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

// no cloning necessary    
var x = $('#xxx').wrapAll('<div></div>').parent().html(); 
alert(x);

Fiddle here: http://jsfiddle.net/ezmilhouse/Mv76a/

Answer 2

Here is a very optimized outerHTML plugin for jquery: (http://jsperf.com/outerhtml-vs-jquery-clone-hack/5 => the 2 others fast code snippets are not compatible with some browsers like FF < 11)

(function($) {

  var DIV = document.createElement("div"),
      outerHTML;

  if ('outerHTML' in DIV) {
    outerHTML = function(node) {
      return node.outerHTML;
    };
  } else {
    outerHTML = function(node) {
      var div = DIV.cloneNode();
      div.appendChild(node.cloneNode(true));
      return div.innerHTML;
    };
  }

  $.fn.outerHTML = function() {
    return this.length ? outerHTML(this[0]) : void(0);
  };

})(jQuery);

@Andy E => I don't agree with you. outerHMTL doesn't need a getter AND a setter: jQuery already give us 'replaceWith'...

@mindplay => Why are you joining all outerHTML? jquery.html return only the HTML content of the FIRST element.

(Sorry, don't have enough reputation to write comments)

Answer 3

I used Jessica's solution (which was edited by Josh) to get outerHTML to work on Firefox. The problem however is that my code was breaking because her solution wrapped the element into a DIV. Adding one more line of code solved that problem.

The following code gives you the outerHTML leaving the DOM tree unchanged.

$jq.fn.outerHTML = function() {
    if ($jq(this).attr('outerHTML'))
        return $jq(this).attr('outerHTML');
    else
    {
    var content = $jq(this).wrap('<div></div>').parent().html();
        $jq(this).unwrap();
        return content;
    }
}

And use it like this: $("#myDiv").outerHTML();

Hope someone finds it useful!

Answer 4

I agree with Arpan (Dec 13 '10 5:59).

His way of doing it is actually a MUCH better way of doing it, as you dont use clone. The clone method is very time consuming, if you have child elements, and nobody else seemed to care that IE actually HAVE the outerHTML attribute (yes IE actually have SOME useful tricks up its sleeve).

But I would probably create his script a bit different:

$.fn.outerHTML = function() {
    var $t = $(this);
    if ($t[0].outerHTML !== undefined) {
        return $t[0].outerHTML;
    } else {
        var content = $t.wrap('<div/>').parent().html();
        $t.unwrap();
        return content;
    }
};

Answer 5

I've used Volomike's solution updated by Jessica. Just added a check to see if the element exists, and made it return blank in case it doesn't.

jQuery.fn.outerHTML = function() {
return $(this).length > 0 ? $(this).clone().wrap('<div />').parent().html() : '';
};

Of course, use it like:

$('table#buttons').outerHTML();

Answer 6

$("#myNode").parent(x).html(); 

Where 'x' is the node number, beginning with 0 as the first one, should get the right node you want, if you're trying to get a specific one. If you have child nodes, you should really be putting an ID on the one you want, though, to just zero in on that one. Using that methodology and no 'x' worked fine for me.