I'm trying to select a DOM element with a specific attribute value. I'd like to avoid an each() loop, but all I've seen in jQuery is the ability to detect the existence of the data attribute, not its value. So, I want to acplish something like this:

if ($('.item[data-index="' + indexVal + '" ]'){
  //if an .item with the data-index value of indexVal exists...
}

I'm trying to select a DOM element with a specific attribute value. I'd like to avoid an each() loop, but all I've seen in jQuery is the ability to detect the existence of the data attribute, not its value. So, I want to acplish something like this:

if ($('.item[data-index="' + indexVal + '" ]'){
  //if an .item with the data-index value of indexVal exists...
}

• javascript
• jquery

• appending [0] will Boolean the jQuery hits, just like .length>0 or just .length if in an if() statment... – dandavis Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 19:43

4 Answers 4

missing ) and $(selector) should not be put in a if condition. it is always true even it does not select anything.

if ($('.item[data-index="' + indexVal + '" ]').length) {

try this:

if ($('.item[data-index="' + indexVal + '" ]').length > 0){

}

should be

if ($('.item[data-index="' + indexVal + '" ]')){
  //if an .item with the data-index value of indexVal exists...
}

or

if(jQuery('.item').attr('data-index') == indexVal){
}

$('.item[data-index]').length > 0

if you searching for specific value, you can insert the value in "" :

$('.item[data-index="123"]').length > 0

or

$('.item[data-index]').is('*')