Replacing the inner.html of an unknown named element based on condition - javascript

I run into this problem frequently and never know the best approach. Imagine I have a structure that includes several instances of the following html:
<div class="known">
<div class="another unknown">
<div class="unknown">
<h4>Something a something</H4>
</div>
</div>
</div>
For each div of class known, I want to change the inner html of that div only if it contains a div inside it with some particular tag, in this case <h4>.
What is the best way to achieve that. I know that I could do it by taking the inner html of class known and doing a regex match. But is there a more robust way based on tags?

Simple, just use a selector that spans over the div.known and restrict it's context to div h4. If the selector selects at lease one element then the div.class has children as you expect.
if( $('.known div h4').length > 0 ){
$('.known').html('Some html');
}

Yes! You can do this.
var head = Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll("h4 #known"));
for(var i = 0; i < head.length; i++)
{
while(head[i].className !== "known")
head[i] = head[i].parent();
}
Now head will be an array of all the DOM elements have the tag known and have h4's in them.

With jQuery, you can use .has() to narrow your selection and even chain other methods, as in:
$(".known").has("h4").css("background","red");
Check out this fiddle for example. Notice that clicking the button will change the color of any div.known only if that element contains an h4 tag as a descendant.
Documentation on jQuery's .has() -- https://api.jquery.com/has/

Related

How to simplify repeated and convoluted js/jquery code?

This piece of code appears in a js script I have been asked to modify - I'm not sure why it is written in this way, it doesn't make sense to me.
Can anyone help explain what it is doing, and if it can be simplified to be a little more meaningful?
var unformathtml = $(this).text();
if(unformathtml.trim().length>showChar) {
$(this).parent().parent().parent().parent().parent().find('.comment-footer').fadeOut();
}
Lets' pretend we have a DOM like this:
<parent-5>
<target-element>Content</target-element>
<parent-4>
<parent-3>
<parent-2>
<parent-1>
<focused-element>Some Text</focused-element>
</parent-1>
</parent-2>
</parent-3>
</parent-4>
</parent-5>
What this code is saying is "if the text inside of <focused-element> has more characters than showChar then fade out <target-element>.
A better way of doing this would be to give <parent-5> some kind of identifier, which could be an ID or a class, and target that instead of the repeated .parent() call.
Here's an example which showcases the idea:
$('#oldMethod').click(function() {
$(this)
.parent()
.parent()
.parent()
.parent()
.parent()
.find('.comment-footer')
.toggleClass('red');
});
$('#newMethod').click(function() {
$(this)
.closest('.comment-container')
.find('.comment-footer')
.toggleClass('red');
});
.red {
color: #F00;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="comment-container">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<button id="oldMethod">Old</button>
<button id="newMethod">New</button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="comment-footer">Footer</div>
</div>
Wow, that really doesn't make much sense. It is doing this:
1) Getting the raw contents out of an element
2) Checking to see if it is longer than a certain length
3) If so, fading out another element on the page
The parents() thing is very error-prone. It is going up a very precise number of levels in the HTML tree and then descending downwards to find an element with a class of '.comment-footer'. As a result a slight rearrangement of either element in the DOM might result in the code no longer working, because it can't find the specified element.
What you want is to find the tag-to-hide more directly. Ideally, the element-to-hide and the element-that-decides-to-hide would be next to eachother in the DOM (i.e. the element being hidden would be a child or sibling of the element that decides whether or not to hide it). This makes it very easy for the one to find the other. If that isn't possible, your next best bet would be to simply assign an id to the element you are trying to hide and then select on that id directly:
var unformathtml = $(this).text();
if(unformathtml.trim().length>showChar) {
$('#to_hide').fadeOut();
}
As a quick aside, .text() is used (instead of .html()), because the former removes any HTML tags. This way you are measuring the amount of "actual" text inside $(this) to determine whether or not you want to hide said element. So that part is probably fine.

How do you grab an element relative to an Element instance with a selector?

