Class ListItem

An element representing a list item. A ListItem is a Paragraph that is associated with a list ID. A ListItem may contain Equation, Footnote, HorizontalRule, InlineDrawing, InlineImage, PageBreak, and Text elements. For more information on document structure, see the guide to extending Google Docs.

ListItems may not contain new-line characters. New-line characters ("\n") are converted to line-break characters ("\r").

ListItems with the same list ID belong to the same list and are numbered accordingly. The ListItems for a given list are not required to be adjacent in the document or even have the same parent element. Two items belonging to the same list may exist anywhere in the document while maintaining consecutive numbering, as the following example illustrates:

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Append a new list item to the body.
 var item1 = body.appendListItem('Item 1');

 // Log the new list item's list ID.
 Logger.log(item1.getListId());

 // Append a table after the list item.
 body.appendTable([
   ['Cell 1', 'Cell 2']
 ]);

 // Append a second list item with the same list ID. The two items are treated as the same list,
 // despite not being consecutive.
 var item2 = body.appendListItem('Item 2');
 item2.setListId(item1);

Methods

Method	Return type	Brief description
`appendHorizontalRule()`	`HorizontalRule`	Creates and appends a new `HorizontalRule`.
`appendInlineImage(image)`	`InlineImage`	Creates and appends a new `InlineImage` from the specified image blob.
`appendInlineImage(image)`	`InlineImage`	Appends the given `InlineImage`.
`appendPageBreak()`	`PageBreak`	Creates and appends a new `PageBreak`.
`appendPageBreak(pageBreak)`	`PageBreak`	Appends the given `PageBreak`.
`appendText(text)`	`Text`	Creates and appends a new `Text` element with the specified contents.
`appendText(text)`	`Text`	Appends the given `Text` element.
`clear()`	`ListItem`	Clears the contents of the element.
`copy()`	`ListItem`	Returns a detached, deep copy of the current element.
`editAsText()`	`Text`	Obtains a `Text` version of the current element, for editing.
`findElement(elementType)`	`RangeElement`	Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type.
`findElement(elementType, from)`	`RangeElement`	Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type, starting from the specified `RangeElement`.
`findText(searchPattern)`	`RangeElement`	Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern using regular expressions.
`findText(searchPattern, from)`	`RangeElement`	Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern, starting from a given search result.
`getAlignment()`	`HorizontalAlignment`	Retrieves the `HorizontalAlignment`.
`getAttributes()`	`Object`	Retrieves the element's attributes.
`getChild(childIndex)`	`Element`	Retrieves the child element at the specified child index.
`getChildIndex(child)`	`Integer`	Retrieves the child index for the specified child element.
`getGlyphType()`	`GlyphType`	Retrieves the list item's `GlyphType`.
`getHeading()`	`ParagraphHeading`	Retrieves the `ParagraphHeading`.
`getIndentEnd()`	`Number`	Retrieves the end indentation, in points.
`getIndentFirstLine()`	`Number`	Retrieves the first line indentation, in points.
`getIndentStart()`	`Number`	Retrieves the start indentation.
`getLineSpacing()`	`Number`	Retrieves the line spacing, in points.
