How to create new div dynamically, change it, move it, modify it in every way possible, in JavaScript?

Question

I want to create new divs as the page loads. These divs will appear as an ordered group which changes depending upon external data from a JSON file. I will need to do this with a for loop because there are over 100 divs needed.

So, I need to be able to change each created div in regards to height, width, top/left and so on. Yet, document.getElementById("created_div").style.whatever does nothing, I can't even see a single new div appear. I've set the new divs height/width to 500px, background to "red", and so on, but no new divs are definitely appearing.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

• Creation var div = document.createElement('div');
• Addition document.body.appendChild(div);
• Style manipulation
  • Positioning div.style.left = '32px'; div.style.top = '-16px';
  • Classes div.className = 'ui-modal';
• Modification
  • ID div.id = 'test';
  • contents (using HTML) div.innerHTML = '<span class="msg">Hello world.</span>';
  • contents (using text) div.textContent = 'Hello world.';
• Removal div.parentNode.removeChild(div);
• Accessing
  • by ID div = document.getElementById('test');
  • by tags array = document.getElementsByTagName('div');
  • by class array = document.getElementsByClassName('ui-modal');
  • by CSS selector (single) div = document.querySelector('div #test .ui-modal');
  • by CSS selector (multi) array = document.querySelectorAll('div');
• Relations (text nodes included)
  • children node = div.childNodes[i];
  • sibling node = div.nextSibling;
• Relations (HTML elements only)
  • children element = div.children[i];
  • sibling element = div.nextElementSibling;

This covers the basics of DOM manipulation. Remember, element addition to the body or a body-contained node is required for the newly created node to be visible within the document.