Question

Here is my code –

var obj = $('[id$=ddlInsert4]')
obj.disable = true;

obj is a drop down list, but the disable call doesn’t disable the drop down list.

alert(obj.val()) //this returns the correct value

Since my alert is returning the correct value, I know my jQuery syntax is correct.
What am I missing?

Answer 1

obj is a jQuery object, not a DOM element. You need to do $(obj).prop('disabled', true);. Or better yet, if you don’t need the obj variable elsewhere, just do:

$('[id$=ddlInsert4]').prop('disabled', true)

To interact with native DOM elements, you can do [0] (or .get(0)). Then you can do:

obj[0].disabled = true;

(note that the property is disabled not disable)

Note: $('[id$=ddlInsert4]') can return multiple elements, and [0] will just get the first one. You’d need to loop over all of them, if there were more than one. I suggest using the jQuery .prop method though, as it will loop over all the elements for you.