CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptdom
shan
shan

Reputation: 3165

Javascript .removeChild not working as expected

I feel like I am misunderstanding how .removeChild works. I have some code here:

//organization is a string value gotten from an Input node

if (organization == '') {
    //there is nothing in the organization form
    if (orgContainer !== undefined) {
        console.log(orgContainer + ' exists and there is nothing in the organization form.');
        //remove the orgContainer
        orgContainer.parentNode.removeChild(orgContainer);
        console.log(orgContainer + 'removed!');
    } else {
        console.log(orgContainer + ' does not exist and there is nothing in the organization form.')
    }
} else {
    if (orgContainer !== undefined || orgContainer !== null) {
        console.log(orgContainer + ' exists and there is something in the organization form.');
    } else {
        console.log(orgContainer + ' does not exist and there is something in the organization form.')
    }
}

Basically when I check my page after calling orgContainer.parentNode.removeChild(orgContainer) I get the console log message of orgContainer removed! BUT when I run the function again it says that orgContainer still exists even though I removed it with .removeChild?

Am I misunderstanding how .removeChild works? My node gets removed from the parent node but does it not actually cease to exist or something? Does it just get deleted from the DOM but not from memory or something?

I get this wonderful console.log message undefined exists and there is something in the organization form. .. What? How does it exist if it's undefined? I've read through the documentation on the developer.mozilla.org site but I am still a bit confused. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 458

Answers (2)

Derek 朕會功夫
Derek 朕會功夫

Reputation: 94379

You cannot remove a declared variable. Although it has been removed from DOM, it doesn't mean it will "undeclare" your variable. You can manually set it to undefined if you want.

orgContainer = undefined;

Upvotes: 2

Pointy
Pointy

Reputation: 413996

Your JavaScript variable still has a reference to the node, and nothing in your code attempts to change that. You successfully take the node out of the DOM, but the value of the orgContainer variable is never changed.

Upvotes: 2

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