Question

I am pretty new to jQuery but I am trying to get a code setup which hides a div when the ‘innerHTML’ is null. I tried using the code below. But it doesn’t work! Where is my fault??

if (($("#php-errors").html).length) {
    $("#php-errors").css("display", "block");
}
else {
    $("#php-errors").css("display", "none");
}

Answer 1

One line, and using .show() and .hide() methods:

var hasCont = $("#php-errors").contents().length ? $("#php-errors").show() : $("#php-errors").hide();

Using the ternary operator that says:

• (define var) statement ?
• action if statement is true :
• action if statement is false ;

DEMO JSFIDDLE

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A good practice would be to cache your element inside a var, let’s call it var $el, and use it like:

var $el = $("#php-errors");
var hasCont = $el.contents().length ? $el.show() : $el.hide();

Much more readable, and
it will save you some micro processing time 😉 but it really helps in terms of cross-function reusability (if defined outside the function.)