CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptappendchild
svtslvskl
svtslvskl

Reputation: 619

How to add multiple divs with appendChild?

I am trying to make a chessboard using javascript and creating 64 divs with it.
The problem is, that it creates only the first div.
Here is the code:

div {
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;

    display: block;
    position: relative;
    float: left;
}

<script type="text/javascript">
    window.onload=function()
    {
        var i=0;
        var j=0;
        var d=document.createElement("div");

        for (i=1; i<=8; i++)
        {
            for (j=1; j<=8; j++)
            {
                if ((i%2!=0 && j%2==0)||(i%2==0 && j%2!=0))
                {
                    document.body.appendChild(d);
                    d.className="black";
                }
                else
                {
                    document.body.appendChild(d);
                    d.className="white";
                }
            }
        }
    }
</script>

Upvotes: 47

Views: 88911

Answers (4)

Alexander V. Ulyanov
Alexander V. Ulyanov

Reputation: 386

function crt_dv(){
dv=document.createElement('div'),document.body.appendChild(dv)
};

crt_dv(),dv.className='white';crt_dv(),dv.className='black';

Also use: for(i=0;i<2;i++)

Upvotes: 1

magikMaker
magikMaker

Reputation: 5607

Although what T.J. Crowder writes works fine, I would recommend rewriting it to the code below, using a documentFragment, like Renato Zannon suggested. That way you will only write to the DOM once.

    window.onload = function() {
        var count = 5,
            div,
            board = document.getElementById('board'),
            fragment = document.createDocumentFragment();
        
        // rows
        for (var i = 0; i < count; ++i) { 

            // columns
            for (var j = 0; j < count; ++j) { 
                div = document.createElement('div');
                div.className = (i % 2 != 0 && j % 2 == 0) || (i % 2 == 0 && j % 2 != 0) ? 'black' : 'white';
                fragment.appendChild(div);
            }
        }
        
        board.appendChild(fragment);
    };
#board {
  background-color: #ccc;
  height: 510px;
  padding: 1px;
  width: 510px;
}

.black,
.white {
    float: left;
    height: 100px;
    margin: 1px;
    width: 100px;
}

.black {
  background-color: #333;
}

.white {
  background-color: #efefef;
}
<div id="board"></div>

Upvotes: 12

Renato Zannon
Renato Zannon

Reputation: 30021

As t-j-crowder has noted, the OP's code only creates one div. But, for googlers, there is one way to append multiple elements with a single appendChild in the DOM: by creating a documentFragment.

function createDiv(text) {
  var div = document.createElement("div");
  div.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text));
  return div;
}

var divs = [
  createDiv("foo"),
  createDiv("bar"),
  createDiv("baz")
];

var docFrag = document.createDocumentFragment();
for(var i = 0; i < divs.length; i++) {
  docFrag.appendChild(divs[i]); // Note that this does NOT go to the DOM
}

document.body.appendChild(docFrag); // Appends all divs at once

Upvotes: 78

T.J. Crowder
T.J. Crowder

Reputation: 1075925

The problem is, that it creates only the first div.

Right, because you've only created one div. If you want to create more than one, you must call createElement more than once. Move your

d=document.createElement("div");

line into the j loop.

If you call appendChild passing in an element that's already in the DOM, it's moved, not copied.

window.onload=function()
    {
        var i=0;
        var j=0;

        for (i=1; i<=8; i++)
        {
            for (j=1; j<=8; j++)
            {
                if ((i%2!=0 && j%2==0)||(i%2==0 && j%2!=0))
                {
                    var d=document.createElement("div");
                    document.body.appendChild(d);
                    d.className="black";
                }
                else
                {
                    var d=document.createElement("div");
                    document.body.appendChild(d);
                    d.className="white";
                }
            }
        }
    }

Upvotes: 33

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