jQuery with elements generated dynamically

Answer 1

you need to rebind it.

function bindme(){ $('.whatever').click(function(){ alert('binded'); }); };

bindme();

//function that will generate something

function foo(){ $('.whatever').val('oryt'); bindme();//rebind itagain }

Answer 2

Thats because the : _(corrected)

$('.whatever').click(function() {
  alert("ALERT!");
});

Means, in literal terms:

Find all elements currently on the page that have the class ".whatever"
Foreach element in that result set, bind this function to its click event

so naturally, adding a new DOM element wont automagically apply the click.

the best way to solve this is create bindings during your insert phase, ie:

  var x = document.createElement("span"); 
  $(x).click(function(){ });  //etc 
  $(somcontiner).append(x);

Warning on simply rebinding everything

If done wrong, it can lead to undesired effects, ie, making the number of times the event triggers something increase. To stop this, you may need to first unbind them to delete the previous passes binds.

ie,

$(x).click(foo); 
$(x).click(bar);  //foo and bar should both execute.

so to stop this, you need

$(x).unbind("click");
$(x).click(foo);

in the rebind.

Answer 3

Also look at reglib, a similar library that allows for the style of programming you're looking for.

Answer 4

Thanks everybody.

Somehow I thought elements were added to the DOM automatically by jQuery just by adding them anywhere.

I've also found some extra information on the topic:

http://docs.jquery.com/Frequently_Asked_Questions#Why_do_my_events_stop_working_after_an_AJAX_request.3F

http://learningjquery.com/2008/03/working-with-events-part-1

http://learningjquery.com/2008/05/working-with-events-part-2

Just in case somebody else needs it.

Answer 5

Also, there's an excellent plugin for jQuery which takes care of this, called livequery

Answer 6

If you have jQuery 1.3 or later, try using live for adding events to dynamically generated elements:

$('.whatever').live("click", function() {
  alert("ALERT!");
});