Question

How can I find out what the element is that a <script> sits in?
As an example, let’s take this

<div>
 <script type="text/javascript">
  var time = new Date(), hrs = time.getHours(), min = time.getMinutes();
  document.write('It is '+hrs+":"+(min<10?'0':'')+min);
 </script>
</div>

Then if I want to change this to something more modern, how can I find out what element we’re in?
So I want to write, for instance in jQuery

$(thisdiv).html('It is '+hrs+":"+(min<10?'0':'')+min);

but how do I get thisdiv?
Yes, I know, I can put an ID on it, but I have the feeling that wouldn’t be necessary. The browser knows where we are, otherwise it couldn’t even do the document.write!

So, suggestions? I searched, but couldn’t find it. Is it so simple that I’m overlooking the obvious?

Answer 1

Script are executed in the order of appearance in the document. The contents of a script tag are evaluated on encounter, so, the last <script> element is always the current one.

Code:

<div>
  <script>
    var scriptTag = document.getElementsByTagName('script');
    scriptTag = scriptTag[scriptTag.length - 1];

    var parent = scriptTag.parentNode;
  </script>
</div>