## Node class

Base class for all nodes of a Word document.

To learn more, visit the [Aspose.Words Document Object Model (DOM)](https://docs.aspose.com/words/net/aspose-words-document-object-model/) documentation article.

```csharp
public abstract class Node
```

## Properties

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [CustomNodeId](../../aspose.words/node/customnodeid/) { get; set; } | Specifies custom node identifier. |
| virtual [Document](../../aspose.words/node/document/) { get; } | Gets the document to which this node belongs. |
| virtual [IsComposite](../../aspose.words/node/iscomposite/) { get; } | Returns `true` if this node can contain other nodes. |
| [NextSibling](../../aspose.words/node/nextsibling/) { get; } | Gets the node immediately following this node. |
| abstract [NodeType](../../aspose.words/node/nodetype/) { get; } | Gets the type of this node. |
| [ParentNode](../../aspose.words/node/parentnode/) { get; } | Gets the immediate parent of this node. |
| [PreviousSibling](../../aspose.words/node/previoussibling/) { get; } | Gets the node immediately preceding this node. |
| [Range](../../aspose.words/node/range/) { get; } | Returns a [`Range`](../range/) object that represents the portion of a document that is contained in this node. |

## Methods

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| abstract [Accept](../../aspose.words/node/accept/)(*[DocumentVisitor](../documentvisitor/)*) | Accepts a visitor. |
| [Clone](../../aspose.words/node/clone/)(*bool*) | Creates a duplicate of the node. |
| [GetAncestor](../../aspose.words/node/getancestor/#getancestor)(*[NodeType](../nodetype/)*) | Gets the first ancestor of the specified [`NodeType`](../nodetype/). |
| [GetAncestor](../../aspose.words/node/getancestor/#getancestor_1)(*Type*) | Gets the first ancestor of the specified object type. |
| virtual [GetText](../../aspose.words/node/gettext/)() | Gets the text of this node and of all its children. |
| [NextPreOrder](../../aspose.words/node/nextpreorder/)(*Node*) | Gets next node according to the pre-order tree traversal algorithm. |
| [PreviousPreOrder](../../aspose.words/node/previouspreorder/)(*Node*) | Gets the previous node according to the pre-order tree traversal algorithm. |
| [Remove](../../aspose.words/node/remove/)() | Removes itself from the parent. |
| [ToString](../../aspose.words/node/tostring/#tostring_1)(*[SaveFormat](../saveformat/)*) | Exports the content of the node into a string in the specified format. |
| [ToString](../../aspose.words/node/tostring/#tostring_2)(*[SaveOptions](../../aspose.words.saving/saveoptions/)*) | Exports the content of the node into a string using the specified save options. |
| static [NodeTypeToString](../../aspose.words/node/nodetypetostring/)(*[NodeType](../nodetype/)*) | A utility method that converts a node type enum value into a user friendly string. |

## Remarks

A document is represented as a tree of nodes, similar to DOM or XmlDocument.

For more info see the Composite design pattern.

The `Node` class:

* Defines the child node interface.
* Defines the interface for visiting nodes.
* Provides default cloning capability.
* Implements parent node and owner document mechanisms.
* Implements access to sibling nodes.

## Examples

Shows how to clone a composite node.

```csharp
Document doc = new Document();
Paragraph para = doc.FirstSection.Body.FirstParagraph;
para.AppendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello world!"));

// Below are two ways of cloning a composite node.
// 1 -  Create a clone of a node, and create a clone of each of its child nodes as well.
Node cloneWithChildren = para.Clone(true);

Assert.That(((CompositeNode)cloneWithChildren).HasChildNodes, Is.True);
Assert.That(cloneWithChildren.GetText().Trim(), Is.EqualTo("Hello world!"));

// 2 -  Create a clone of a node just by itself without any children.
Node cloneWithoutChildren = para.Clone(false);

Assert.That(((CompositeNode)cloneWithoutChildren).HasChildNodes, Is.False);
Assert.That(cloneWithoutChildren.GetText().Trim(), Is.EqualTo(string.Empty));
```

Shows how to traverse through a composite node's collection of child nodes.

```csharp
Document doc = new Document();

// Add two runs and one shape as child nodes to the first paragraph of this document.
Paragraph paragraph = (Paragraph)doc.GetChild(NodeType.Paragraph, 0, true);
paragraph.AppendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello world! "));

Shape shape = new Shape(doc, ShapeType.Rectangle);
shape.Width = 200;
shape.Height = 200;
// Note that the 'CustomNodeId' is not saved to an output file and exists only during the node lifetime.
shape.CustomNodeId = 100;
shape.WrapType = WrapType.Inline;
paragraph.AppendChild(shape);

paragraph.AppendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello again!"));

// Iterate through the paragraph's collection of immediate children,
// and print any runs or shapes that we find within.
NodeCollection children = paragraph.GetChildNodes(NodeType.Any, false);

Assert.That(paragraph.GetChildNodes(NodeType.Any, false).Count, Is.EqualTo(3));

foreach (Node child in children)
    switch (child.NodeType)
    {
        case NodeType.Run:
            Console.WriteLine("Run contents:");
            Console.WriteLine($"\t\"{child.GetText().Trim()}\"");
            break;
        case NodeType.Shape:
            Shape childShape = (Shape)child;
            Console.WriteLine("Shape:");
            Console.WriteLine($"\t{childShape.ShapeType}, {childShape.Width}x{childShape.Height}");
            break;
    }
```

Shows how to remove all child nodes of a specific type from a composite node.

```csharp
Document doc = new Document(MyDir + "Tables.docx");

Assert.That(doc.GetChildNodes(NodeType.Table, true).Count, Is.EqualTo(2));

Node curNode = doc.FirstSection.Body.FirstChild;

while (curNode != null)
{
    // Save the next sibling node as a variable in case we want to move to it after deleting this node.
    Node nextNode = curNode.NextSibling;

    // A section body can contain Paragraph and Table nodes.
    // If the node is a Table, remove it from the parent.
    if (curNode.NodeType == NodeType.Table)
        curNode.Remove();

    curNode = nextNode;
}

Assert.That(doc.GetChildNodes(NodeType.Table, true).Count, Is.EqualTo(0));
```

### See Also

* namespace [Aspose.Words](../../aspose.words/)
* assembly [Aspose.Words](../../)