How do I add a non-breaking whitespace in JavaScript without using innerHTML?

Question

I'm generating content dynamically and in some instances, I need to set a   as the only content of a <span> element.

However, the following adds   as text vs adding a empty space:

var foo = document.createElement("span")
foo = document.createTextNode(" ");

which makes sense, so I'm wondering, how would I add   correctly without (!) using innerHTML

Thanks for help!

Solution 1

You can use a unicode literal for a non breaking space:

var foo = document.createTextNode("\u00A0");

Solution 2

If you don't want to use innerHTML, you can use a hexadecimal escape.

The most common:

• \x20 – standard space or \s
• \xC2\xA0 – non-breaking space or  
• \x0D – carriage return or \r
• \x0A – newline or \n
• \x09 – tab or \t

In your case: \xC2\xA0

Solution 3

Append the non breaking space to your parent node, let us refer to it as "parent" below i.e.:

parent.append("\u00A0");

source: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/ParentNode/append

Comments

[CodeFanatic]

Check out this site for more Information[link] utf8-chartable.de/…

[Combine]

text = text.replace(/\s/g, '\u00A0'); - replaces all spaces with their unicode literal

[Grant Birchmeier]

This is perfect. It also works in the JQuery text() command: link.text("(hide\u00A0info)");

[Bob]

I see you are new to the platform. You should not answer a question unless you have something that was not covered by the existing answers.

[Admin]

I believe that the use of .innerHTML is a bad choice for a adding a simple   as it is very slow and also may add to security risk; thus my answer should be seen in that context.

[Bob]

So, make your point in the answer :) explain why innerHTML is a bad choice, add references, you can create code snippets and you may show that it is slow. And welcome to the comunity