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HTMLSelectElement: add() method

The HTMLSelectElement.add() method adds an element to the collection of option elements for this select element.

Syntax

js

add(item)
add(item, before)

Parameters

item

An HTMLOptionElement or HTMLOptGroupElement

before Optional

An element of the collection, or an index of type long, representing the item should be inserted before. If this parameter is null (or the index does not exist), the new element is appended to the end of the collection.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

HierarchyRequestError DOMException

Thrown if the item passed to the method is an ancestor of the HTMLSelectElement.

Examples

Creating Elements from Scratch

js

const sel = document.createElement("select");
const opt1 = document.createElement("option");
const opt2 = document.createElement("option");

opt1.value = "1";
opt1.text = "Option: Value 1";

opt2.value = "2";
opt2.text = "Option: Value 2";

sel.add(opt1, null);
sel.add(opt2, null);

/*
  Produces the following, conceptually:

  <select>
    <option value="1">Option: Value 1</option>
    <option value="2">Option: Value 2</option>
  </select>
*/

The before parameter is optional. So the following is accepted.

js

sel.add(opt1);
sel.add(opt2);

Append to an Existing Collection

js

const sel = document.getElementById("existingList");

const opt = document.createElement("option");
opt.value = "3";
opt.text = "Option: Value 3";

sel.add(opt, null);

/*
  Takes the existing following select object:

  <select id="existingList">
    <option value="1">Option: Value 1</option>
    <option value="2">Option: Value 2</option>
  </select>

  And changes it to:

  <select id="existingList">
    <option value="1">Option: Value 1</option>
    <option value="2">Option: Value 2</option>
    <option value="3">Option: Value 3</option>
  </select>
*/

The before parameter is optional. So the following is accepted.

js

sel.add(opt);

Inserting to an Existing Collection

js

const sel = document.getElementById("existingList");

const opt = document.createElement("option");
opt.value = "3";
opt.text = "Option: Value 3";

sel.add(opt, sel.options[1]);

/*
  Takes the existing following select object:

  <select id="existingList">
    <option value="1">Option: Value 1</option>
    <option value="2">Option: Value 2</option>
  </select>

  And changes it to:

  <select id="existingList">
    <option value="1">Option: Value 1</option>
    <option value="3">Option: Value 3</option>
    <option value="2">Option: Value 2</option>
  </select>
*/

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# dom-select-add-dev

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
add 1 12 1 5.5 ≤12.1 3 4.4 18 4 ≤12.1 1 1.0
index_before_parameter 35 12 8 5.5 22 9 37 35 8 22 9 3.0

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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLSelectElement/add