Develop Reference

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

jquery hasClass, can it be given the beginning of class name, to get the full class name

I'm trying to do something similar to this question, but it's a bit different, so the solution there isn't working for me.
<span class="a-class another-class test-top-left"></span>
I have an element (this code shows a span but it could be div span or anything). This element has a class beginning with test- (test-top-left, test-top-right etc.) I've triggered a click event on classes starting with test- and saved the clicked object as var object = this;. Simple stuff so far.
What I'm trying to do now is get the full name of that class (test-top-left). I know it starts with test- but what's the full name. The thing is that there are other classes a-class another-class and test-top-left. Can hasClass be used to get the full name of the class? I'd prefer not to use find() or filter() just because there may be additional elements within that also have class="test-"
Edit:
The code I have now is, but it gives me ALL the classes. What I need is the single class beginning with test-.
var object = this;
$(object).attr('class');
So now I for loop through all the classes and test each one separately, which seems like a lot of unnecessary code. I'm hoping jQuery has a clever way to get the exact class that was clicked right away.

Description
You can use jQuerys Attribute Contains Selector, .attr() and .click() method.
Attribute Contains Selector - Selects elements that have the specified attribute with a value containing the a given substring.
.attr() - Get the value of an attribute for the first element in the set of matched elements.
.click() - Bind an event handler to the "click" JavaScript event, or trigger that event on an element.
Sample
html
<span class="anyclass test-hello">Hello World</span>​
jQuery
$("[class*='test']").click(function() {
var object = $(this);
alert(object.attr("class").match(/(test-.*?)(?:\s+|$)/)[1])
;});
Check out the updated jsFiddle
Update
If you dont want to use regex you can do this.
$("[class*='test']").click(function() {
var object = $(this);
alert("test-" + object.attr("class").split("test-")[1].split("-"))
;});
​
More Information
jQuery - Attribute Contains Selector
jQuery - .attr()
jQuery - .click()
jsFiddle Demonstration

This should work for you:
var object = this;
var className = object.className.match(/(test-.*?)(?:\s+|$)/)[1];
Class name is the name of the class you are looking for.

If you don't want to use split or regex, you can try having the class in a separate attribute
<span class="someclass test-something" _rel="test-something">test<span>
or
<span class="someclass" _rel="test-something">test<span>
with the script
$("[_rel*='test-']").click(....
And to retrieve the attribute, use $(this).attr("_rel")

Beginner : How to remove a node that contains a specific class using JavaScript

I have a list that every bock is constructed like below. Some of the blocks have a <span class="protected-icon"></span>. I would like to make a really simple greasemonkey plugin that removes that block. So, my question is using Javascript how can I remove/hide the entire block ( <div data-item-type="user" class="js-stream-item stream-item"></div>that contains it?
<div data-item-type="user" class="js-stream-item stream-item">
<div class="user-content-rest">
<span class="user-name">
<span class="protected-icon"></span>
</span>
</div>
</div>

How to do it without jQuery:
var p = document.getElementsByClassName('protected-icon');
for (var i=p.length; --i>=0;) {
p[i].parentNode.removeChild(p[i]);
}
http://jsfiddle.net/sRs4s/1/
UPDATE If you want to remove the entire stream-item block, you have to loop up to it:
var p = document.getElementsByClassName('protected-icon');
var cstr = "stream-item";
for (var i=p.length; --i>=0;) {
var n = p[i];
while(n.className.split(" ").indexOf(cstr)==-1) { // won't work in older browsers
n = n.parentNode;
}
n.parentNode.removeChild(n);
}
http://jsfiddle.net/sRs4s/3/
See Best way to find if an item is in a JavaScript array? if you need to support older browsers.

To hide you can use the .hide() method.
To remove you can use the .remove() method.
Now to target the block you want
// change hide to remove for complete removal from the DOM.
$('.stream-item:has(.protected-icon)').hide();
will hide all the divs with class stream-item that contain an element with class protected-icon
Demo at http://jsfiddle.net/gaby/eeuQd/
Update
Here is a reference on using jQuery with greasemonkey How can I use jQuery in Greasemonkey?
I read that you are trying to use this with twitter page. Twitter is using Ajax requests to load parts of the page (and load new tweets..) so you might need to use an interval to your script that that it gets re-applied periodically..
That is because your code might run before the twitter has actually loaded the tweets in the page..
something like
setInterval(function(){
$('.stream-item:has(.protected-icon)').hide();
}, 2000 ); // 2000 means every two seconds (in milliseconds)

With JQuery you could do the this to hide the block:
$(document).ready(function() {
$('span.protected-icon').hide();
});
Or to remove it:
$(document).ready(function() {
$('span.protected-icon').remove();
});

Use jQuery's closest() and .remove():
$('protected-icon').closest('div[data-item-type="user"]').remove();
You could also hide the element for later use:
$('protected-icon').closest('div[data-item-type="user"]').hide();

I'm not very familiar with Greasemonkey but I noticed you tagged this as jQuery, so I'm assuming you would get use out of a jQuery script.
I would do this in case you want to bring it back at some point:
$('.protected-icon').parents('.js-stream-item.stream-item[data-item-type=user]').css({'display':'none'});

It is simple using jQuery. Add the following in the top area of your greasemonkey script:
// #require http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js
Then use the following jQuery:
$('span.protected-icon').parents('.js-stream-item').hide();
Update: Sorry, I had a typo. parent should have been parents.

See the question asked here, which is a different question but contains the answer :-)
Remove element by id
edit: assuming you mean pure javascript, if you are using jQuery see all the other answers!

This should work:
$('span.protected-icon').parents('.user-content-rest').remove();
That will find all the spans with the protected-icon class, then traverse the DOM tree until an element with the user-content-rest is encountered and remove that object.

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