I am writing a small library where I am in need of selecting a relative element to the targeted element through querySelector method.
For example:
HTML
<div class="target"></div>
<div class="relative"></div>
<!-- querySelector will select only this .target element -->
<div class="target"></div>
<div class="relative"></div>
<div class="target"></div>
<div class="relative"></div>
JavaScript
var target = document.querySelectorAll('.target')[1];
// Something like this which doesn't work actually
var relativeElement = target.querySelector('this + .relative');
In the above example, I am trying to select the .relative class element relative only to the .target element whose value is stored in target variable. No styles should apply to the other .relative class elements.
PS: the selectors can vary. So, I can't use JavaScript's predefined methods like previousElementSibling or nextElementSibling.
I don't need solution in jQuery or other JavaScript libraries.
Well it should be ideally:
var relativeElement = target.querySelector('.relative');
But this will actually try to select something inside the target element.
therefore this would only work if your html structure is something like:
<div class="target">
<div class="relative"></div>
</div>
Your best bet would probably in this case be to use nextElementSibling which I understand is difficult for you to use.
You cannot.
If you insist on using the querySelector of the subject element, the answers is there is no way.
The spec and MDN both says clearly that Element.querySelector must return "a descendant of the element on which it is invoked", and the object element you want does not meet this limitation.
You must go up and use other elements, e.g. document.querySelector, if you want to break out.
You can always override Element.prototype.querySelector to do your biddings, including implementing your own CSS engine that select whatever element you want in whatever syntax you want.
I didn't mention this because you will be breaking the assumption of a very important function, easily breaking other libraries and even normal code, or at best slowing them down.
target.querySelector('.relative');
By using querySelector on the target instead of document, you scope the DOM traversal to the target element.
It is not entirely clear from your explanation, but by related i assume you mean descendant?
To get all target elements you can use
document.querySelectorAll('.target')
And then iterate the result
I found a way which will work for my library.
I will replace "this " in the querySelector with a unique custom attribute value. Something like this:
Element.prototype.customQuerySelector = function(selector){
// Adding a custom attribute to refer for selector
this.setAttribute('data-unique-id', '1');
// Replace "this " string with custom attribute's value
// You can also add a unique class name instead of adding custom attribute
selector = selector.replace("this ", '[data-unique-id="1"] ');
// Get the relative element
var relativeElement = document.querySelector(selector);
// After getting the relative element, the added custom attribute is useless
// So, remove it
this.removeAttribute('data-unique-id');
// return the fetched element
return relativeElement;
}
var element = document.querySelectorAll('.target')[1];
var targetElement = element.customQuerySelector('this + .relative');
// Now, do anything with the fetched relative element
targetElement.style.color = "red";
Working Fiddle

select html object without id

Edit: one missing piece of information - I can't use the class selector because there are more divs with the same class. I already thought of that, but I forgot to mention it. I have no idea why my post got downvoted, but it seems awfully silly considering I provided a lot of information, gave it honest effort, and tried to be verbose with code examples. People on this forum are ridiculous sometimes.
I'm trying to set the id of a div that doesn't have one and there's no way I can give it one upon generation of the page. I've tried using jquery (.each, .contains, .find, .filter, etc.) and I can't seem to get it right. I know a ton of people have asked this question, but none of the answers made sense to me.
I have the ability to set the text (html?) of the div, but nothing else. It ends up looking like this:
<div class="dhxform_note" style="width: 300px;">Remaining letters: 500</div>
I want a handle to the div object so I can show the user how many more letters they can type by updating the text.
Using this:
$("div")
returns a list of all divs on the page. I can see the target div in the list, but I can't get jquery to return a single object.
I know it can also be done with something like this:
var divs = document.getElementsByTagName("div");
for(var i = 0; i < divs.length; i++) {
if( /^Remaining letters/.test(divs[i].innerText) )
divs[i].id = "kudosMsgNote"
}
}
but I was hoping to complete this with a cleaner looking solution involving jquery. I also simply want to know how to do it with jquery, aesthetics not withstanding.
Use a class selector.
var theDivViaTheClass = $(".dhxform_note");
Class Selector (“.class”)
Description: Selects all elements with the given class.
version added: 1.0
jQuery( ".class" )
class: A class to search for. An
element can have multiple classes; only one of them must match.
For class selectors, jQuery uses JavaScript's native
getElementsByClassName() function if the browser supports it.
You seem to be targeting the <div> by its text. Try using the :contains selector:
$("div").filter(':contains("Remaining letters")').first().attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
The .first() is to make sure you don't set the same id for multiple elements, in case multiple elements contain the text "Remaining letters".
Here's the docs for the :contains selector: http://api.jquery.com/contains-selector/
Be careful, the text you're looking for is case sensitive when using :contains!
Is that div the only one with the class dhxform_note? If so, you can use the class selector:
$('.dhxform_note').html();
With jQuery, you can specify any css selector to get at the div:
$(".dhxform_note").attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
will get you this element as well.
Selecting on inner text can be a bit dicey, so I might recommend that if you have control over the rendering of that HTML element, you instead render it like this:
<div name="remainingLetters" class="dhxform_note" style="width: 300px">Remaining Letters: 500</div>
And get it like this:
$("[name=remainingLetters]").attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
However, it's possible that you really need to select this based on the inner text. In that case, you'll need to do the following:
$("div").each(function() {
if ( /^Remaining letters/.test($(this).html()) ) {
$(this).attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
}
});
If you cannot set id for whatever reason, I will assume you cannot set class either. Maybe you also don't have the exclusive list of classes there could be. If all those assumptions really apply, then you can consider down your path, otherwise please use class selector.
With that said:
$("div").filter(function() {
return /^Remaining letters/.test($(this).text())
}).attr('id', 'id of your choice');
For situations where there are multiple divs with the class dhxform_note and where you do not know the exact location of said div:
$("div.dhxform_note").each(function(){
var text = $(this).text();
if(/^Remaining letters/.test(text)){
$(this).attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
}
});
EXAMPLE
If, however, you know that the div will always be the 2nd occurrence of dhxform_note then you can do the following:
$("div.dhxform_note").get(1).id = "kudosMsgNote";
EXAMPLE
Or do a contains search:
$("div.dhxform_note:contains('Remaining letters')").first().attr("id", "kudosMsgNote");
EXAMPLE

