Check if variable is a valid node element
How can I change a JS element to see if it is a node or an empty variable? user113716 It depends on what you mean by an empty variable. If you mean it hasn't had a value assigned, you can check for undefined alert( someVariable !== "undefined" ); Or if you know it has a value, and need to see if it is an element, you could do something like this: alert( someVariable && someVariable.nodeType ); Or if you need to verify that it is a type 1 element, you could do this: alert( someVariable && someVariable.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE ); This eliminates text nodes, attribute nodes, comments, and a