Can I access DOM element directly by id?

Question

In javascript I always use docuemtn.getElementById to access DOM elements, but recently I accidentally accessed it using id only and it worked. Example:

<input id="element_id" type="text">

and in javascript

element_id.onclick=fun;

Is it correct code? Why does it work? (in all browsers I have)

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 14 '13 at 20:46

5

Yes, in some browsers, the elements are available as global variables named for their ID.

Don't use this "feature". It's non-standard, and not universally supported.

answered Mar 14 '13 at 20:46

the system

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What is this 'feature' called? Can we look up support for it on CanIUse.com, or somewhere similar? – Frazer Kirkman May 19 '22 at 14:33
oh, found it: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6381425/is-there-a-spec-that-the-id-of-elements-should-be-made-global-variable – Frazer Kirkman May 19 '22 at 14:36

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 14 '13 at 21:00

It will work in some browsers some of the time. For example, if you create the following element:

<div id="Math">I'm a math div!</div>

both Math and window.Math will return MathConstructor {}, since that's what the normal window.Math returns. (Tested in Chrome here)

Can I access DOM element directly by id?

2 Answers2