How to get jQuery elements from an array of selectors


To use an array of strings as jQuery selectors I have found the need to append an empty string.
My bad example works because it coerces the ‘this’ object to a string.

Bad Example:

array = ["h1","p","div"];
$K(array).each(function() {
    console.warn( $K(this+"").children() );
});

Much Better Example:

array = ["h1","p","div"];
$K(array).each(function(index, value) {
    console.warn( $K(value).children() );
});

I had previously tried the following with out success

array = ["h1","p","div"];
$K(array).each(function() {
    console.warn( $K(this).children() );
});

The problem of what I was originally trying was that each item in the array wasn’t being treated as a string, I think.The problem of what I was originally trying was that ‘this’ is an object and not a string like I need for the jQuery selector.

A big thanks goes out to my friends,Alex Olson & Sam Curren, for helping me understand my mistake while being tired.

If I didn’t need to do something different for each time through the loop I could do something like this stack overflow answer:

array = ["h1","p","div"];
console.warn( $K( array.join(", ") ).children() );

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MikeGrace

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3 thoughts on “How to get jQuery elements from an array of selectors”

  1. I prefer using arguments of the anonymous method for readability, like so:

    array = [“h1″,”p”,”div”];
    $K(array).each(function(index, value) {
    console.warn( $K(value).children() );
    });

  3. @Mike Your problem resides in the fact that “this” is always an object. Unlike an argument passed in directly. It’s a JS thing. I always do what @Sam said. It works when you concatenate an empty string to it, because it coerces “this” to a string, this the $() function recognizes it and selects off of it. In short, it’s always better to use the argument that jQuery passes in.

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