Question

I have a list of drop down lists populated form a database(using ASP.NET).

These drop down lists are ASP Controls, so selecting them by ID is not feasible.

They are named as such:

DD_Manufacturer1
DD_Manufacturer2
DD_Manufacturer3

These ASP.NET DropDown lists have a class that is the same as their name(EXAMPLE: DD_Manufacturer1’s class is =”DD_Manufacturer1″)

I am using a cascading dropdrop(We will call the ID of the first selection input MyList1).After a user selects an option from MyList1, one of my ASP DropDowns becomes visible(Example: I chose Manufacturer1 in MyList1 and DD_Manufacuturer1 becomes visible)

Here is how it SHOULD work:

Manufacturer1 is chosen from MyList1
The selected value of MyList1 is passed on to hidden form field called dvMake
DD_Manufacturer1 becomes visible(This is an ASP.NET CONTROL)
User selects an option in DD_Manfacturer1
Selected value of DD_Manufacturer1 is passed on to hiddenfield called hidden-dvModel

Now, I am wanting to pass the selection of DD_Manufacturer1 onto a hiddenfield so it is easier to manipulate.

Here is my code so far:

function onModelChange() {
    $("#hidden-dvModel").remove(); //Removes Hidden Field if it already exists
    var dvMake = $("#hidden-dvMake").val(); //Get Make Value
    var ActiveMake = $("."+dvMake+""); //Derive Active DD List form Selected Make
    var ActiveMakeList = "DD_" + ActiveMake.attr('class') + "";
    alert(ActiveMakeList);//Succesfully returns DD_Manufacturer1 


    var SelectModel = ?
         $('#phSelect').append("<input type='hidden' id='hidden-dvModel' value='" + SelectModel + "' />");


}

I thought the best way to do this would to just preform a wildcard selection and check if it is visible, then get its selected value.

So how would I preform a wildcard selection of any element whoose ID begins with “DD”, that is visible, and then get the selected value of it?

var SelectModel = $(“[id^=DD_]:visible option:selected”).val(); returns “undefined”

Answer 1

Try using

var SelectModel = $("[id*=DD_]:visible option:selected").val();

That’s because ASP.NET WebForms usually prepends IDs with the ID of content place holders, giving your elements fugly names like ctl_ContentPlaceHolder01_DD_Manufacturer1.