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element.replaceChild

Summary

Replaces one child node of the specified element with another.

Syntax

replacedNode = parentNode.replaceChild(newChild, oldChild);

newChild is the new node to replace oldChild. If it already exists in the DOM, it is first removed.
oldChild is the existing child to be replaced.
replacedNode is the replaced node. This is the same node as oldChild.

Example


// <div>
//  <span id="childSpan">foo bar</span>
// </div>

// create an empty element node
// without an ID, any attributes, or any content
var sp1 = document.createElement("span");

// give it an id attribute called 'newSpan'
sp1.setAttribute("id", "newSpan");

// create some content for the new element.
var sp1_content = document.createTextNode("new replacement span element.");

// apply that content to the new element
sp1.appendChild(sp1_content);

// build a reference to the existing node to be replaced
var sp2 = document.getElementById("childSpan");
var parentDiv = sp2.parentNode;

// replace existing node sp2 with the new span element sp1
parentDiv.replaceChild(sp1, sp2);