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link object

Browser support:

Specifies a link to an external resource.

This element must be placed in the head section.

The link element allows authors to link external documents into the HTML document. Usually it is used to link external .css (style) files into the document. Another common use of the link tag is to identify an own or a specific search provider, as shown in Example 2.

If you want to import a CSS file into another CSS file, use the @import at-rule.

If you need to modify the contents of an external style sheet dynamically, use the styleSheet object and the cssRules and rules collections. For further details, see the examples below.

To install a search provider from JavaScript, use the AddSearchProvider method.

Syntax:

Methods that return the object:

•	document.createElement ("link")

The base interface, through which you can add new functionalities to the link object, is the HTMLLinkElement interface.

If you want to see the HTML objects by categories, please visit this page.

HTML page for this element: link

Possible members:

Properties

Methods

Events

Style properties

attributes

Represents a collection of attribute nodes that belong to an element.

baseURI

			10

Returns the base URL for the object.

behaviorUrns

Represents a collection of the Uniform Resource Names for all behaviors attached to an element.

canHaveChildren

Retrieves a Boolean value that indicates whether the element can contain child elements.

canHaveHTML

Retrieves a Boolean value that indicates whether the element can contain HTML formatted text.

charset

Sets or retrieves the character encoding of the document, a linked document or a script block.

className

Sets or retrieves the style class or classes that belong to the element.

currentStyle

Represents the computed style settings for an element.

dir

Sets or retrieves the text direction as related to the lang property.

disabled

Sets or retrieves the state of an object for user interaction.

href

Specifies or returns the location of the destination.

hreflang

Sets or retrieves the language of a linked resource or anchor element.

Sets or retrieves a unique identifier for the object.

isContentEditable

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the contents of the object are editable by the user.

isDisabled

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the object is disabled.

isMultiLine

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the contents of an element can be multiline or not.

isTextEdit

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the createTextRange method can be used for the element.

lang

Specifies or returns the language of the element.

localName

9

Returns the local part of the qualified name of the current node.

media

Specifies or returns the media types for style definition.

name

Sets or retrieves the name of an element.

namespaceURI

9	3.6

Sets or returns the namespace URI of the current node.

nextElementSibling

9	3.5

Returns a reference to the next child element of the current element's parent.

nextSibling

Returns a reference to the next child of the current element's parent.

nodeName

Returns the name of the current node.

nodeType

Returns an integer that indicates the type of the node.

nodeValue

Sets or returns the value of the current node.

outerHTML

Sets or retrieves the outer HTML content (the source code including the opening and closing tags) of an element.

outerText

Sets or returns the text content of an element including the text content of its descendants.

ownerDocument

Returns the document object that contains the current node.

parentElement

Returns the parent element of the object in the DOM hierarchy.

parentNode

Returns the parent element of the current node in the DOM hierarchy.

parentTextEdit

Returns the closest ancestor element of the current element in the DOM hierarchy that can be used to create a TextRange object.

previousElementSibling

9	3.5

Returns a reference to the previous child element of the current element's parent.

previousSibling

Returns a reference to the previous node of the current element's parent.

readyState

Returns a string value that represents the state of the object.

rel

Specifies or returns the relationship between the current document and the destination of an anchor or link.

rev

Specifies or returns a reverse relationship from an anchor or link to the current document.

runtimeStyle

Represents the overridden style settings for an element.

scopeName

Retrieves the local name of the namespace declared for the current element.

sheet

9

Represents a CSS style sheet that belongs to a style element or an imported style file.

sourceIndex

Returns the position of the current object in the all collection of the document.

style

Represents the inline style settings for an element or a CSS rule.

styleSheet

Represents a CSS style sheet that belongs to a style element or an imported style file.

tagName

Returns the tag name of the current element.

tagUrn

Sets or retrieves the Uniform Resource Name (URN) of the namespace declared for the current element.

target

Specifies or returns the target window or frame where the document is to be opened.

title

Specifies or returns a tooltip for an element.

