I'm working on a javascript library, and I use this function to match elements:
$ = function (a)
{
var x;
if (typeof a !== "string" || typeof a === "undefined"){ return a;}
//Pick the quickest method for each kind of selector
if(a.match(/^#([w-]+$)/))
{
return document.getElementById(a.split('#')[1]);
}
else if(a.match(/^([w-]+)$/))
{
x = document.getElementsByTagName(a);
}
else
{
x = document.querySelectorAll(a);
}
//Return the single object if applicable
return (x.length === 1) ? x[0] : x;
};
There are occasions where I would want to filter the result of this function, like pick out a div span, or a #id div or some other fairly simple selector.
How can I filter these results? Can I create a document fragment, and use the querySelectorAll method on that fragment, or do I have to resort to manual string manipulation?
I only care about modern browsers and IE8+.
If you want to look at the rest of my library, it's here: https://github.com/timw4mail/kis-js
Edit:
To clarify, I want to be able to do something like $_(selector).children(other_selector) and return the children elements matching that selector.
Edit:
So here's my potential solution to the simplest selectors:
tag_reg = /^([w-]+)$/;
id_reg = /#([w-]+$)/;
class_reg = /.([w-]+)$/;
function _sel_filter(filter, curr_sel)
{
var i,
len = curr_sel.length,
matches = [];
if(typeof filter !== "string")
{
return filter;
}
//Filter by tag
if(filter.match(tag_reg))
{
for(i=0;i<len;i++)
{
if(curr_sell[i].tagName.toLowerCase() == filter.toLowerCase())
{
matches.push(curr_sel[i]);
}
}
}
else if(filter.match(class_reg))
{
for(i=0;i<len;i++)
{
if(curr_sel[i].classList.contains(filter))
{
matches.push(curr_sel[i]);
}
}
}
else if(filter.match(id_reg))
{
return document.getElementById(filter);
}
else
{
console.log(filter+" is not a valid filter");
}
return (matches.length === 1) ? matches[0] : matches;
}
It takes a tag like div, an id, or a class selector, and returns the matching elements with the curr_sel argument.
I don't want to have to resort to a full selector engine, so is there a better way?
