Description: Get the descendants of each element in the current set of matched elements, filtered by a selector, jQuery object, or element.
.find( selector )
version added: 1.0
selector
A string containing a selector expression to match additional elements against.
.find( jQuery object )
version added: 1.6
jQuery object
A jQuery object to match elements against.
.find( element )
version added: 1.6
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 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:
<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:
$('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').
Examples
Example 1
Starts with all paragraphs and searches for descendant span elements, same as $("p span")Example 1 - Full source:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ $("p").find("span").css('color','red'); }); </script> </head> <body> <p><span>Hello</span>, how are you?</p> <p>Me? I'm <span>good</span>.</p> </body> </html>
Example 2
Add spans around each word then add a hover and italicize words with the letter t.
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"});
Example 2 - Full source:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ 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> <style> p { font-size:20px; width:200px; cursor:default; color:blue; font-weight:bold; margin:0 10px; } .hilite { background:yellow; } </style> </head> <body> <p> When the day is short find that which matters to you or stop believing </p> </body> </html>
Example 3
A selection using a jQuery collection of all span tags. Only spans within p tags are changed to red while others are left blue.<!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>
Was this information helpful?
