I have a table in below format,

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text3</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
</table>

I want to get the last td containing something other than just a  . In the example markup shown this would be Dynamic Text3, but I will not know the specific text in advance. This is simply possible by running in a loop but, is there any way to do this without using each?

I have a table in below format,

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dynamic Text3</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
</table>

I want to get the last td containing something other than just a  . In the example markup shown this would be Dynamic Text3, but I will not know the specific text in advance. This is simply possible by running in a loop but, is there any way to do this without using each?

• javascript
• html
• jquery

• 4 I don't think so, You need to use .filter() which will internally iterate through the elements – Arun P Johny Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 13:05
• Have you tried the :contains selector – wirey00 Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 13:06
• $('td:contains("Dynamic Text 3")') – Niccolò Campolungo Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 13:06
• xpath selector? be aware that xpath is not supported by one and only one browser (guess 3 times which). – Kyslik Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 13:08
• 2 As you can see from the bunch of "wrong" answers, you did not ask a clear question. You really need to work on asking questions! – epascarello Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 13:38

6 Answers 6

Update:

$('td').filter(function(){
    return !!$.trim($(this).text());
}).last().css('color', 'red');

Demo: Fiddle

This should work now

var td = $('table td:last');

function findTD() {
    if (!td.text().replace(/\u00a0/g, "").length) {
        if (td.parent().is(':not(:first)')) {
            td = td.parent().prev().find('td');
            return findTD();
        } else {
            return 'No text found!';
        }
    } else {
        return td.text();
    }
}

alert(findTD());

FIDDLE

UPDATE This doesn't cover OP needs, mis understood OP's question

Use :contains selector :

http://jsfiddle/NkYZf/2

var search = "Dynamic Text3";
$('table td:contains("'+search +'"):last').css('color','red');

You can use :contains

var lastTd = $('td:contains("' + text + '"):last');

Here is a possible POJS solution

HTML

<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Dynamic Text1</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Dynamic Text2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Dynamic Text3</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
</table>

Javascript

var treeWalker = document.createTreeWalker(document.body, NodeFilter.SHOW_ELEMENT, function (node) {
    if (node.tagName === "TD" && node.textContent.trim()) {
        return NodeFilter.FILTER_ACCEPT;
    }

    return NodeFilter.FILTER_SKIP;
}, false);

while (treeWalker.nextNode()) {}

console.log(treeWalker.currentNode !== document.body ? treeWalker.currentNode : null);

On jsfiddle

$("td").filter(function() { return $.text([this]) == 'Dynamic Text3'; })
   .addClass("red");