Selector expressions

The jQuery factory function $() is used to find elements on the page to work with. This function takes a string composed of CSS-like syntax, called a selector expression. Selector expressions are discussed in detail in Chapter 2, Selecting Elements.

Simple CSS

Selector	Matches
*	All elements.
#id	The element with the given ID.
element	All elements of the given type.
.class	All elements with the given class.
a, b	Elements that are matched by a or b.
a b	Elements b that are descendants of a.
a > b	Elements b that are children of a.
a + b	Elements b that immediately follow a.
a ~ b	Elements b that are siblings of a and follow a.

Position among siblings

Selector	Matches
:nth-child(index)	Elements that are the index child of their parent element (1-based).
:nth-child(even)	Elements that are an even child of their parent element (1-based).
:nth-child(odd)	Elements which are an odd child of their parent element (1-based).
:nth-child(formula)	Elements that are the nth child of their parent element (1-based). Formulas are of the form an+b for integers a and b.
:nth-last-child()	The same as :nth-child(), but counting from the last element to the first.
:first-child	Elements that are the first child of their parent.
:last-child	Elements that are the last child of their parent.
:only-child	Elements that are the only child of their parent.
:nth-of-type()	The same as :nth-child(), but only counting elements of the same element name.
:nth-last-of-type()	The same as :nth-last-child(), but only counting elements of the same element name.
:first-of-type	Elements which are the first child of the same element name among their siblings.
:last-of-type	Elements that are the last child of the same element name among their siblings.
:only-of-type()	Elements that are the only child of the same element name among their siblings.

Position among matched elements

Selector	Matches
:first	The first element in the result set.
:last	The last element in the result set.
:not(a)	All elements in the result set that are not matched by a.
:even	Even elements in the result set (0-based).
:odd	Odd elements in the result set (0-based).
:eq(index)	A numbered element in the result set (0-based).
:gt(index)	All elements in the result set after (greater than) the given index (0-based).
:lt(index)	All elements in the result set before (less than) the given index (0-based).

Attributes

Selector	Matches
[attr]	Elements that have the attribute attr.
[attr="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute is value.
[attr!="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute is not value.
[attr^="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute begins with value.
[attr$="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute ends with value.
[attr*="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute contains the substring value.
[attr~="value"]	Elements whose attr attribute is a space-delimited set of strings, one of which is value.
[attr|="value"]	Elements whose attr attributes is either equal to value or begins with value followed by a hyphen.

Forms

Selector	Matches
:input	All <input>, <select>, <textarea>, and <button> elements.
:text	The <input> elements with type="text".
:password	The <input> elements with type="password".
:file	The <input> elements with type="file".
:radio	The <input> elements with type="radio".
:checkbox	The <input> elements with type="checkbox".
:submit	The <input> elements with type="submit".
:image	The <input> elements with type="image".
:reset	The <input> elements with type="reset".
:button	The <input> elements with type="button" and <button> elements.
:enabled	Enabled form elements.
:disabled	Disabled form elements.
:checked	Checked checkboxes and radio buttons.
:selected	Selected <option> elements.

Miscellaneous selectors

Selector	Matches
:root	The root element of the document.
:header	Header elements (for example, <h1>, <h2>).
:animated	Elements with an animation in progress.
:contains(text)	Elements containing the given text.
:empty	Elements with no child nodes.
:has(a)	Elements containing a descendant element matching a.
:parent	Elements that have child nodes.
:hidden	Elements that are hidden, either through CSS or because they are <input type="hidden" />.
:visible	The inverse of :hidden.
:focus	The element that has the keyboard focus.
:lang(language)	Elements with the given language code (either due to a lang attribute on the element or an ancestor, or a <meta> declaration).
:target	Whichever element is targeted by the URI's fragment identifier, if any.