.parents()

jQuery

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.parents()

Categories: Traversing > Tree Traversal

.parents( [selector ] ) Returns: jQuery

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

  • version added: 1.0.parents( [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 .parents() method allows us to search through the ancestors of these elements in the DOM tree and construct a new jQuery object from the matching elements ordered from immediate parent on up; the elements are returned in order from the closest parent to the outer ones. 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 ancestors:

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

The result of this call is a red background for the level-2 list, item II, and the level-1 list (and on up the DOM tree all the way to the <html> element). Since we do not supply a selector expression, all of the ancestors are part of the returned jQuery object. If we had supplied one, only the matching items among these would be included.

Examples:

Example: Find all parent elements of each b.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        b, span, p, html body {
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          padding: .5em;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          border: 1px solid;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        b { color:blue; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        strong { color:red; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

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

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                              <b>My parents are: </b>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            </span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      var parentEls = $("b").parents()
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                  .map(function () {
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                        return this.tagName;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                      })
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                  .get().join(", ");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      $("b").append("<strong>" + parentEls + "</strong>");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: Click to find all unique div parent elements of each span.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        p, div, span {margin:2px; padding:1px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        div { border:2px white solid; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        span { cursor:pointer; font-size:12px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        .selected { color:blue; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        b { color:red; display:block; font-size:14px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

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

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <div><span>Hello</span></div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span>Hello Again</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span>And Hello Again</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <b>Click Hellos to toggle their parents.</b>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        function showParents() {
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $("div").css("border-color", "white");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        var len = $("span.selected")
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                         .parents("div")
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                         .css("border", "2px red solid")
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                                         .length;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $("b").text("Unique div parents: " + len);
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      $("span").click(function () {
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        $(this).toggleClass("selected");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        showParents();
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      });</script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>
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