The ProcessingInstruction interface represents a processing instruction; that is, a Node which embeds an instruction targeting a specific application but that can be ignored by any other applications which don't recognize the instruction.
A processing instruction is different from the XML declaration.
User-defined processing instructions cannot begin with "xml", as xml-prefixed processing-instruction target names are reserved by the XML specification for particular, standard uses (see, for example, <?xml-stylesheet ?>).
The ProcessingInstruction interface inherits methods and properties from Node.
<div id="interfaceDiagram" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100%; padding-bottom: 10%; vertical-align: middle; overflow: hidden;"><svg style="display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0;" viewbox="-50 0 700 70" preserveAspectRatio="xMinYMin meet"><a xlink:href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/EventTarget" target="_top"><rect x="1" y="1" width="110" height="50" fill="#fff" stroke="#D4DDE4" stroke-width="2px" /><text x="56" y="30" font-size="12px" font-family="Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,monospace" fill="#4D4E53" text-anchor="middle" alignment-baseline="middle">EventTarget</text></a><polyline points="111,25 121,20 121,30 111,25" stroke="#D4DDE4" fill="none"/><line x1="121" y1="25" x2="151" y2="25" stroke="#D4DDE4"/><a xlink:href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Node" target="_top"><rect x="151" y="1" width="75" height="50" fill="#fff" stroke="#D4DDE4" stroke-width="2px" /><text x="188.5" y="30" font-size="12px" font-family="Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,monospace" fill="#4D4E53" text-anchor="middle" alignment-baseline="middle">Node</text></a><polyline points="226,25 236,20 236,30 226,25" stroke="#D4DDE4" fill="none"/><line x1="236" y1="25" x2="266" y2="25" stroke="#D4DDE4"/><a xlink:href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CharacterData" target="_top"><rect x="266" y="1" width="130" height="50" fill="#fff" stroke="#D4DDE4" stroke-width="2px" /><text x="331" y="30" font-size="12px" font-family="Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,monospace" fill="#4D4E53" text-anchor="middle" alignment-baseline="middle">CharacterData</text></a><polyline points="396,25 406,20 406,30 396,25" stroke="#D4DDE4" fill="none"/><line x1="406" y1="25" x2="436" y2="25" stroke="#D4DDE4"/><a xlink:href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/ProcessingInstruction" target="_top"><rect x="436" y="1" width="210" height="50" fill="#F4F7F8" stroke="#D4DDE4" stroke-width="2px" /><text x="541" y="30" font-size="12px" font-family="Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,monospace" fill="#4D4E53" text-anchor="middle" alignment-baseline="middle">ProcessingInstruction</text></a></svg></div>
a:hover text { fill: #0095DD; pointer-events: all;}
Properties
target(DOMString) Read only- A name identifying the application to which the instruction is targeted,
Specification
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| DOM The definition of 'ProcessingInstruction' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
| XML specification |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
| Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ProcessingInstruction | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support Yes | Firefox Full support Yes | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
data | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge ? | Firefox Full support Yes | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari ? | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS ? | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
target | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.