Accessing elements inside dynamically created divs with HTML/Javascript

I'm quite new to javascript and JQuery programming. Usually, to access elements I give them an id, so I can get them like $("#"+id).blabla().
But now I need to dynamically create a div, and access elements inside it.
Something like
<div id="automaticallyGeneratedId">
<div ???></div> <!-- first div -->
<div ???></div> <!-- second div -->
</div>
What are the best practices to access and identify each of the inner divs?
I generate another id for them?
Or what?
I don't have the theory of selectors fully clear.
edit: modified the question from identifying a single inner div to identifying divs amongs many of them
You can maintain a pattern when you're generating id. For example:
if you always generate id like: myid1, myid2,myid3...
<div id="myid1">
<div></div>
</div>
<div id="myid2">
<div></div>
</div>
......
then you can try:
$('div[id^=myid]').find('div').foo();
OR
$('div[id^=myid] div').foo();
Here, ^= is start with selector, so div[id^=myid] will select div whose id start with myid.
You can also use Contain word selector which is ~= and use like $('div[id~=myid]'). This will select div with id contains word myid.
Instead of id if you want to use other attribute eg. name then change selector like:
$('div[name^=myid]') or $('div[name~=myid]').
It's usually a good practice that if you already have a reference to that outer div to just search from there using find.
You can give it an id, or if you want to use a more general approach you can use classes.
<div class="subdiv">...
$('#automaticallyGeneratedId').find('div.subdiv')
Usually, when you create them, you can assign event handlers and the likes straight on them. Like this:
var div = $( '<div></div>' );
div.on( 'click', function() {
// Do something when the generated div is clicked
});
// Then, add it to the DOM
$( 'body' ).append( div );
You don't need to bother selecting them with ID or classes, they're already available in your code.
Another way is to use event bubbling to handle newly created elements of the same class. A good link about this is this one: http://beneverard.co.uk/blog/understanding-event-delegation/
Many ways you can create an element and give him an Id or Class, or use the DOM to access it..
$("html").prepend('<div id="foo"></div>');
$("#foo").doSomething();
another way
$("#automaticallyGeneratedId").find("div").doSomething();
To access the div in the element with the id:
$("#automaticallyGeneratedId div").whatever
If you cache the divs you could use something like:
var myDiv1Child = $('div', myDiv1);
Create a delegated listener and within the listener you can find the element by doing this
//If a div inside the parent is clicked then execute the function within
$('.PARENT_CLASS').click("div", function(){
//This variable holds all the elements within the div
var rows = document.querySelector('.PARENT_CLASS').getElementsByTagName('div');
for (i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
rows[i].onclick = function() {
console.log(this); //The element you wish to manipulate
}
}
});

javascript get child by id

<div onclick="test(this)">
Test
<div id="child">child</div>
</div>
I want to change the style of the child div when the parent div is clicked. How do I reference it? I would like to be able to reference it by ID as the the html in the parent div could change and the child won't be the first child etc.
function test(el){
el.childNode["child"].style.display = "none";
}
Something like that, where I can reference the child node by id and set the style of it.
Thanks.
EDIT: Point taken with IDs needing to be unique. So let me revise my question a little. I would hate to have to create unique IDs for every element that gets added to the page. The parent div is added dynamically. (sort of like a page notes system). And then there is this child div. I would like to be able to do something like this: el.getElementsByName("options").item(0).style.display = "block";
If I replace el with document, it works fine, but it doesn't to every "options" child div on the page. Whereas, I want to be able to click the parent div, and have the child div do something (like go away for example).
If I have to dynamically create a million (exaggerated) div IDs, I will, but I would rather not. Any ideas?
In modern browsers (IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari) you can use querySelector():
function test(el){
el.querySelector("#child").style.display = "none";
}
For older browsers (<=IE7), you would have to use some sort of library, such as Sizzle or a framework, such as jQuery, to work with selectors.
As mentioned, IDs are supposed to be unique within a document, so it's easiest to just use document.getElementById("child").
This works well:
function test(el){
el.childNodes.item("child").style.display = "none";
}
If the argument of item() function is an integer, the function will treat it as an index. If the argument is a string, then the function searches for name or ID of element.
If the child is always going to be a specific tag then you could do it like this
function test(el)
{
var children = el.getElementsByTagName('div');// any tag could be used here..
for(var i = 0; i< children.length;i++)
{
if (children[i].getAttribute('id') == 'child') // any attribute could be used here
{
// do what ever you want with the element..
// children[i] holds the element at the moment..
}
}
}
document.getElementById('child') should return you the correct element - remember that id's need to be unique across a document to make it valid anyway.
edit : see this page - ids MUST be unique.
edit edit : alternate way to solve the problem :
<div onclick="test('child1')">
Test
<div id="child1">child</div>
</div>
then you just need the test() function to look up the element by id that you passed in.
If you want to find specific child DOM element use method querySelectorAll
var $form = document.getElementById("contactFrm");
in $form variable we can search which child element we want :)
For more details about how to use querySelectorAll check this page

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