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!

Answer 1

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

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

Answer 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

Answer 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