`getLinkUrl()`	`String`	Retrieves the link url.
`getListId()`	`String`	Retrieves the list ID.
`getNestingLevel()`	`Integer`	Retrieves the list item's nesting level.
`getNextSibling()`	`Element`	Retrieves the element's next sibling element.
`getNumChildren()`	`Integer`	Retrieves the number of children.
`getParent()`	`ContainerElement`	Retrieves the element's parent element.
`getPreviousSibling()`	`Element`	Retrieves the element's previous sibling element.
`getSpacingAfter()`	`Number`	Retrieves the spacing after the element, in points.
`getSpacingBefore()`	`Number`	Retrieves the spacing before the element, in points.
`getText()`	`String`	Retrieves the contents of the element as a text string.
`getTextAlignment()`	`TextAlignment`	Gets the text alignment.
`getType()`	`ElementType`	Retrieves the element's `ElementType`.
`insertHorizontalRule(childIndex)`	`HorizontalRule`	Creates and inserts a `HorizontalRule` at the specified index.
`insertInlineImage(childIndex, image)`	`InlineImage`	Creates and inserts a new `InlineImage` from the specified image blob, at the specified index.
`insertInlineImage(childIndex, image)`	`InlineImage`	Inserts the given `InlineImage` at the specified index.
`insertPageBreak(childIndex)`	`PageBreak`	Creates and inserts a new `PageBreak` at the specified index.
`insertPageBreak(childIndex, pageBreak)`	`PageBreak`	Inserts the given `PageBreak` at the specified index.
`insertText(childIndex, text)`	`Text`	Creates and inserts a new text element at the specified index.
`insertText(childIndex, text)`	`Text`	Inserts the given `Text` element at the specified index, with the specified text contents.
`isAtDocumentEnd()`	`Boolean`	Determines whether the element is at the end of the `Document`.
`isLeftToRight()`	`Boolean`	Retrieves the left-to-right setting.
`merge()`	`ListItem`	Merges the element with the preceding sibling of the same type.
`removeChild(child)`	`ListItem`	Removes the specified child element.
`removeFromParent()`	`ListItem`	Removes the element from its parent.
`replaceText(searchPattern, replacement)`	`Element`	Replaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions.
`setAlignment(alignment)`	`ListItem`	Sets the `HorizontalAlignment`.
`setAttributes(attributes)`	`ListItem`	Sets the element's attributes.
`setGlyphType(glyphType)`	`ListItem`	Sets the list item's `GlyphType`.
`setHeading(heading)`	`ListItem`	Sets the `ParagraphHeading`.
`setIndentEnd(indentEnd)`	`ListItem`	Sets the end indentation, in points.
`setIndentFirstLine(indentFirstLine)`	`ListItem`	Sets the first line indentation, in points.
`setIndentStart(indentStart)`	`ListItem`	Sets the start indentation, in points.
`setLeftToRight(leftToRight)`	`ListItem`	Sets the left-to-right setting.
`setLineSpacing(multiplier)`	`ListItem`	Sets the line spacing, as a quantity indicating the number of lines to use for spacing.
`setLinkUrl(url)`	`ListItem`	Sets the link url.
`setListId(listItem)`	`ListItem`	Sets the list ID.
`setNestingLevel(nestingLevel)`	`ListItem`	Sets the list item's nesting level.
`setSpacingAfter(spacingAfter)`	`ListItem`	Sets the spacing after the element, in points.
`setSpacingBefore(spacingBefore)`	`ListItem`	Sets the spacing before the element, in points.
`setText(text)`	`void`	Sets the contents of the list item as text.
`setTextAlignment(textAlignment)`	`ListItem`	Sets the text alignment.

