dom-serializer

What is dom-serializer?

The dom-serializer package is used to serialize DOM nodes to a string representation, typically HTML or XML. It is useful for transforming the DOM tree into a textual format that can be saved, transmitted, or manipulated as a string.

What are dom-serializer's main functionalities?

Serializing DOM nodes to HTML

This feature allows you to serialize a DOM node into an HTML string. The code sample demonstrates how to serialize a simple DOM element using dom-serializer.

const serialize = require('dom-serializer');
const dom = require('domhandler');
const root = new dom.Element('div', { class: 'container' });
const serialized = serialize(root);
console.log(serialized); // Outputs: <div class="container"></div>

Custom formatting options

dom-serializer allows for custom formatting options such as xmlMode, decodeEntities, and selfClosingTags. This code sample shows how to serialize a DOM element with XML formatting.

const serialize = require('dom-serializer');
const dom = require('domhandler');
const root = new dom.Element('div', { class: 'container' });
const options = { xmlMode: true };
const serialized = serialize(root, options);
console.log(serialized); // Outputs: <div class="container"/>

Other packages similar to dom-serializer

parse5

parse5 is a fast full-featured HTML parsing and serialization library. It provides a variety of modules for parsing, serializing, and manipulating HTML documents. Compared to dom-serializer, parse5 offers a more comprehensive suite of HTML processing capabilities.

jsdom

jsdom is a pure-JavaScript implementation of many web standards, notably the WHATWG DOM and HTML Standards. It creates a virtual DOM and is capable of serializing and manipulating it. While dom-serializer focuses on serialization, jsdom offers a broader range of features including DOM emulation, scripting, and event simulation.

htmlparser2

htmlparser2 is a forgiving HTML and XML parser. It can also be used in conjunction with domhandler to create a DOM tree which can then be serialized. It is similar to dom-serializer in that it can be used to serialize DOM structures, but it also includes robust parsing capabilities.

README

dom-serializer

Renders a domhandler DOM node or an array of domhandler DOM nodes to a string.

import render from "dom-serializer";

// OR

const render = require("dom-serializer").default;

API

render

▸ render(node: Node | Node[], options?: Options): string

Renders a DOM node or an array of DOM nodes to a string.

Can be thought of as the equivalent of the outerHTML of the passed node(s).

Parameters:

Name	Type	Default value	Description
node	Node | Node[]	-	Node to be rendered.
options	DomSerializerOptions	{}	Changes serialization behavior

Returns: string

Options

encodeEntities

• Optional decodeEntities: boolean | "utf8"

Encode characters that are either reserved in HTML or XML.

If xmlMode is true or the value not 'utf8', characters outside of the utf8 range will be encoded as well.

default decodeEntities

decodeEntities

• Optional decodeEntities: boolean

Option inherited from parsing; will be used as the default value for encodeEntities.

default true

emptyAttrs

• Optional emptyAttrs: boolean

Print an empty attribute's value.

default xmlMode

example With emptyAttrs: false: <input checked>

example With emptyAttrs: true: <input checked="">

selfClosingTags

• Optional selfClosingTags: boolean

Print self-closing tags for tags without contents.

default xmlMode

example With selfClosingTags: false: <foo></foo>

example With selfClosingTags: true: <foo />

xmlMode

• Optional xmlMode: boolean | "foreign"

Treat the input as an XML document; enables the emptyAttrs and selfClosingTags options.

If the value is "foreign", it will try to correct mixed-case attribute names.

default false

Ecosystem

Name	Description
htmlparser2	Fast & forgiving HTML/XML parser
domhandler	Handler for htmlparser2 that turns documents into a DOM
domutils	Utilities for working with domhandler's DOM
css-select	CSS selector engine, compatible with domhandler's DOM
cheerio	The jQuery API for domhandler's DOM
dom-serializer	Serializer for domhandler's DOM

LICENSE: MIT