Question

I was wondering if it were possible to, instead of selecting an element from the DOM via a jQuery selector, if I can create one instead.

For example:

$.create('#hello').insertAfter('#test');

would generate the following:

<div id="test">This element already existed in the DOM.</div>
<div id="hello"></div>

Or, better yet, for more complex operations:

$.create('#test.a.b');

for:

<div id="test" class="a b"></div>

Obviously, more complex operations like :selected or :nth-child or :not() and all of those need not be implemented.

Is anyone aware of a solution?

Thanks.

Answer 1

To create <div id="hello"></div>

try

$('<div id="hello"></div>').appendTo('body');

To create <div id="test" class="a b"></div> same as

$('<div id="test" class="a b"></div>').appendTo('body');

$('<div id="test" class="a b"></div>') will create new element but not add it to DOM.

To add that element you need to use append() or appendTo() or insetAfter() or insertBefore() and so on.

It is better to use a function to:

function createElement(el, target) {
   $(el).appendTo(target);
}

use the function like:

createElement('<div id="test" class="a b"></div>', 'body');

You can also append newly created element to any other target instead of body.

I think following function will help you:

function createElement(el, prop, target) {
  var props = prop.split('.'),
      newelement = $(el),
      id = '',
      className = '';
    $.each(props, function(i, val) {
        if(val.indexOf('#') >= 0) {
           id += val.replace(/^#/, '');
        } else {
           className += val + ' ';
        }
    });
    if(id.length) newelement.attr('id', id);
    if(className.length) newelement.attr('class', className.trim());

    $(newelement).html('Newly born').appendTo(target);
}

createElement('div', '#test.a.b', '#con');​ // will work for #test.a.b or, .a.b or, #test.a

DEMO