Why is JQuery .html() returning null?

Question

I have a QUnit test suite and am calling

 $('#idForElement').html();

inside a QUnit test (which is registered on $(document).ready(), and then run), but this function returns null in Chrome, Firefox and IE.

However, in the script tab of Firebug in Firefox, I am able to get the expected string by adding the code as a watch expression and can see a HTML element displayed on the page and in the HTML tab of Firebug.

I've read http://api.jquery.com/html/, I have assigned this into new var, an initalised string, put the result of $('#idForElement'); into a variable and called .html() on that, tried alerts in those browsers.

What's the next step to get this working?

Did you verify that var foo = $("#idForElement"); was indeed pulling the DOM node you were looking for? Keep in mind that .html() pulls in the innerHtml of an element, so if the node contains nothing, you'll get nothing. — Bryan A
– Bryan A, Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 16:18

Chaim Eliyah · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-13 01:22:58Z

4

It may depend on when you are calling this function. If you do this before the document.ready event, the element may not exist yet. Try wrapping your code like this:

$(document).ready(function () {
    //your code goes here
});

edited Feb 13, 2014 at 1:22

Chaim Eliyah

2,9734 gold badges26 silver badges37 bronze badges

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 16:14

cypher

7,0024 gold badges34 silver badges48 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

StuperUser Over a year ago

It's inside a QUnit test which are registered inside a ready block, then called, so it's not that.

StuperUser · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-22 18:11:09Z

3

Rookie error.

Was calling $('#idForElement'), but setting the var to $('idForElement').

It turns out you can append to an empty wrapped set.

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 18:11

StuperUser

10.9k14 gold badges85 silver badges143 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Why is JQuery .html() returning null?

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related