ChildNode.replaceWith

The ChildNode.replaceWith() method replaces this ChildNode in the children list of its parent with a set of Node or DOMString objects. DOMString objects are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.

Syntax

[Throws, Unscopable] 
void ChildNode.replaceWith((Node or DOMString)... nodes);

Parameters

nodes

A set of Node or DOMString objects to replace.

Exceptions

• HierarchyRequestError: Node cannot be inserted at the specified point in the hierarchy.

Examples

Using replaceWith()

var parent = document.createElement("div");
var child = document.createElement("p");
parent.appendChild(child);
var span = document.createElement("span");

child.replaceWith(span);

console.log(parent.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span></div>"

ChildNode.replaceWith() is unscopable

The replaceWith() method is not scoped into the with statement. See Symbol.unscopables for more information.

with(node) { 
  replaceWith("foo");
}
// ReferenceError: replaceWith is not defined 

Polyfill

You can polyfill the replaceWith() method in Internet Explorer 9 and higher with the following code:

// from: https://github.com/jserz/js_piece/blob/master/DOM/ChildNode/replaceWith()/replaceWith().md
(function (arr) {
  arr.forEach(function (item) {
    if (item.hasOwnProperty('replaceWith')) {
      return;
    }
    Object.defineProperty(item, 'replaceWith', {
      configurable: true,
      enumerable: true,
      writable: true,
      value: function replaceWith() {
        var argArr = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments),
          docFrag = document.createDocumentFragment();
        
        argArr.forEach(function (argItem) {
          var isNode = argItem instanceof Node;
          docFrag.appendChild(isNode ? argItem : document.createTextNode(String(argItem)));
        });
        
        this.parentNode.replaceChild(docFrag, this);
      }
    });
  });
})([Element.prototype, CharacterData.prototype, DocumentType.prototype]);

Specification

Specification	Status	Comment
DOM The definition of 'ChildNode.replacewith()' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

See also

• ChildNode and ParentNode
• Node.replaceChild()
• NodeList