jQuery.val() method failing to set value on a select list?

Question

The following code failed when I upgraded to 1.4.1, and worked ok when I rolled back to 1.3.2.

var ddlCountry = $("#<%= this.ddlCountry.ClientID %>");
  if (ddlCountry.val() == "") {
    ddlCountry.val(address.country);
    ddlCountry.change();
  }

BTW the problem is that the value of the <select> list is never set.

Yes, this is all wrapped up in a $(document).ready :)

EDIT: For reference this is the code I used:

            ddlCountry.find("option").each(function() {
                if ($(this).text() == address.country) {
                    ddlCountry.val($(this).val());
                }
            });

Answer 1

If you are setting the value, this will work, in jQuery 1.4 is must be the value not text, example:

<select id="ddlCountry">
  <option value="1">A</option>
  <option value="2">B</option>
</select>

In jQuery 1.3 this works: $("#ddlCountry").val("A")
In 1.4 it doesn't it must be: $("#ddlCountry").val("1")

Alternatively if you can't change your dropdown, you can search for and select based on text like this:

ddlCountry.filter(function() { 
  return $(this).text() == address.country; 
})[0].selected = true;

For reference, here's the jQuery change that happened. From the 1.4 notes:

.val(“…”) on an option or a checkbox is no longer ambiguous (it will always select by value now, not by text value). (Commit)