How do I get element's className inside loop of elements?

Question

I am trying to create a function that given a divid, and a list of classes, will then do some text replacing inside them.

Having learned of how Firefox Dom is handling text nodes differently, I read that I had to use javascript to loop through the elements, sibling to nextSibling.

The last obstacle I had in my script, of which you see a small portion of, is getting the classname. I need the class name so that I can filter down what content get's text replaced.

Having looked all the answers, and with the help of a co-worker named Ryan at work, we have redone this in jquery.

        $(divid).find(".status_bar").each( function() {
        var value = $.trim($(this).text());
        // if value is not defined thru browser bugs do not replace
        if (typeof(value) != 'undefined') {
            // it is a text node. do magic.
            for (var x = en_count; x > 0; x--) {
                // get current english phrase
                var from = en_lang[x];
                // get current other language phrase
                var to = other_lang[x];
                if (value == from) {
                    console.log('Current Value ['+value+'] English ['+from+'] Translation ['+to+']');
                    value = to;
                    $(this).attr('value', to);
                }
            }
        }
    });

This currently works in all areas, except in the replacing of text.

The reason I had originally with doing this in jQuery, had to be not sure I could loop thru elements, and avoid the problem with firefox and text nodes.

I am doing a loop of all elements inside a div, and I now need to get the classname of the element that I am looping by.

Then i can check if the current element's class is one, I need to do something with...

 // var children = parent.childNodes, child;
    var parentNode = divid;

    // start loop thru child nodes
    for(var node=parentNode.firstChild;node!=null;node=node.nextSibling){

    var myclass = (node.className ? node.className.baseVal : node.getAttribute('class'));

    }

But this code for getting the classname only get's null values.

Any suggestions?

For those of you who are trying to figure out what the whole point is, read this JavaScript NextSibling Firefox Bug Fix I have code that does my language translation that works in Google Chrome and IE. But when I use it in Firefox, and try to translate div content after ajax has loaded it, it fails because of the whitespace issue.

I really don't have a preference of jQuery or Pure Javascript, I just want a working solution.

Thank you all for being patient. I personally thought I was extremely clear in my description, I apologize if it wasn't. I wasn't trying to be obscure or make it difficult to get help. But please don't insult me, by implying I am trying to make it unclear.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hm... You have jQuery but don't use it?

$(divid).children(".yourSpecialClassName").each( function() {
  doSomethingWith(this);
});

To get the CSS class attribute value, this will do:

$(divid).children().each( function() {
  alert(this.className);
});

Based on the function you posted now, you want this:

$(divid).find(".status_bar").each( function() {
  $(this).text( function(i, text) {
    var x = $.inArray(en_lang, $.trim(text));
    if (x > -1) {
      console.log('Current Value ['+text+'] English ['+en_lang[x]+'] Translation ['+other_lang[x]+']');
      return other_lang[x];
    }
    return text;
  });
});

And please, don't ever use "do magic" as a comment again. This is incredibly lame.

---

EDIT. This can be made much more efficient (superfluous console.log() removed):

$(divid).find(".status_bar").each( function() {
  // prepare dictionary en_lang => other_lang
  var dict = {};
  $.each(en_lang, function(x, word) { dict[word] = other_lang[x]; });

  $(this).text( function(i, text) {
    var t = $.trim(text);
    return (t in dict) ? dict[t] : text;
  });
});

Answer 2

if you are using jquery you can do this:

$("#myDiv").find("*").each(
   function(){
      var myclass = $(this).attr("class");
   }
);

Answer 3

Your sample code doesn't make sense.

$(this).attr('value', to);

'value' is an attribute of the tag, not the text content.

Did you really mean to do this instead?

$(this).text(to);

Also, you've re-edited your question, but you're still trying to loop through the child nodes using non-jQuery methods. You said "The last obstacle I had in my script, of which you see a small portion of, is getting the classname. I need the class name so that I can filter down what content get's text replaced."

If you are using jQuery it is completely unnecessary to loop through anything to get a class name. You simply have to use a proper selector in the first place.

 $(divid).find(".status_bar.replaceme").each( function() {  
    // .replaceme is whatever class you're using for the stuff you want to change
    // .status_bar.replaceme matches all elements with BOTH status_bar and replaceme classes

    var value = $.trim($(this).text());
    // if value is not defined thru browser bugs do not replace
    if (typeof(value) != 'undefined') {
        // it is a text node. do magic.


        // NOTE: The following is inefficient but I won't fix it. 
        //       You're better off using an associative array

        for (var x = en_count; x > 0; x--) {
            // get current english phrase
            var from = en_lang[x];
            // get current other language phrase
            var to = other_lang[x];
            if (value == from) {
                console.log('Current Value ['+value+'] English ['+from+'] Translation ['+to+']');
                // value = to;    <-- useless, get rid of it.
                $(this).text(to);
                // or $(this).html(to);
            }
        }
    }
});