Get selected element's outer HTML

Question

I\'m trying to get the HTML of a selected object with jQuery. I am aware of the .html() function; the issue is that I need the HTML including the selected obje

Answer 1

I believe that currently (5/1/2012), all major browsers support the outerHTML function. It seems to me that this snippet is sufficient. I personally would choose to memorize this:

// Gives you the DOM element without the outside wrapper you want
$('.classSelector').html()

// Gives you the outside wrapper as well only for the first element
$('.classSelector')[0].outerHTML

// Gives you the outer HTML for all the selected elements
var html = '';
$('.classSelector').each(function () {
    html += this.outerHTML;
});

//Or if you need a one liner for the previous code
$('.classSelector').get().map(function(v){return v.outerHTML}).join('');

EDIT: Basic support stats for element.outerHTML

• Firefox (Gecko): 11 ....Released 2012-03-13
• Chrome: 0.2 ...............Released 2008-09-02
• Internet Explorer 4.0...Released 1997
• Opera 7 ......................Released 2003-01-28
• Safari 1.3 ...................Released 2006-01-12