Detailed documentation

`appendHorizontalRule()`

Creates and appends a new HorizontalRule.

Return

HorizontalRule — the new horizontal rule

`appendInlineImage(image)`

Creates and appends a new InlineImage from the specified image blob.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`image`	`BlobSource`	the image data

Return

InlineImage — the appended image

`appendInlineImage(image)`

Appends the given InlineImage.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`image`	`InlineImage`	the image data

Return

InlineImage — the appended image

`appendPageBreak()`

Creates and appends a new PageBreak.

Note: PageBreaks may not be contained within TableCells. If the current element is contained in a table cell, an exception will be thrown.

Return

PageBreak — the new page break element

`appendPageBreak(pageBreak)`

Appends the given PageBreak.

Note: PageBreaks may not be contained within TableCells. If the current element is contained in a table cell, an exception will be thrown.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`pageBreak`	`PageBreak`	the page break to append

Return

PageBreak — the appended page break element

`appendText(text)`

Creates and appends a new Text element with the specified contents.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`text`	`String`	the text contents

Return

Text — the new text element

`appendText(text)`

Appends the given Text element.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`text`	`Text`	the text element to append

Return

Text — the appended text element

`clear()`

Clears the contents of the element.

Return

ListItem — the current element

`copy()`

Returns a detached, deep copy of the current element.

Any child elements present in the element are also copied. The new element will not have a parent.

Return

ListItem — the new copy

`editAsText()`

Obtains a Text version of the current element, for editing.

Use editAsText for manipulating the elements contents as rich text. The editAsText mode ignores non-text elements (such as InlineImage and HorizontalRule).

Child elements fully contained within a deleted text range are removed from the element.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Insert two paragraphs separated by a paragraph containing an
 // horizontal rule.
 body.insertParagraph(0, "An editAsText sample.");
 body.insertHorizontalRule(0);
 body.insertParagraph(0, "An example.");

 // Delete " sample.\n\n An" removing the horizontal rule in the process.
 body.editAsText().deleteText(14, 25);

Return

Text — a text version of the current element

`findElement(elementType)`

Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`elementType`	`ElementType`	the type of element to search for

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the position of the search element

`findElement(elementType, from)`

Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type, starting from the specified RangeElement.

 

 // Get the body section of the active document.
 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Define the search parameters.
 var searchType = DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH;
 var searchHeading = DocumentApp.ParagraphHeading.HEADING1;
 var searchResult = null;

 // Search until the paragraph is found.
 while (searchResult = body.findElement(searchType, searchResult)) {
   var par = searchResult.getElement().asParagraph();
   if (par.getHeading() == searchHeading) {
     // Found one, update and stop.
     par.setText('This is the first header.');
     return;
   }
 }

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`elementType`	`ElementType`	the type of element to search for
`from`	`RangeElement`	the search result to search from

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the next position of the search element

`findText(searchPattern)`

Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern using regular expressions.

A subset of the JavaScript regular expression features are not fully supported, such as capture groups and mode modifiers.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`searchPattern`	`String`	the pattern to search for

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the position of the search text, or null if there is no match

`findText(searchPattern, from)`

Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern, starting from a given search result.

A subset of the JavaScript regular expression features are not fully supported, such as capture groups and mode modifiers.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`searchPattern`	`String`	the pattern to search for
`from`	`RangeElement`	the search result to search from

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the next position of the search text, or null if there is no match

`getAlignment()`

Retrieves the HorizontalAlignment.

Return

HorizontalAlignment — the alignment

`getAttributes()`

Retrieves the element's attributes.

The result is an object containing a property for each valid element attribute where each property name corresponds to an item in the DocumentApp.Attribute enumeration.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Append a styled paragraph.
 var par = body.appendParagraph('A bold, italicized paragraph.');
 par.setBold(true);
 par.setItalic(true);

 // Retrieve the paragraph's attributes.
 var atts = par.getAttributes();

 // Log the paragraph attributes.
 for (var att in atts) {
   Logger.log(att + ":" + atts[att]);
 }

Return

Object — the element's attributes

`getChild(childIndex)`

Retrieves the child element at the specified child index.

 

 // Get the body section of the active document.
 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Obtain the first element in the document.
 var firstChild = body.getChild(0);

 // If it's a paragraph, set its contents.
 if (firstChild.getType() == DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH) {
   firstChild.asParagraph().setText("This is the first paragraph.");
 }

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index of the child element to retrieve

Return

Element — the child element at the specified index

`getChildIndex(child)`

Retrieves the child index for the specified child element.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`child`	`Element`	the child element for which to retrieve the index

Return

Integer — the child index

`getGlyphType()`

Retrieves the list item's GlyphType.

Return

GlyphType — the glyph type

`getHeading()`

Retrieves the ParagraphHeading.

Return

ParagraphHeading — the heading

`getIndentEnd()`

Retrieves the end indentation, in points.

Return

Number — the end indentation, in points

`getIndentFirstLine()`

Retrieves the first line indentation, in points.

Return

Number — the first line indentation, in points

`getIndentStart()`

Retrieves the start indentation.

Return

Number — the start indentation

`getLineSpacing()`

Retrieves the line spacing, in points.

