I am trying to find out what div is the span is in using jquery.
here is a eg.
<div id='one'></div>
<div id='two'></div>
<div id='three'><span id="find_me"></span></div>
thanks
views:
31answers:
4@jwiscarson, you should use the code button to format your code for better readability. (*i did it for you in this case*)
Gaby
2010-10-07 22:21:18
Understood. Apologies for any inconvenience.
jwiscarson
2010-10-07 22:45:54
+1 I think this is the only answer that considers the *actual* question being asked. Sure `.parent()` can break with changes to HTML structure, but that's true for `.parents()` and `.closest()` as well.
patrick dw
2010-10-07 22:42:06
+1
A:
This will get the id of the <div> parent of the <span> with the id find_me:
$("#find_me").parents("div").attr("id")
Adam
2010-10-07 22:18:53
Not a big deal, but it usually doesn't make sense to specify a tag name with an ID, since there should only be one of any given ID on the page. It just slows down the selector a little bit.
patrick dw
2010-10-07 22:23:04
i think using parent(s) (**with the s**) would be the ideal solution for general use (*since the OP is asking for the div that contains the span*) (*not needed in the specific example though..*) **closest** as @lonesomeday says would be the ideal solution..
Gaby
2010-10-07 22:23:21
@patrick dw - True. Although what happens if you did specify the id more than once? Then what happen?
Adam
2010-10-07 22:29:16
Adam - @lonesomeday is right. A selector using `#` to find the element will likely only return the first match.
patrick dw
2010-10-07 22:38:48
+5
A:
Use .closest() to find the closest ancestor div (.parent() will only find it it if the div is the immediate parent).
$('#find_me').closest('div').attr('id')
lonesomeday
2010-10-07 22:22:09
+1 Closest is the most reliable way to do this with the designers constantly changing the HTML structure and positioning of elements.
James
2010-10-07 22:25:49
Of course if you're going to take it beyond the code example, you should then consider that there could be an intermediate `<div>` with no ID attribute, which would mean you would probably want something like `.closest('div[id]')`.
patrick dw
2010-10-07 22:26:19
@patrick Well, you might want to do something that doesn't involve finding the id, but yes, nice example :-)
lonesomeday
2010-10-07 22:27:43
@patrick, technically the OP is asking for the container `div`, not the one with an id ..
Gaby
2010-10-07 22:28:33
@Gaby - Fair enough, but technically, the code in the question shows no ancestors between the `<span>` and the `<div>` with the ID. ;o)
patrick dw
2010-10-07 22:40:11