Find text between two tags/nodes

Question

I thought that this would be rather straightforward, but I think the keywords are just too general so I keep getting query results for things like this and this.

Basical

Answer 1

Well, you can try this...

At least it works perfect when using 2 spans to merge them like your example (when an "empty" element is present). Otherwise, you will need to think a little to handle the span that lasts.

(To check what I am talking about just take a look commenting the last line: nextElem.remove() and check the new div html).

Live Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/oscarj24/t45MR/

---

HTML:

    Lorem
    ipsum
    dolor sit amet,
    consectetur
    adipiscing
    elit. Sed massa.

jQuery:

$(document).ready(function () {

    var elem = $('#test');

    elem.contents().filter(function(index) {
        //Get index of an empty element
        if($.trim($(this).text()) === '') 
            //Merge the previous index span with the next index span texts
            mergeSpan(index);
    });

    //Print new inner html
    alert(elem.html());
});

function mergeSpan(index){

    //Get all 'div' elements
    var elems = $('#test').contents();

    //Get previous and next element according to index
    var prevElem = elems.eq(index - 1);
    var nextElem = elems.eq(index + 1);

    //Concat both texts
    var concatText = prevElem.text() + ' ' + nextElem.text();

    //Set the new text in the first span
    prevElem.text(concatText);
    //Remove other span that lasts
    nextElem.remove();
};

Result:

    Lorem
    ipsum
    dolor sit amet,
    consectetur adipiscing
    elit. Sed massa.