How to modify Html.Node in Elm

Question

How would I go about modifying an existing Html.Node in Elm?

I would like to create a function with the following signature that would add an extra attribute to the input node.

  addAttribute : Html msg -> Attribute msg -> Html msg

Given

  node = Html.div [] [Html.text "dummy"]
  attr = Html.Attributes.style "display" : "inline-block"

a call to addAttribute node attr should return

  Html.div [Html.Attributes.style "display" "inline-block"] [Html.text "dummy"]

Answer 1

Html msg nodes are opaque by design. There is no way to access their structure and add attributes or children after they have been created.

You will need to find a different approach to building the node.

What I usually do is create some kind of Cfg msg record that is passed to some function that generates the node I need. I can then pass styles or optional children through that record.