.find()

jQuery

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.find()

Categories: Traversing > Tree Traversal

.find( selector ) Returns: jQuery

Description: Get the descendants of each element in the current set of matched elements, filtered by a selector, jQuery object, or element.

  • version added: 1.0.find( selector )

    • selector
      Type: Selector
      A string containing a selector expression to match elements against.

  • version added: 1.6.find( jQuery object )

    • jQuery object
      Type: Object
      A jQuery object to match elements against.

  • version added: 1.6.find( element )

    • element
      Type: Element
      An element to match elements against.

Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the .find() method allows us to search through the descendants of these elements in the DOM tree and construct a new jQuery object from the matching elements. The .find() and .children() methods are similar, except that the latter only travels a single level down the DOM tree.

The first signature for the .find()method accepts a selector expression of the same type that we can pass to the $() function. The elements will be filtered by testing whether they match this selector.

Consider a page with a basic nested list on it:

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                                      <ul class="level-1">
                                    
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-i">I</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-ii">II
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        <ul class="level-2">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-a">A</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-b">B
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                            <ul class="level-3">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-1">1</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-2">2</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-3">3</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                            </ul>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          </li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-c">C</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        </ul>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      </li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-iii">III</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      </ul>

If we begin at item II, we can find list items within it:

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                                    $('li.item-ii').find('li').css('background-color', 'red');

The result of this call is a red background on items A, B, 1, 2, 3, and C. Even though item II matches the selector expression, it is not included in the results; only descendants are considered candidates for the match.

Unlike in the rest of the tree traversal methods, the selector expression is required in a call to .find(). If we need to retrieve all of the descendant elements, we can pass in the universal selector '*' to accomplish this.

Selector context is implemented with the .find() method; therefore, $('li.item-ii').find('li') is equivalent to $('li', 'li.item-ii').

As of jQuery 1.6, we can also filter the selection with a given jQuery collection or element. With the same nested list as above, if we start with:

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                                    var $allListElements = $('li');

And then pass this jQuery object to find:

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                                    $('li.item-ii').find( $allListElements );

This will return a jQuery collection which contains only the list elements that are descendants of item II.

Similarly, an element may also be passed to find:

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                                    var item1 = $('li.item-1')[0];
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    $('li.item-ii').find( item1 ).css('background-color', 'red');

The result of this call would be a red background on item 1.

Examples:

Example: Starts with all paragraphs and searches for descendant span elements, same as $("p span")

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p><span>Hello</span>, how are you?</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      <p>Me? I'm <span>good</span>.</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $("p").find("span").css('color','red');
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: A selection using a jQuery collection of all span tags. Only spans within p tags are changed to red while others are left blue.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          span { color: blue; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p><span>Hello</span>, how are you?</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>Me? I'm <span>good</span>.</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>Did you <span>eat</span> yet?</div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        var $spans = $('span');
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $("p").find( $spans ).css('color','red');
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: Add spans around each word then add a hover and italicize words with the letter t.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        p { font-size:20px; width:200px; cursor:default; 
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            color:blue; font-weight:bold; margin:0 10px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        .hilite { background:yellow; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        When the day is short
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        find that which matters to you
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        or stop believing
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        var newText = $("p").text().split(" ").join("</span> <span>");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        newText = "<span>" + newText + "</span>";
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $("p").html( newText )
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          .find('span')
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          .hover(function() { 
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            $(this).addClass("hilite"); 
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          },
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            function() { $(this).removeClass("hilite"); 
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          })
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        .end()
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          .find(":contains('t')")
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          .css({"font-style":"italic", "font-weight":"bolder"});
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>
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