Jquery - Finding what element $(this) is

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Can jQuery provide the tag name?

Hi!

This question is so basic i am ashamed asking but i tried to find the answer for 30 minutes without any result.

How do i find out what kind of element has been clicked in the code below.

$('*').click(function (event) {
 var this_element = $(this).???;
 return false;
})

What i am looking for is to have the this_element variable set to 'a' if it's a link, 'p' if it's a paragraph 'div' if...

Thanks!

Answer 1

Try this:

$('*').click(function (event) {
    var this_element = this.tagName.toLowerCase();
    return false;
});

The this pointer refers to the actual element being acted upon. As part of the DOM Level 2 core, all DOM elements have a property called .tagName.

Answer 2

$(this).get(0).tagName;