jQuery: find() children until a certain threshold element is encountered

Answer 1

I had a similar issue in this other question. I ended up finally figuring out a plugin on my own after going back and forth with some people trying to think of a find selector.

USAGE : ExclusiveInputs = $('#first').findExclude('input','table');

// Find-like method which masks any descendant
// branches matching the Mask argument.
$.fn.findExclude = function( Selector, Mask, result){

    // Default result to an empty jQuery object if not provided
    var result = typeof result !== 'undefined' ?
                result :
                new jQuery();

    // Iterate through all children, except those match Mask
    this.children().each(function(){

        var thisObject = jQuery( this );
        if( thisObject.is( Selector ) ) 
            result.push( this );

        // Recursively seek children without Mask
        if( !thisObject.is( Mask ) )
            thisObject.findExclude( Selector, Mask, result );
    });

    return result;
}

(Condensed Version):

$.fn.findExclude = function( selector, mask, result )
{
    var result = typeof result !== 'undefined' ? result : new jQuery();
    this.children().each( function(){
        var thisObject = jQuery( this );
        if( thisObject.is( selector ) ) 
            result.push( this );
        if( !thisObject.is( mask ) )
            thisObject.findExclude( selector, mask, result );
    });
    return result;
}