type

Specifies or returns the content type (MIME type) of the object or the linked object.

uniqueID

Returns the unique identifier generated by the browser for the object.

addBehavior

Attaches the specified behavior to the current element.

addEventListener

9

Registers an event handler function (event listener) for the specified event on the current object.

applyElement

Inserts the specified element as a child or parent of the current element.

attachEvent

Registers an event handler function (event listener) for the specified event on the current object.

clearAttributes

Clears all attributes from the current element, except the id, name, style, value and event attributes.

cloneNode

Returns an exact copy of the current node.

compareDocumentPosition

9

Compares the placement of the specified node with the current node in the DOM hierarchy.

detachEvent

Removes the specified event handler from the current element that was registered earlier with the attachEvent method.

dispatchEvent

9

Dispatches the specified event to the current element.

fireEvent

Initializes an event object and dispatches it to the current element.

getAdjacentText

Returns the contents of the TextNode located at the specified position relative to the current element.

getAttribute

Returns the value of the attribute with the specified name from the current element.

getAttributeNode

Returns the attribute node with the specified name from the current element.

getAttributeNodeNS

9

Returns the attribute node with the specified namespace and name from the current element.

getAttributeNS

9

Returns the value of the attribute with the specified namespace and name from the current element.

getExpression


9

Returns the dynamic expression for the specified DHTML property on the current element.

hasAttribute

8

Returns whether the current element has an attribute with the specified name or not.

hasAttributeNS

9

Returns whether the current element has an attribute with the specified namespace and name or not.

hasAttributes

8

Returns whether the current element has any attributes specified or not.

hasChildNodes

Returns whether the current node has any child nodes or not.

insertAdjacentElement

Inserts an element at the specified position relative to the current element.

insertAdjacentHTML

Inserts a HTML formatted text at the specified position relative to the current element.

insertAdjacentText

Creates a new TextNode from the specified text and inserts it at the specified position relative to the current element.

isDefaultNamespace

9

Returns whether the specified namespace URI is the default namespace in the scope of the current node.

isEqualNode

9

Returns whether the current node is equal to the specified one.

isSameNode

9

Returns whether the current node is the same node as the specified one.

isSupported

9

Returns whether the specified DOM module and version is supported by the current node.

mergeAttributes

Copies all attributes and its values from the specified element to the current element.

normalize

Puts the subtree that belongs to the current node into a 'normalized' form.

releaseCapture

Releases the mouse capture from the browser window that was previously set by the setCapture method and restores the normal event processing.

removeAttribute

Removes the attribute with the specified name from the current element.

removeAttributeNode

Removes the specified attribute node from the current element.

removeAttributeNS

9

Removes the attribute with the specified namespace and name from the current element.

removeBehavior

Removes the specified behavior from the current element.

removeEventListener

9

Removes the specified event handler from the current element that was registered earlier with the addEventListener method.

removeExpression


9

Removes the dynamic expression from the specified DHTML property on the current element.

removeNode

Removes the current element with or without its children from the document tree.

replaceNode

Replaces the current element with the specified element.

setAttribute

Adds an attribute with the specified name and value to the current element.

setAttributeNode

Adds the specified attribute node to the current element.

setAttributeNodeNS

9

Adds the specified attribute node to the current element.

setAttributeNS

9

Adds an attribute with the specified namespace, name and value to the current element.

setCapture

Sets the current object to capture mouse events that occur within the entire browser window.

setExpression


9

Sets a dynamic expression for the specified DHTML property on the current element.

swapNode

Interchanges the positions of the current element and the specified element in the document hierarchy.

behavior

Sets or retrieves the URL of a behavior file.

cssText

Sets or retrieves the contents of a style declaration as a string.

hasLayout

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the object has layout or not.

length

9

Returns the number of properties that have been set in the current style object.

pixelBottom

Specifies or retrieves the value of the bottom style property, in pixels.

pixelHeight

Specifies or retrieves the value of the height style property, in pixels.

