Width and Height Getter Functions for HTML Elements

Updated on 7/13/2008.

The following are two similiar functions you may find useful. When called on an element, they can return (in pixels) either:

• The width/height
• The width/height including padding
• The width/height including borders
• The width/height including padding and borders (basically offsetWidth/offsetHeight)

The functions work on any(?) block element, regardless of whether or not it has a predefined width/height. They have been successfully tested in Windows versions of Internet Explorer 6 - 7, Firefox 1.5 - 3, Opera 9 and Safari 3.

Below this function is a small demo and here you can find the test page (with an additional dynamic style change test).

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// USED FOR GETTING THE COMPUTED WIDTH OF AN ELEMENT IN PIXELS
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
var getWidth = function (/* Object */ el, /* boolean */ includePadding, /* boolean */ includeBorder) {
    var width;
    el = (typeof(el) === "string") ? document.getElementById(el) : el;	
    
    if (window.getComputedStyle) { /* FF, Safari, Opera */
        var style = document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(el, null);
        if (style.getPropertyValue("display") === "none")
            return 0;
        width = parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("width"));
        
        if (window.opera && !document.getElementsByClassName) {
            /* Opera 9.25 includes the padding and border when reporting the width/height - subtract that out */
            width -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-left"));
            width -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-right"));
            width -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-left-width"));
            width -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-right-width"));
        }
        
        if (includePadding) {
            width += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-left"));
            width += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-right"));
        }
        
        if (includeBorder) {
            width += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-left-width"));
            width += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-right-width"));
        }
    } else { /* IE */
        if (el.currentStyle["display"] === "none")
            return 0;
        var bRegex = /thin|medium|thick/; /* Regex for css border width keywords */
        width = el.offsetWidth; /* Currently the width including padding + border */
        
        if (!includeBorder) {
            var borderLeftCSS = el.currentStyle["borderLeftWidth"];
            var borderRightCSS = el.currentStyle["borderRightWidth"];
            var temp = document.createElement("DIV");
            if (el.offsetWidth > el.clientWidth && el.currentStyle["borderLeftStyle"] !== "none") {
                if (!bRegex.test(borderLeftCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = borderLeftCSS;
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    width -= temp.offsetWidth;
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                } else if (bRegex.test(borderLeftCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = "10px";
                    temp.style.border = borderLeftCSS + " " + el.currentStyle["borderLeftStyle"] + " #000000";
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    width -= Math.round((temp.offsetWidth-10)/2);
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                }
            }
            if (el.offsetWidth > el.clientWidth && el.currentStyle["borderRightStyle"] !== "none") {
                if (!bRegex.test(borderRightCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = borderRightCSS;
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    width -= temp.offsetWidth;
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                } else if (bRegex.test(borderRightCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = "10px";
                    temp.style.border = borderRightCSS + " " + el.currentStyle["borderRightStyle"] + " #000000";
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    width -= Math.round((temp.offsetWidth-10)/2);
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                }
            }
        }
        
        if (!includePadding) {
            var paddingLeftCSS = el.currentStyle["paddingLeft"];
            var paddingRightCSS = el.currentStyle["paddingRight"];
            var temp = document.createElement("DIV");
            temp.style.width = paddingLeftCSS;
            el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
            width -= temp.offsetWidth;
            temp.style.width = paddingRightCSS;
            width -= temp.offsetWidth;
            el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
        }
    }
    
    return width;
};

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// USED FOR GETTING THE COMPUTED HEIGHT OF AN ELEMENT IN PIXELS
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
var getHeight = function (/* Object */ el, /* boolean */ includePadding, /* boolean */ includeBorder) {
    var height;
    el = (typeof(el) === "string") ? document.getElementById(el) : el;
    
    if (window.getComputedStyle) { /* FF, Safari, Opera */
        var style = document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(el, null);
        if (style.getPropertyValue("display") === "none")
            return 0;
        height = parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("height"));
        
        if (window.opera && !document.getElementsByClassName) {
            /* Opera 9.25 includes the padding and border when reporting the width/height - subtract that out */
            height -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-top"));
            height -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-bottom"));
            height -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-top-width"));
            height -= parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-bottom-width"));
        }
        
        if (includePadding) {
            height += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-top"));
            height += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("padding-bottom"));
        }
        
        if (includeBorder) {
            height += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-top-width"));
            height += parseInt(style.getPropertyValue("border-bottom-width"));
        }
    } else { /* IE */
        if (el.currentStyle["display"] === "none")
            return 0;
        var bRegex = /thin|medium|thick/; /* Regex for css border width keywords */
        height = el.offsetHeight; /* Currently the height including padding + border */
    
        if (!includeBorder) {
            var borderTopCSS = el.currentStyle["borderTopWidth"];
            var borderBottomCSS = el.currentStyle["borderBottomWidth"];
            var temp = document.createElement("DIV");
            if (el.offsetHeight > el.clientHeight && el.currentStyle["borderTopStyle"] !== "none") {
                if (!bRegex.test(borderTopCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = borderTopCSS;
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    height -= temp.offsetWidth;
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                } else if (bRegex.test(borderTopCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = "10px";
                    temp.style.border = borderTopCSS + " " + el.currentStyle["borderTopStyle"] + " #000000";
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    height -= Math.round((temp.offsetWidth-10)/2);
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                }
            }
            if (el.offsetHeight > el.clientHeight && el.currentStyle["borderBottomStyle"] !== "none") {
                if (!bRegex.test(borderBottomCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = borderBottomCSS;
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    height -= temp.offsetWidth;
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                } else if (bRegex.test(borderBottomCSS)) {
                    temp.style.width = "10px";
                    temp.style.border = borderBottomCSS + " " + el.currentStyle["borderBottomStyle"] + " #000000";
                    el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
                    height -= Math.round((temp.offsetWidth-10)/2);
                    el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
                }
            }
        }
    
        if (!includePadding) {
            var paddingTopCSS = el.currentStyle["paddingTop"];
            var paddingBottomCSS = el.currentStyle["paddingBottom"];
            var temp = document.createElement("DIV");
            temp.style.width = paddingTopCSS;
            el.parentNode.appendChild(temp);
            height -= temp.offsetWidth;
            temp.style.width = paddingBottomCSS;
            height -= temp.offsetWidth;
            el.parentNode.removeChild(temp);
        }
    }
    
    return height;
};
 

Demo

Enter some valid CSS values then create a new div (include "px", "em", "pt", "%")

I'm going to work again on these functions to make them smaller/faster, however in the meantime if anyone sees anything blatant or has a good idea please do comment. Oh and any bugs you find please let me know too ; ) Thanks!