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

Note that Josh's solution only works for a single element.

Arguably, "outer" HTML only really makes sense when you have a single element, but there are situations where it makes sense to take a list of HTML elements and turn them into markup.

Extending Josh's solution, this one will handle multiple elements:

(function($) {
  $.fn.outerHTML = function() {
    var $this = $(this);
    if ($this.length>1)
      return $.map($this, function(el){ return $(el).outerHTML(); }).join('');
    return $this.clone().wrap('
').parent().html();
  }
})(jQuery);

Edit: another problem with Josh's solution fixed, see comment above.