javascripthtmlinsertadjacenthtml

insertAdjacentHTML not working with created element


I want to display a table after an h1 with an id of pageHeading. The HTML for the h1 is hardcoded: <h1 id="pageHeading">Table</h1>

const pageHeading = document.querySelector("#pageHeading")

The table is created with Javascript:

const table = document.createElement("table")
table.setAttribute("id", "table")

I tried the following:

document.body.appendChild(table)

This prints the table but after the last HTML element on the page.

Then I tried:

tableHeading.appendChild(table)

This prints the table but INSIDE the h1.

Finally, I tried:

pageHeading.insertAdjacentHTML(
  "afterend",
  table
)

This doesn't print the table at all. Instead I get (after the h1):

[object HTMLTableElement]

Could this be because I'm using .insertAdjacentHTML on the table contents (see full code below)?

const tableHeaders = [{
  titleOne: "Name",
  titleTwo: "Age",
  titleThree: "Nationality",
}, ]

const persons = [{
    name: "James",
    age: "23",
    nationality: "English",
  },

  {
    name: "Isabella",
    age: "21",
    nationality: "Italian",
  },

  {
    name: "Hank",
    age: "25",
    nationality: "American",
  },

  {
    name: "Manon",
    age: "27",
    nationality: "French",
  },
]
const pageHeading = document.querySelector("#pageHeading")

const table = document.createElement("table")
table.setAttribute("id", "table")
/* document.body.appendChild(table) this puts table AFTER the last item in the body <h2>Test</h2> */
/* tableHeading.appendChild(table) this puts table INSIDE <h1 id="tableHeading">Table</h1> */
pageHeading.insertAdjacentHTML(
  "afterend",
  table
) /* this returns: [object HTMLTableElement] */

const headers = tableHeaders.map(header => {
  let ths = `<tr><th>${header.titleOne}</th><th>${header.titleTwo}</th><th>${header.titleThree}</th></tr>`

  table.insertAdjacentHTML("afterbegin", ths)
})

const personDetails = persons.map(person => {
  let tds = `<tr><td>${person.name}</td><td>${person.age}</td><td>${person.nationality}</td></tr>`

  table.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeEnd", tds)
})
<h1 id="pageHeading">Table</h1>

<h2>Test</h2>


Solution

  • Instead of use insertAdjacentHTML you need insertAdjacentElement because is a element not an html string like:

    const tableHeaders = [{
      titleOne: "Name",
      titleTwo: "Age",
      titleThree: "Nationality",
    }, ]
    
    const persons = [{
        name: "James",
        age: "23",
        nationality: "English",
      },
    
      {
        name: "Isabella",
        age: "21",
        nationality: "Italian",
      },
    
      {
        name: "Hank",
        age: "25",
        nationality: "American",
      },
    
      {
        name: "Manon",
        age: "27",
        nationality: "French",
      },
    ]
    const pageHeading = document.querySelector("#pageHeading")
    
    const table = document.createElement("table")
    table.setAttribute("id", "table")
    /* document.body.appendChild(table) this puts table AFTER the last item in the body <h2>Test</h2> */
    /* tableHeading.appendChild(table) this puts table INSIDE <h1 id="tableHeading">Table</h1> */
    
    pageHeading.insertAdjacentElement(
      "afterend",
      table
    ) /* this returns: [object HTMLTableElement] */
    
    const headers = tableHeaders.map(header => {
      let ths = `<tr><th>${header.titleOne}</th><th>${header.titleTwo}</th><th>${header.titleThree}</th></tr>`
    
      table.insertAdjacentHTML("afterbegin", ths)
    })
    
    const personDetails = persons.map(person => {
      let tds = `<tr><td>${person.name}</td><td>${person.age}</td><td>${person.nationality}</td></tr>`
    
      table.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeEnd", tds)
    })
    <h1 id="pageHeading">Table</h1>
    
    <h2>Test</h2>

    Reference: