Is there a way to have get() returning a jQuery object instead of "just" the DOM element?
Example:
$("div").get(0) returns [<div></div>] instad of <div></div>.
I'd like to prevent overwrapping like $($("div).get(0)) because the query will get a little bit longer than the example and I fear the readability gets lost. I'd rather not use variables to save unnecessary DOM elements in the RAM, either.
Use eq() to return the jquery object instead of get()
$("div").eq(0)
Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the .eq()
method constructs a new jQuery object from one element within that
set. The supplied index identifies the position of this element in the
set, jQuery doc
You would use eq:
$("div").eq(0)
Use eq() instead , which will return jQuery object
$("div").eq(0)
Also try this also:
$('div:first')
Related
When accessing an array, when is it appropriate to use the .eq() function?
For example, I have...
slides.eq(slidesLength-1).css("z-index", (slidesLength-1));
and later I have...
for(i=0; i<slidesLength-1; i++) {
$(slides[i]).css("left", "-100%");
}
In the first piece of code, the slideshow stops functioning if I don's use the .eq() function. However, the second piece seems to function whether I use the .eq() function or not. Why is this?
slides is not an array. It's a jQuery object. The .eq() method returns you the element at the specified index as a jQuery object.
While jQuery objects may not be arrays, they can pretend to be by having a length property as well as properties corresponding to the indexes. (Since they are not arrays, you can't call methods like .pop(), .forEach(), etc. on them.)
When you do slides[i], you are actually getting the DOM element, not a jQuery object. The $() function turns the DOM element into a jQuery object.
So, when you do slides.eq(1), internally jQuery is doing $(slides[i]).
P.S. Objects, like jQuery objects, that pretend to be arrays are called "array-like objects". If you console.log(slides), it may look like an array. This is just your console trying to make things convenient for you. (See this question for more info: Creating array-like objects in JavaScript)
.eq() is a jQuery method which returns a jQuery object, while accessing by index returns plain DOM element. You should use eq() when you want to use jQuery methods (css() in this case) on the returned selection.
The reason $(slides[i]) works is because you're constructing a jQuery object by passing the plain element to $() constructor.
Your slides variable is not an Array, but a jQuery object.
.eq() returns a jQuery object, eventually empty if index is out of bounds, and a negative index is counted from the end.
.get() returns a DOM Element, or undefined if index is out of bounds, and a negative index is counted from the end.
[] returns a DOM Element, or throw an Error if index is out of bounds.
...
Additionally, jQuery methods let you interact with a set of elements as it was alone. So you if you do:
slides.css("left", "-100%");
It is applied on every matched elements contained in the jQuery object. It is unnecessary to loop over them.
...
Also the preferred way to loop over matched elements is using the each() method:
slides.each(function (i, el) {
var $el = $(el);
});
...
Also it is an established convention to prefix jQuery variables with a $ sign; it let you to easily differentiate DOM elements from jQuery objects. But that's only a matter of taste.
I'm trying to get the children of the nth element returned by a jquery call. For example:
var kids = $('div')[7].children();
However, I keep getting this error with respect to children():
Uncaught TypeError: object is not a function
Can someone explain why this happens? children() works fine as long as I'm not calling it on an indexed element.
It's because it is no longer a jQuery object after you specify an index [7]. Thus, you are calling a jQuery method on a DOM element (which doesn't work).
You could use the .eq() method instead:
$('div').eq(7).children();
You could also use:
$($('div')[7]).children();
It's worth pointing out that this would work because the DOM element is wrapped in $() - thus turning it into a jQuery object.
You're using children method in javascript object i.e. $('div')[7]. To work with jquery method you need to use jquery object instead of javascript object.
Use eq method:
var kids = $('div').eq(7).children();
When you use array syntax with a jquery list you get back a document node, not a jquery element. Use $('div').eq(7).children() instead.
Why is it when I select html elements using .get(i) or similar methods, I am unable to use methods on those elements like the .removeClass() or .html().
I would think that the code below is perfectly valid, yet neither lines work. What do I need to do to apply jQuery methods to an element based on its ordinal index in the DOM?
($('li').get(0)).removeClass('yourClass');
$('li')[0].addClass('myClass');
Here is an example of the issue: http://jsfiddle.net/KcNWy/2/
Check the documentation:
The .get() method grants us access to the DOM nodes underlying each jQuery object.
You can DOM object into jQuery object again: $($('li').get(0)). Or, better yet, use eq: $('li').eq(0).
And also a debugging hint. You can use in firefox/chrome/safari console.log(myObject) to see what's actually returned.
The get() method passes back the DOM object
Retrieve the DOM elements matched by the jQuery object.
Try this instead:
$("li:eq(" + 0 + ")").removeClass("yourClass")
Working example: http://jsfiddle.net/KcNWy/6/
Is this:
var contents = document.getElementById('contents');
The same as this:
var contents = $('#contents');
Given that jQuery is loaded?
Not exactly!!
document.getElementById('contents'); //returns a HTML DOM Object
var contents = $('#contents'); //returns a jQuery Object
In jQuery, to get the same result as document.getElementById, you can access the jQuery Object and get the first element in the object (Remember JavaScript objects act similar to associative arrays).
var contents = $('#contents')[0]; //returns a HTML DOM Object
No.
Calling document.getElementById('id') will return a raw DOM object.
Calling $('#id') will return a jQuery object that wraps the DOM object and provides jQuery methods.
Thus, you can only call jQuery methods like css() or animate() on the $() call.
You can also write $(document.getElementById('id')), which will return a jQuery object and is equivalent to $('#id').
You can get the underlying DOM object from a jQuery object by writing $('#id')[0].
Close, but not the same. They're getting the same element, but the jQuery version is wrapped in a jQuery object.
The equivalent would be this
var contents = $('#contents').get(0);
or this
var contents = $('#contents')[0];
These will pull the element out of the jQuery object.
A note on the difference in speed. Attach the following snipet to an onclick call:
function myfunc()
{
var timer = new Date();
for(var i = 0; i < 10000; i++)
{
//document.getElementById('myID');
$('#myID')[0];
}
console.log('timer: ' + (new Date() - timer));
}
Alternate commenting one out and then comment the other out. In my tests,
document.getElementbyId averaged about 35ms (fluctuating from 25ms up to 52ms on about 15 runs)
On the other hand, the
jQuery averaged about 200ms (ranging from 181ms to 222ms on about 15 runs).
From this simple test you can see that the jQuery took about 6 times as long.
Of course, that is over 10000 iterations so in a simpler situation I would probably use the jQuery for ease of use and all of the other cool things like .animate and .fadeTo. But yes, technically getElementById is quite a bit faster.
No. The first returns a DOM element, or null, whereas the second always returns a jQuery object. The jQuery object will be empty if no element with the id of contents was matched.
The DOM element returned by document.getElementById('contents') allows you to do things such as change the .innerHTML (or .value) etc, however you'll need to use jQuery methods on the jQuery Object.
var contents = $('#contents').get(0);
Is more equivilent, however if no element with the id of contents is matched, document.getElementById('contents') will return null, but $('#contents').get(0) will return undefined.
One benefit on using the jQuery object is that you won't get any errors if no elements were returned, as an object is always returned. However you will get errors if you try to perform operations on the null returned by document.getElementById
No, actually the same result would be:
$('#contents')[0]
jQuery does not know how many results would be returned from the query. What you get back is a special jQuery object which is a collection of all the controls that matched the query.
Part of what makes jQuery so convenient is that MOST methods called on this object that look like they are meant for one control, are actually in a loop called on all the members int he collection
When you use the [0] syntax you take the first element from the inner collection. At this point you get a DOM object
In case someone else hits this... Here's another difference:
If the id contains characters that are not supported by the HTML standard (see SO question here) then jQuery may not find it even if getElementById does.
This happened to me with an id containing "/" characters (ex: id="a/b/c"), using Chrome:
var contents = document.getElementById('a/b/c');
was able to find my element but:
var contents = $('#a/b/c');
did not.
Btw, the simple fix was to move that id to the name field. JQuery had no trouble finding the element using:
var contents = $('.myclass[name='a/b/c']);
var contents = document.getElementById('contents');
var contents = $('#contents');
The code snippets are not the same. first one returns a Element object (source).
The second one, jQuery equivalent will return a jQuery object containing a collection of either zero or one DOM element. (jQuery documentation). Internally jQuery uses document.getElementById() for efficiency.
In both the cases if more than one element found only the first element will be returned.
When checking the github project for jQuery I found following line snippets which seems to be using document.getElementById codes (https://github.com/jquery/jquery/blob/master/src/core/init.js line 68 onwards)
// HANDLE: $(#id)
} else {
elem = document.getElementById( match[2] );
Just like most people have said, the main difference is the fact that it is wrapped in a jQuery object with the jQuery call vs the raw DOM object using straight JavaScript. The jQuery object will be able to do other jQuery functions with it of course but, if you just need to do simple DOM manipulation like basic styling or basic event handling, the straight JavaScript method is always a tad bit faster than jQuery since you don't have to load in an external library of code built on JavaScript. It saves an extra step.
One other difference: getElementById returns the first match, while $('#...') returns a collection of matches - yes, the same ID can be repeated in an HTML doc.
Further, getElementId is called from the document, while $('#...') can be called from a selector. So, in the code below, document.getElementById('content') will return the entire body but $('form #content')[0] will return inside of the form.
<body id="content">
<h1>Header!</h1>
<form>
<div id="content"> My Form </div>
</form>
</body>
It might seem odd to use duplicate IDs, but if you are using something like Wordpress, a template or plugin might use the same id as you use in the content. The selectivity of jQuery could help you out there.
All the answers are old today as of 2019 you can directly access id keyed filds in javascript simply try it
<p id="mytext"></p>
<script>mytext.innerText = 'Yes that works!'</script>
Online Demo!
- https://codepen.io/frank-dspeed/pen/mdywbre
jQuery is built over JavaScript. This means that it's just javascript anyway.
document.getElementById()
The document.getElementById() method returns the element that has the ID attribute with the specified value and Returns null if no elements with the specified ID exists.An ID should be unique within a page.
Jquery $()
Calling jQuery() or $() with an id selector as its argument will return a jQuery object containing a collection of either zero or one DOM element.Each id value must be used only once within a document. If more than one element has been assigned the same ID, queries that use that ID will only select the first matched element in the DOM.
All the answers above are correct. In case you want to see it in action, don't forget you have Console in a browser where you can see the actual result crystal clear :
I have an HTML :
<div id="contents"></div>
Go to console (cntrl+shift+c) and use these commands to see your result clearly
document.getElementById('contents')
>>> div#contents
$('#contents')
>>> [div#contents,
context: document,
selector: "#contents",
jquery: "1.10.1",
constructor: function,
init: function …]
As we can see, in the first case we got the tag itself (that is, strictly speaking, an HTMLDivElement object). In the latter we actually don’t have a plain object, but an array of objects. And as mentioned by other answers above, you can use the following command:
$('#contents')[0]
>>> div#contents
I just started using jQuery, and various sources suggest that the following should be used to reference an element by ID:
$("#imgThumbnail")
theoretically making something like this possible:
$("#imgThumbnail").src;
But my testing indicates that something like $("#imgThumbnail") returns an array, making the following necessary:
$("#imgThumbnail")[0].src;
Do I really need to reference by the index of the array every time I am trying to reference something by ID (i.e., var oObj = $("#someobjectid")[0]; )?
You should get the src attribute to get the value
$("#imgThumbnail").attr('src');
This post explains what the $ function returns and various ways to use it.
$(selector)
Returns a jQuery object, which could contain a number of DOM elements.
$(selector)[0] or $(selector).get(0)
Returns the first result as an actual DOM element.
$(selector).eq(0) or $($(selector).get(0))
Returns the DOM element wrapped in a jQuery object so that we can do stuff like:
$(selector).eq(0).addClass("deleted").fadeOut();
$(specifier) will return a collection, so yes if you want to call something on an individual member you need to pick which one. In most cases though there is a collection operator you can use to achieve the same result. For instance, you could call $('#imgThumbnail').attr('src', 'value')
You should bear in mind that it's not really an array, it's a jQuery object which, among other things, allows array-style access
$(whatever)
returns the jQuery object. On the jQuery object you can do jQuery and jQuery plugin things, eg. .text() to return the text inside the element or .css("background", "pink") to make the element(s) pink.
Since src isn't a jQuery thing you cannot access it. src is however both a HTML attribute, and you can access those with the attr method:
.attr("src")` and `.attr("src", "http://www.example.com/myimage.png")
src is also a DOM-property and you can access DOM-properties using [index] or by iterating through the jQuery object with each:
.each(function(){
this.src = "http://www.example.com/myimage.png";
})
I don't think you should be using .src with jQuery.
Try $("#imgThumbnail").attr('src');
(this will read the src attribute, you set it with a second arg if you like)
See here:
http://docs.jquery.com/Attributes/attr
to set the src attribute use
$("#imgThumbnail").attr("src", value)
if you use something like a class selector or tag like so
$("img").attr("src", value)
It will modify all the image src attributes on the page. Hence the $ function returns an array.
And you do not need to reference it specifically.