Range.commonAncestorContainer

The Range.commonAncestorContainer read-only property returns the deepest — or furthest down the document tree — Node that contains both boundary points of the range. This means that if Range.startContainer and Range.endContainer both refer to the same node, this node is the commonAncestorContainer.

Since a Range need not be continuous, and may also partially select nodes, this is a convenient way to find a Node which encloses a Range.

This property is read-only. To change the ancestor container of a Node, consider using the various methods to set the start and end positions of the Range.

Syntax

JavaScript
rangeAncestor = range.commonAncestorContainer;

Example

JavaScript
var range = document.createRange();

range.setStart(startNode,startOffset);
range.setEnd(endNode,endOffset);
rangeAncestor = range.commonAncestorContainer;

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM
The definition of 'Range.commonAncestorContainer' in that specification.
Living Standard No change.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Traversal and Range Specification
The definition of 'Range.commonAncestorContainer' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial specification.

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) 9.0 9.0 (Yes)
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) 1.0 (1.0) 9.0 9.0 (Yes)

See also

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/api/range/commonancestorcontainer

API DOM Property Range