDocumentFragment(): Creates a new document fragment.
Document.createElement(String name): Creates a new element with the given tag name.
Document.createElementNS(String namespace, String name): Creates a new element with the given tag name and namespace URI.
Document.createEntityReference(String name): Creates a new entity reference object and returns it.
Document.createEvent(String interface): Creates an event object.
Document.createNodeIterator(Node root[, Number whatToShow[, NodeFilter filter]]): Creates a NodeIterator object.
Document.createProcessingInstruction(String target, String data): Creates a new ProcessingInstruction object.
Document.createRange(): Creates a Range object.
Document.createTextNode(String text): Creates a text node.
Document.createTreeWalker(Node root[, Number whatToShow[, NodeFilter filter]]): Creates a TreeWalker object.
Document.elementFromPoint(Number x, Number y): Returns the element visible at the specified coordinates.
Document.enableStyleSheetsForSet(String name): Enables the style sheets for the specified style sheet set.
Document.exitPointerLock(): Release the pointer lock.
Document.getElementsByClassName(String className): Returns a list of elements with the given class name.
Document.getElementsByTagName(String tagName): Returns a list of elements with the given tag name.
Document.getElementsByTagNameNS(String namespace, String tagName): Returns a list of elements with the given tag name and namespace.
Document.importNode(Node node, Boolean deep): Returns a clone of a node from an external document.
document.mozSetImageElement: Allows you to change the element being used as the background image for a specified element ID.
Document.normalizeDocument(): Replaces entities, normalizes text nodes, etc.
Document.releaseCapture(): Releases the current mouse capture if it's on an element in this document.
Document.releaseEvents: See window.releaseEvents.
document.routeEvent Obsoleto Gecko 24: See window.routeEvent.

The Document interface is extended with the ParentNode interface:

Document.getElementById(String id): Returns an object reference to the identified element.
Document.querySelector(String selector): Returns the first Element node within the document, in document order, that matches the specified selectors.
Document.querySelectorAll(String selector): Returns a list of all the Element nodes within the document that match the specified selectors.

The Document interface is extended with the XPathEvaluator interface:

Document.createExpression(String expression, XPathNSResolver resolver): Compiles an XPathExpression which can then be used for (repeated) evaluations.
Document.createNSResolver(Node resolver): Creates an XPathNSResolver object.
Document.evaluate(String expression, Node contextNode, XPathNSResolver resolver, Number type, Object result): Evaluates an XPath expression.

Extension for HTML documents

The Document interface for HTML documents inherit from the HTMLDocument interface or, since HTML5, is extended for such documents:

Document.clear(): In majority of modern browsers, including recent versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer, this method does nothing.
Document.close(): Closes a document stream for writing.
Document.execCommand(String command[, Boolean showUI[, String value]]): On an editable document, executes a formating command.
Document.getElementsByName(String name): Returns a list of elements with the given name.
Document.getSelection(): Returns a Selection object related to text selected in the document.
Document.hasFocus(): Returns true if the focus is currently located anywhere inside the specified document.
Document.open(): Opens a document stream for writing.
Document.queryCommandEnabled(String command): Returns true if the formating command can be executed on the current range.
Document.queryCommandIndeterm(String command): Returns true if the formating command is in an indeterminate state on the current range.
Document.queryCommandState(String command): Returns true if the formating command has been executed on the current range.
Document.queryCommandSupported(String command): Returns true if the formating command is supported on the current range.
Document.queryCommandValue(String command): Returns the current value of the current range for a formatting command.
Document.registerElement(String tagname[, Object options]): Registers a new custom element in the browser and returns a constructor for the new element.
Document.write(String text): Writes text in a document.
Document.writeln(String text): Writes a line of text in a document.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Obsolete	Initial definition for the interface
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Obsolete	Supersede DOM 1
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Obsolete	Supersede DOM 2
DOM La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Living Standard	Intend to supersede DOM 3
HTML Living Standard La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Living Standard	Turn the `HTMLDocument` interface into a `Document` extension.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification La definición de 'XPathEvaluator' en esta especificación.	Recommendation	Define the `XPathEvaluator` interface which extend `Document`.
HTML Editing APIs La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Editor's Draft	Extend the `Document` interface
CSS Object Model (CSSOM) View Module La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Working Draft	Extend the `Document` interface
CSS Object Model (CSSOM) La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Working Draft	Extend the `Document` interface
Pointer Lock La definición de 'Document' en esta especificación.	Candidate Recommendation	Extend the `Document` interface

Browser compatibility

Firefox notes

Mozilla defines a set of non-standard properties made only for XUL content:

document.currentScript: Returns the <script> element that is currently executing.
document.documentURIObject: (Mozilla add-ons only!) Returns the nsIURI object representing the URI of the document. This property only has special meaning in privileged JavaScript code (with UniversalXPConnect privileges).
document.popupNode: Returns the node upon which a popup was invoked.
document.tooltipNode: Returns the node which is the target of the current tooltip.

Mozilla also define some non-standard methods:

Document.execCommandShowHelp Obsoleto Gecko 14.0: This method never did anything and always threw an exception, so it was removed in Gecko 14.0 (Firefox 14.0 / Thunderbird 14.0 / SeaMonkey 2.11).
Document.getBoxObjectFor: Use the Element.getBoundingClientRect() method instead.
Document.loadOverlay: Loads a XUL overlay dynamically. This only works in XUL documents.
document.queryCommandText Obsoleto Gecko 14.0: This method never did anything but throw an exception, and was removed in Gecko 14.0 (Firefox 14.0 / Thunderbird 14.0 / SeaMonkey 2.11).

Internet Explorer notes

Microsoft defines some non-standard properties:

document.fileSize*: Returns size in bytes of the document. Starting with Internet Explorer 11, that property is no longer supported. See MSDN.
Internet Explorer does not support all methods from the Node interface in the Document interface:

document.contains: As a work-around, document.body.contains() can be used.