Turn array of jQuery elements into jQuery wrapped set of elements

Question

Is there any elegant way of turning [$(div), $(span), $(li)] into $(div, span, li)?

What I need is a jQuery-wrapped set of elements instead of

Answer 1

To add single element:

var $previousElements = $();
$previousElements.add($element); 

to convert array to jQuery set of elements:

var myjQueryElementArray = [$element1, $element2, $elementN];
$(myjQueryElementArray ).map (function () {return this.toArray(); } );

to add array of elements to existing elements:

var $previousElements = $(),
     myjQueryElementArray = [$element1, $element2, $elementN];

$previousElements.add($(myjQueryElementArray).map (function () {return this.toArray(); } ));

Answer 2

Edit: I thought jQuery supported all Array methods, but nay, so here's a working version of my initial solution, albeit it's a bit odd since I am sticking to the same methods:

var set; // The array of jQuery objects, 
         // but make sure it's an Array.
var output = set.pop();
$.each(set, function (_, item) { 
    return [].push.call(output, [].pop.call(item));
});

Answer 3

you could do something like this:

var $temp = $();
$.each([$("li"), $("li"), $("li")], function(){
    $temp.push(this[0]);
})

$temp all your elements in one jQuery selector

But i am curious what brings you to this situation having an array of different jQuery elements. You know that you can select different elements using a comma? like $("li, ul > li:eq(0), div")

edit as Guffa pointed out, this only adds the first element of each section. .add() is a better choice then .push() here.

Answer 4

If Array.prototype.reduce() is supported in your environment.

var jQueryCollection = [$("a"), $("div")]
                          .reduce(function (masterCollection, collection) {
                               return masterCollection.add(collection);
                          }, $());

jsFiddle.

Answer 5

A bit more concise than the accepted answer, one can use the $.fn.toArray as the argument passed to $.fn.map:

var list = [$('<a>'), $('<b>'), $('<i>')];

$(list).map($.fn.toArray);

Or perhaps (this is really inferior, but only has one function call in your code):

$.fn.map.call(list, $.fn.toArray);

Answer 6

$('li').each(function(){
    $(this).doSomething();

})