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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-28T15:35:50+00:00

My webpage gets the content from XML via an AJAX call. I retrieve a

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My webpage gets the content from XML via an AJAX call. I retrieve a URL from that XML and use it to create an element on the page.

But that URL can look like:

  • http://something/something.jpg,
  • or http://something/something.swf

This means it can be a image file or can be a .swf file, so I am unable to display that image or .swf file in same tag (which is also created dynamically).

I don’t know how to display both image and .swf file in same tag. How can I solve this?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Why don’t you check the URL before creating the tag? You could use a regular expression, like so:

    var url     = 'http://something/something.swf';
var matches = url.match(/(swf|jpg)$/i);

if (matches.length > 0) {
    var type = matches[0].toLowerCase();
    /* create the img or embed tag, based on `type` */
}

    The i in the regular expression makes it match regardless of case (so it will match “something.SWF” as well) and toLowerCase makes sure we can compare it to a lowercase string (e.g. if (type === 'swf') { }).

    Now you can use the result to create the correct tag, like this:

    var url     = /* extracted from XML, e.g.: */ 'http://something/something.swf';
var matches = url.match(/(swf|jpg)$/i);

if (matches.length > 0) {
    var type = matches[0].toLowerCase();
    var tag;

    // Create the correct tag:
    if (type === 'swf') { 
        tag = $('<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" />');
    }
    else if (type === 'jpg') {
        tag = $('<img />');
    }

    // Set the src and append to <body>:
    if (tag !== undefined) {
        tag.attr('src', url);
        tag.appendTo('body');
    }
}

    Please keep in mind that this example is untested. For example, you probably need to set the height and width attributed on the <embed> tag.

    NB: match returns an array which contains the entire match, plus any matched groups. In this case, the array will look like this: ['jpg', 'jpg']. That’s because the group, (jpg|swf), which is saved as well as the complete match. If you need to prevent this behaviour, you can use a non-capturing group, like this: (?:jpg|swf), so the group won’t be remembered.

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