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<DOMDocument::getElementsByTagNameNSDOMDocument::load>
^DOMDocumentLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026

DOMDocument::importNode

(PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

DOMDocument::importNode — Import node into current document

Description

public function DOMDocument::importNode(DOMNode $node, bool $deep = false): DOMNode|false

This function returns a copy of the node to import and associates it with the current document.

Parameters

node

The node to import.

deep

If set to true, this method will recursively import the subtree under the node.

Note:

To copy the nodes attributes deep needs to be set to true

Return Values

The copied node or false, if it cannot be copied.

Errors/Exceptions

DOMException is thrown if node cannot be imported.

Examples

Example #1 DOMDocument::importNode() example

Copying nodes between documents.

<?php

$orgdoc = new DOMDocument;
$orgdoc->loadXML("<root><element><child>text in child</child></element></root>");

// The node we want to import to a new document
$node = $orgdoc->getElementsByTagName("element")->item(0);


// Create a new document
$newdoc = new DOMDocument;
$newdoc->formatOutput = true;

// Add some markup
$newdoc->loadXML("<root><someelement>text in some element</someelement></root>");

echo "The 'new document' before copying nodes into it:\n";
echo $newdoc->saveXML();

// Import the node, and all its children, to the document
$node = $newdoc->importNode($node, true);
// And then append it to the "<root>" node
$newdoc->documentElement->appendChild($node);

echo "\nThe 'new document' after copying the nodes into it:\n";
echo $newdoc->saveXML();
?>

The above example will output:

The 'new document' before copying nodes into it:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <someelement>text in some element</someelement>
</root>

The 'new document' after copying the nodes into it:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <someelement>text in some element</someelement>
  <element>
    <child>text in child</child>
  </element>
</root>


<DOMDocument::getElementsByTagNameNSDOMDocument::load>
^DOMDocumentLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026