Jquery finding elements with HTML5 data attributes, using data object

Question

I'm looking in parent divs for child elements that have a specific HTML5 data attribute. This code was working fine:

$('#parent').find('*[data-something]').css('color', 'red');

Then I found out that you can find HTML data attributes using Jquery's data object http://api.jquery.com/data/#data-html5

So I tried...

$('#parent').find($("#parent").data("something")).css('color', 'red');

...and it doesn't work. Does anyone know why?

Note: I have to use find() because I need to search child elements.

Arun P Johny · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-12 02:42:28Z

2

It doesn't work because data() is not a filter method, it is a getter/setter method used to get/set the data value.

If you want to use jQuery data then try something like

$("body").find('*').filter(function(){
    return $(this).data('something') != undefined
})

answered Jan 12, 2014 at 2:42

Arun P Johny

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2 Comments

Thanks! In that case I guess it will be easier to pass the data attribute like I did in the first code. Less code.

@CyberJunkie yes it is and faster