Return

Number — the line spacing, in points

`getLinkUrl()`

Retrieves the link url.

Return

String — the link url, or null if the element contains multiple values for this attribute

`getListId()`

Retrieves the list ID.

Return

String — the list ID

`getNestingLevel()`

Retrieves the list item's nesting level.

By default, list items have a nesting level of zero. The nesting level determines the glyph that is used by the list item.

Return

Integer — the nesting level

`getNextSibling()`

Retrieves the element's next sibling element.

The next sibling has the same parent and follows the current element.

Return

Element — the next sibling element

`getNumChildren()`

Retrieves the number of children.

 

 // Get the body section of the active document.
 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Log the number of elements in the document.
 Logger.log("There are " + body.getNumChildren() +
     " elements in the document body.");

Return

Integer — the number of children

`getParent()`

Retrieves the element's parent element.

The parent element contains the current element.

Return

ContainerElement — the parent element

`getPreviousSibling()`

Retrieves the element's previous sibling element.

The previous sibling has the same parent and precedes the current element.

Return

Element — the previous sibling element

`getSpacingAfter()`

Retrieves the spacing after the element, in points.

Return

Number — the spacing after the element, in points

`getSpacingBefore()`

Retrieves the spacing before the element, in points.

Return

Number — the spacing before the element, in points

`getText()`

Retrieves the contents of the element as a text string.

Return

String — the contents of the element as text string

`getTextAlignment()`

Gets the text alignment. The available types of alignment are DocumentApp.TextAlignment.NORMAL, DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUBSCRIPT, and DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT.

Return

TextAlignment — the type of text alignment, or null if the text contains multiple types of text alignments or if the text alignment has never been set

`getType()`

Retrieves the element's ElementType.

Use getType() to determine the exact type of a given element.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Obtain the first element in the document body.

 var firstChild = body.getChild(0);

 // Use getType() to determine the element's type.
 if (firstChild.getType() == DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH) {
   Logger.log('The first element is a paragraph.');
 } else {
   Logger.log('The first element is not a paragraph.');
 }

Return

ElementType — the element type

`insertHorizontalRule(childIndex)`

Creates and inserts a HorizontalRule at the specified index.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element

Return

HorizontalRule — the new horizontal rule element

`insertInlineImage(childIndex, image)`

Creates and inserts a new InlineImage from the specified image blob, at the specified index.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element
`image`	`BlobSource`	the image data

Return

InlineImage — the inserted inline image element

`insertInlineImage(childIndex, image)`

Inserts the given InlineImage at the specified index.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element
`image`	`InlineImage`	the image data

Return

InlineImage — the inserted inline image element

`insertPageBreak(childIndex)`

Creates and inserts a new PageBreak at the specified index.

Note: PageBreaks may not be contained within TableCells. If the current element is contained in a table cell, an exception will be thrown.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element

Return

PageBreak — the new page break element

`insertPageBreak(childIndex, pageBreak)`

Inserts the given PageBreak at the specified index.

Note: PageBreaks may not be contained within TableCells. If the current element is contained in a table cell, an exception will be thrown.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element
`pageBreak`	`PageBreak`	the p[age break to insert

Return

PageBreak — the inserted page break element

`insertText(childIndex, text)`

Creates and inserts a new text element at the specified index.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element
`text`	`String`	the text contents

Return

Text — the new text element

`insertText(childIndex, text)`

Inserts the given Text element at the specified index, with the specified text contents.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`childIndex`	`Integer`	the index at which to insert the element
`text`	`Text`	the text element to insert

Return

Text — the inserted text element

`isAtDocumentEnd()`

Determines whether the element is at the end of the Document.

Return

Boolean — whether the element is at the end of the document

`isLeftToRight()`

Retrieves the left-to-right setting.

Return

Boolean — the left-to-right setting

`merge()`

Merges the element with the preceding sibling of the same type.

Only elements of the same ElementType may be merged. Any child elements contained in the current element are moved to the preceding sibling element.

