CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascripthtmlcanvas
Arjen van Heck
Arjen van Heck

Reputation: 1116

HTML5 Dynamically create Canvas

Hi there I have a question about dynamically creating a canvas using javascript.

I create a canvas like this:

var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
canvas.id     = "CursorLayer";
canvas.width  = 1224;
canvas.height = 768;
canvas.style.zIndex   = 8;
canvas.style.position = "absolute";
canvas.style.border   = "1px solid";

but when I try to locate it, I get a null value:

cursorLayer = document.getElementById("CursorLayer");

Am I doing it wrong? Is there a better way to create a canvas using JavaScript?

Upvotes: 93

Views: 212544

Answers (5)

Kamil Kiełczewski
Kamil Kiełczewski

Reputation: 92347

Alternative

Use element .innerHTML= which is quite fast in modern browsers

document.body.innerHTML = "<canvas width=500 height=150 id='CursorLayer'>";


// TEST

var ctx = CursorLayer.getContext("2d");
ctx.fillStyle = "red";
ctx.fillRect(100, 100, 50, 50);
canvas { border: 1px solid black }

Upvotes: 1

Pooja
Pooja

Reputation: 21

 <html>
 <head></head>
 <body>
 <canvas id="canvas" width="300" height="300"></canvas>
 <script>
  var sun = new Image();
  var moon = new Image();
  var earth = new Image();
  function init() {
  sun.src = 'https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/1456/Canvas_sun.png';
  moon.src = 'https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/1443/Canvas_moon.png';
  earth.src = 'https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/1429/Canvas_earth.png';
  window.requestAnimationFrame(draw);
  }

  function draw() {
  var ctx = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');

  ctx.globalCompositeOperation = 'destination-over';
  ctx.clearRect(0, 0, 300, 300);

  ctx.fillStyle = 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4)';
  ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba(0, 153, 255, 0.4)';
  ctx.save();
  ctx.translate(150, 150);

  // Earth
  var time = new Date();
  ctx.rotate(((2 * Math.PI) / 60) * time.getSeconds() + ((2 * Math.PI) / 60000) * 
  time.getMilliseconds());
  ctx.translate(105, 0);
  ctx.fillRect(10, -19, 55, 31); 
  ctx.drawImage(earth, -12, -12);

   // Moon
  ctx.save();
  ctx.rotate(((2 * Math.PI) / 6) * time.getSeconds() + ((2 * Math.PI) / 6000) * 
  time.getMilliseconds());
  ctx.translate(0, 28.5);
  ctx.drawImage(moon, -3.5, -3.5);
  ctx.restore();

  ctx.restore();

   ctx.beginPath();
   ctx.arc(150, 150, 105, 0, Math.PI * 2, false);
   ctx.stroke();

   ctx.drawImage(sun, 0, 0, 300, 300);

   window.requestAnimationFrame(draw);
    }

   init();
   </script>
   </body>
   </html>

Upvotes: 1

goblin01
goblin01

Reputation: 101

It happens because you call it before DOM has loaded. Firstly, create the element and add atrributes to it, then after DOM has loaded call it. In your case it should look like that:

var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
canvas.id     = "CursorLayer";
canvas.width  = 1224;
canvas.height = 768;
canvas.style.zIndex   = 8;
canvas.style.position = "absolute";
canvas.style.border   = "1px solid";
window.onload = function() {
    document.getElementById("CursorLayer");
}

Upvotes: 2

VisioN
VisioN

Reputation: 145368

The problem is that you do not insert your canvas element in the document body.

Just do the following:

document.body.appendChild(canvas);

Example:

var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');

canvas.id = "CursorLayer";
canvas.width = 1224;
canvas.height = 768;
canvas.style.zIndex = 8;
canvas.style.position = "absolute";
canvas.style.border = "1px solid";


var body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
body.appendChild(canvas);

cursorLayer = document.getElementById("CursorLayer");

console.log(cursorLayer);

// below is optional

var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.2)";
ctx.fillRect(100, 100, 200, 200);
ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 255, 0, 0.2)";
ctx.fillRect(150, 150, 200, 200);
ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 0, 255, 0.2)";
ctx.fillRect(200, 50, 200, 200);

Upvotes: 146

Razan Paul
Razan Paul

Reputation: 13838

Via Jquery: 

$('<canvas/>', { id: 'mycanvas', height: 500, width: 200});

http://jsfiddle.net/8DEsJ/736/

Upvotes: 1

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