JavaScript/jQuery "if" condition syntax

Question

I'm attempting to evaluate a class to see if it contains some text in my click handler, but I can't get my code to act properly. What am I missing?

The if statement is looking to see whether the class of the clicked object has the word "headline" in it.

$('[class^=edit_]').click(function(){
    var element = $(this).attr('class');
    var field = element.split(/_(.+)/)[1];
    if ($(this).attr('[class*=headline]'))
    {
        alert("headline");
    }
    else
    {
        alert("not headline");
    };
});

Is it possible to construct my if statement with something that evaluates the var field = element.split(/_(.+)/)[1]; since that is really where the information resides.

Something like:

if (element *= "headline"){do this};

I'm not sure I understand all of the "evaluators" that exist in JavaScript to know if I can evaluate a string like that.

I do not understand this question. Maybe I'm just stupid, but at this point in time I believe that the question is lacking in detail and coherence. — Lightness Races in Orbit
– Lightness Races in Orbit, Commented Jan 13, 2011 at 0:23
I don't understand what the if statement is supposed to be testing... — Damien-Wright
– Damien-Wright, Commented Jan 13, 2011 at 0:24
The if statement is looking to see whether the class of the clicked object has the word "headline" in it. — Ofeargall
– Ofeargall, Commented Jan 13, 2011 at 0:31

Nick Craver · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-13 00:46:26Z

4

Upon re-reading your question, there's an even simpler approach, just check the .className for the string you want using .indexOf(), like this:

if (this.className.indexOf('headline') != -1)

Previous answer:
The closest version to what you have, checking if an element matching a selector is .is(), like this:

if ($(this).is('[class*=headline]'))

But there's another method more appropriate here (if you're checking for a full class, not part of one), you can use .hasClass() like this:

if ($(this).hasClass('headline'))

edited Jan 13, 2011 at 0:46

answered Jan 13, 2011 at 0:25

Nick Craver

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10 Comments

Seldaek Over a year ago

hasClass() might not work in this case, assuming his class name is edit_headline for example, is('[class*=headline]') would match, but not hasClass('headline').

Ofeargall Over a year ago

Nick, unfortunately, my class has other words separated by _ so I'm trying to decipher if the full class name has the word "headline" anywhere in it.

Nick Craver Over a year ago

@Seldaek - Right, that's why there's the note on the second version :) @Ofeargall - the first .is() version will work then :)

Ofeargall Over a year ago

Thanks, Nick. if ($(this).is('[class*=headline]')) was exactly what I was looking for. I'm glad you were able to see what I was trying to achieve even if my question was somewhat incomplete.

Nick Craver Over a year ago

@Ofeargall - mm not really, .indexOf() is looking for the string, so it's saying "is the string "headline" found in my class attribute at all?"

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