.parent()

jQuery

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.parent()

Categories: Traversing > Tree Traversal

.parent( [selector ] ) Returns: jQuery

Description: Get the parent of each element in the current set of matched elements, optionally filtered by a selector.

  • version added: 1.0.parent( [selector ] )

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

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

The method optionally accepts a selector expression of the same type that we can pass to the $() function. If the selector is supplied, the elements will be filtered by testing whether they match it.

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 A, we can find its parents:

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                                    $('li.item-a').parent().css('background-color', 'red');

The result of this call is a red background for the level-2 list. Since we do not supply a selector expression, the parent element is unequivocally included as part of the object. If we had supplied one, the element would be tested for a match before it was included.

Examples:

Example: Shows the parent of each element as (parent > child). Check the View Source to see the raw html.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        div,p { margin:10px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

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

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>div,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <span>span, </span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <b>b </b>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>p,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <span>span,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <em>em </em>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>div,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <strong>strong,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span>span, </span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <em>em,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                              <b>b, </b>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            </em>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </strong>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <b>b </b>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      $("*", document.body).each(function () {
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        var parentTag = $(this).parent().get(0).tagName;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $(this).prepend(document.createTextNode(parentTag + " > "));
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      });
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: Find the parent element of each paragraph with a class "selected".

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

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

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div><p>Hello</p></div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div class="selected"><p>Hello Again</p></div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        $("p").parent(".selected").css("background", "yellow");
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>
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