Is there a way to do a 'scoped' add() in jQuery?

Question

The main jQuery method takes a second optional argument to provide context for the search. eg

$(".setA", ancestorOfSetsA);

However, the jQuery add() method does not accept this context argument. What I am trying to accomplish is:

$(".setA", ancestorOfSetsA).add(".setB", ancestorOfSetsB);

I am attempting this through a plugin that will overload the add() method but I can't figure out how to combine two jQuery objects into one jQuery object.

I would like to find a way to do a scoped add() with jQuery, but failing that, I'll write one myself if I can find a way to merge to jQuery objects.

Answer 1

You can pass a jQuery collection into add just as well as a selector string:

$(".setA", ancestorOfSetsA).add( $(".setB", ancestorOfSetsB) );

If you want to overload add then you'll need to be careful to support the all of its behaviour. Someone (a plugin you might be using) might do this:

$( selector ).add('<div>new element</div>').appendTo( somethere );

Updated:

Here is the current add function from jQuery modified to take a context parameter:

jQuery.fn.add = function( selector, context ) {
    return this.pushStack( jQuery.unique( jQuery.merge(
     this.get(),
     typeof selector == 'string' ?
      jQuery( selector, context ) :
      jQuery.makeArray( selector )
    )));
}