The current element is removed from the document.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Append two paragraphs to the document.
 var par1 = body.appendParagraph('Paragraph 1.');
 var par2 = body.appendParagraph('Paragraph 2.');

 // Merge the newly added paragraphs into a single paragraph.
 par2.merge();

Return

ListItem — the merged element

`removeChild(child)`

Removes the specified child element.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`child`	`Element`	the child element to remove

Return

ListItem — the current element

`removeFromParent()`

Removes the element from its parent.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Remove all images in the document body.
 var imgs = body.getImages();
 for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) {
   imgs[i].removeFromParent();
 }

Return

ListItem — the removed element

`replaceText(searchPattern, replacement)`

Replaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions.

A subset of the JavaScript regular expression features are not fully supported, such as capture groups and mode modifiers.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Clear the text surrounding "Apps Script", with or without text.
 body.replaceText("^.*Apps ?Script.*$", "Apps Script");

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`searchPattern`	`String`	the regex pattern to search for
`replacement`	`String`	the text to use as replacement

Return

Element — the current element

`setAlignment(alignment)`

Sets the HorizontalAlignment.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`alignment`	`HorizontalAlignment`	the horizontal alignment

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setAttributes(attributes)`

Sets the element's attributes.

The specified attributes parameter must be an object where each property name is an item in the DocumentApp.Attribute enumeration and each property value is the new value to be applied.

 

 var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

 // Define a custom paragraph style.
 var style = {};
 style[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] =
     DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT;
 style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_FAMILY] = 'Calibri';
 style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 18;
 style[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = true;

 // Append a plain paragraph.
 var par = body.appendParagraph('A paragraph with custom style.');

 // Apply the custom style.
 par.setAttributes(style);

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`attributes`	`Object`	the element's attributes

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setGlyphType(glyphType)`

Sets the list item's GlyphType.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`glyphType`	`GlyphType`	the glyph type

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setHeading(heading)`

Sets the ParagraphHeading.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`heading`	`ParagraphHeading`	the heading

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setIndentEnd(indentEnd)`

Sets the end indentation, in points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`indentEnd`	`Number`	the end indentation, in points

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setIndentFirstLine(indentFirstLine)`

Sets the first line indentation, in points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`indentFirstLine`	`Number`	the first line indentation, in points

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setIndentStart(indentStart)`

Sets the start indentation, in points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`indentStart`	`Number`	the start indentation, in points

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setLeftToRight(leftToRight)`

Sets the left-to-right setting.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`leftToRight`	`Boolean`	the left-to-right setting

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setLineSpacing(multiplier)`

Sets the line spacing, as a quantity indicating the number of lines to use for spacing.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`multiplier`	`Number`	the number of lines

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setLinkUrl(url)`

Sets the link url.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`url`	`String`	the link url

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setListId(listItem)`

Sets the list ID.

The list ID is set to the same value for the specified ListItem. The two ListItems will be treated as members of the same list.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`listItem`	`ListItem`	the list item whose list ID to use

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setNestingLevel(nestingLevel)`

Sets the list item's nesting level.

By default, list items have a nesting level of zero. The nesting level determines the glyph that is used by the list item.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`nestingLevel`	`Integer`	the nesting level

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setSpacingAfter(spacingAfter)`

Sets the spacing after the element, in points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`spacingAfter`	`Number`	the spacing after the element, in points

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setSpacingBefore(spacingBefore)`

Sets the spacing before the element, in points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`spacingBefore`	`Number`	the spacing before the element, in points

Return

ListItem — the current element

`setText(text)`

Sets the contents of the list item as text.

Note: existing contents are cleared.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`text`	`String`	the new text contents

`setTextAlignment(textAlignment)`

Sets the text alignment. The available types of alignment are DocumentApp.TextAlignment.NORMAL, DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUBSCRIPT, and DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT.

 

 // Make the entire first paragraph be superscript.
 var text = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody().getParagraphs()[0].editAsText();
 text.setTextAlignment(DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT);

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`textAlignment`	`TextAlignment`	the type of text alignment to apply

Return

ListItem — the current element