DocumentFragment.querySelector

The DocumentFragment.querySelector() method returns the first element, or null if no matches are found, within the DocumentFragment (using depth-first pre-order traversal of the document's nodes) that matches the specified group of selectors.

If the selector matches an ID and this ID is erroneously used several times in the document, it returns the first matching element.

If the selectors specified in parameter are invalid a DOMException with a SYNTAX_ERR value is raised.

Syntax

element = documentfragment.querySelector(selectors);

Parameters

selectors

Is a DOMString containing one or more CSS selectors separated by commas.

Examples

Basic example

In this basic example, the first element in the DocumentFragment with the class "myclass" is returned:

var el = documentfragment.querySelector(".myclass");

CSS syntax and the method's argument

The string argument pass to querySelector must follow the CSS syntax. To match ID or selectors that do not follow the CSS syntax (by using semicolon or space inappropriately for example), it's mandatory to escape the wrong character with a double back slash:

<div id="foo\bar"></div>
<div id="foo:bar"></div>

<script>
document.querySelector('#foo\bar')    // Does not match anything
document.querySelector('#foo\\\\bar') // Match the first div
document.querySelector('#foo:bar')     // Does not match anything
document.querySelector('#foo\\:bar')   // Match the second div
</script>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Selectors API Level 2 The definition of 'DocumentFragment.querySelector' in that specification.	Working Draft	No change from Selectors API Level 1
Selectors API Level 1 The definition of 'DocumentFragment.querySelector' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

See also

• The DocumentFragment interface it belongs to.