pixelLeft

Specifies or retrieves the value of the left style property, in pixels.

pixelRight

Specifies or retrieves the value of the right style property, in pixels.

pixelTop

Specifies or retrieves the value of the top style property, in pixels.

pixelWidth

Specifies or retrieves the value of the width style property, in pixels.

posBottom

Specifies or retrieves the value of the bottom style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the bottom property.

posHeight

Specifies or retrieves the value of the height style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the height property.

posLeft

Specifies or retrieves the value of the left style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the left property.

posRight

Specifies or retrieves the value of the right style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the right property.

posTop

Specifies or retrieves the value of the top style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the top property.

posWidth

Specifies or retrieves the value of the width style property as a floating-point number that specifies the value in the current unit type of the width property.

Example HTML code 1:

This example illustrates the use of the link element:

Code

red.css

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="red.css" />
</head>
<body>
    <div class="red">red division</div>
    <div>non-red division</div>
    <span class="red">red span</span>
</body>


.red {
    color: red;
}

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Example HTML code 2:

This example shows how to tell the client browser that you offer a search plugin from HTML. If the search provider is currently installed, it will be selected search engine. Note that the AddSearchProvider method provides similar functionality in JavaScript.

Code

searchProvider.xml

<head>
    <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" 
        href="searchProvider.xml" title="Dottoro Search" /> 
</head>
<body>
    Please open the drop-down menu of your browser's Search Box.
</body>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/">

        <!-- a brief human-readable title that identifies the search engine -->
    <ShortName>Dottoro</ShortName>

        <!-- a brief human-readable title that identifies the search engine -->
    <LongName>Dottoro Search Engine</LongName>

        <!-- description of the search engine -->
    <Description>Use Dottoro to search on dottoro.com</Description>

        <!-- an URL where the search requests can be handled -->
    <Url type="text/html" method="get" template="http://www.dottoro.com/search.php?query={searchTerms}" />

        <!-- the image that is associated with the search engine -->
    <Image height="16" width="16" type="image/x-icon">http://www.dottoro.com/favicon.ico</Image>

        <!-- character encoding of the search -->
    <InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
    <OutputEncoding>UTF-8</OutputEncoding>


        <!-- the URL of the Search Home Page -->
    <moz:SearchForm>http://www.dottoro.com/search.php</moz:SearchForm>
</OpenSearchDescription>

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Example HTML code 3:

This example shows how to change a style rule in an external style sheet:

Code

red.css

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="red.css" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function ChangeRedColor () {
                // the imported style sheet
            var importedSheet = document.styleSheets[0];
    
                // the first rule in the style sheet
            var rules = importedSheet.cssRules ? importedSheet.cssRules : importedSheet.rules;
            var firstRule = rules[0];

                // change the color
            firstRule.style.color = "#00ff00";
        }
    </script> 
</head>
<body>
    <button onclick="ChangeRedColor ()">Change the color of the '.red' style rule!</button>
    <br /><br />
    <div class="red">red division</div>
    <div>non-red division</div>
    <span class="red">red span</span>
</body>


.red {
    color: red;
}

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Example HTML code 4:

This example is the same as the previous one, but it uses the sheet and styleSheet properties of the link element to get the style sheet:

Code

red.css

<head>
    <link id="myLink" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="red.css" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function ChangeRedColor () {
            var linkTag = document.getElementById ("myLink");

                // the imported style sheet
            var importedSheet = linkTag.sheet ? linkTag.sheet : linkTag.styleSheet;
    
                // the first rule in the style sheet
            var rules = importedSheet.cssRules ? importedSheet.cssRules : importedSheet.rules;
            var firstRule = rules[0];

                // change the color
            firstRule.style.color = "#00ff00";
        }
    </script> 
</head>
<body>
    <button onclick="ChangeRedColor ()">Change the color of the '.red' style rule!</button>
    <br /><br />
    <div class="red">red division</div>
    <div>non-red division</div>
    <span class="red">red span</span>
</body>