Leveraging JQuery find or inArray method to find an item in an array

Question

I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to use the JQuery find method or inArray method to find an item in an array. I can't seem to find anything in the docs.

for example:

var items = [{id:1, name:'bob'}, {id:2, name:'joe'}, {id:3, name:'ben'}];
var found = $(items).find("[name='ben']");

or

var items = [{id:1, name:'bob'}, {id:2, name:'joe'}, {id:3, name:'ben'}];
var found = $.inArray("[name='ben']", items);

Answer 1

I think what you are looking for is the RichArray plugin and more specifically

$.RichArray.filter()

You can grab it at RichArray

Answer 2

The jQuery find method operates on the DOM. If you try to search an array, you'll probably hit this code:

// check to make sure context is a DOM element or a document
if ( context && context.nodeType != 1 && context.nodeType != 9)
    return [ ];

That can be found in the jQuery source for the find method. It always returns an empty array if you are not using a DOM element or the document as your context.