How do I get the string representation out of a jQuery object?

Question

Really dumb question but, for instance, given:

var $foo = $('<div>bar</div>');

How would I get the '<div>bar</div>' back out?

Answer 1

You need to append it to a container, then call .html() on that.

This is because .html() only gives you the content.

Try it out: http://jsfiddle.net/ttYXG/

var $foo = $('<div>bar</div>');

$('<div />').append($foo).html();

Answer 2

$("<h1>Test</h1>")[0].outerHTML

Returns: <h1>Test</h1>