so apparently you have the following

<select>
    <option value="0">One</option>
    <option value="1">Two</option>
</select>

$('select').val('1'); // selects "Two"
$('select').val('Two'); // also selects "Two"

but what if you have

   <select>
        <option value="0">1</option>
        <option value="1">0</option>
    </select>

And I want to set the value...of the form...how can I tell jquery to specifically use the value field or specifically the text in between the option tag...

so apparently you have the following

<select>
    <option value="0">One</option>
    <option value="1">Two</option>
</select>

$('select').val('1'); // selects "Two"
$('select').val('Two'); // also selects "Two"

but what if you have

   <select>
        <option value="0">1</option>
        <option value="1">0</option>
    </select>

And I want to set the value...of the form...how can I tell jquery to specifically use the value field or specifically the text in between the option tag...

• javascript
• jquery
• forms
• select

• Hint: you don't set the value, you set the selectedIndex. – Diodeus - James MacFarlane Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 20:49
• It doesn't: jsfiddle/Z9ySD. – pimvdb Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 20:50
• @pimvdb - Actually this seems to work if you remove the values from the option elements. jQuery's .val() page actually uses an example like this, although I wouldn't remend doing this. – j08691 Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 20:53
• @j08691: You're correct. Though the OP's confusion doesn't apply in that case. – pimvdb Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 20:57

3 Answers 3

​$('select').find('option[value="1"]')​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.attr('selected', true );  

Just select the option based on the value (with the attribute selector) and set the selected attribute like this:

var value = "1"; // Set the value that you want to select
$("select option[value=" + value + "]")​​.attr("selected","selected")​​;​

http://jsfiddle/VU9BC/

Just select the option based on the value (with the attribute selector) and set the selected attribute like this Simply no Headace :)

By Value

$( "select" ).change( displayVals );

https://jsfiddle/haroonmind/quemz47o/1/