$("#but0_0").attr(...) works but $(hid).attr(...) does not work when hid === "#but0_0"

Question

On Safari 4.0, I have a check that prints "????" if hid === "#but0_0"

Works:

$("#but0_0").attr("onmousedown",function(){alert("Aha!");});

Doesn't work:

var id = "but"+y+"_"+x;
var hid = "#"+id;
if (hid === "#but0_0") console.debug("????");
$(hid).attr("onmousedown",function(){alert("Aha!");});

The console shows "????" so the code is getting hit and the variable is "the same" (from === string compare point of view) as the string literal but apparently jQuery's $() operator knows the difference?

I have 30 divs to manipulate and I need to compute the id of the div at run time. Any ideas? It's probably something simple like pulling out a "string" from a "String" or some such JavaScript stupidity.

Answer 1

Give the following a shot:

$(hid).live('mousedown', function() {alert("Aha!");});

if your elements are created dynamically.

Answer 2

Strange that that's the case.

Why aren't you using $(hid).bind('mousedown', function () { /* something */ }); to attach your events? (http://api.jquery.com/bind)