get .html AND the container [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
jQuery - Get selected element's outer HTML

so I have a div..

<div id="fred">

it has stuff in it

<div id="fred">
  <tr id="thing1">hello1</tr>
  <tr id="thing2">hello2</tr>
</div>

if I call

$("#fred").html();

I get just the items inside:

  <tr id="thing1">hello1</tr>
  <tr id="thing2">hello2</tr>

I want the whole thing:

<div id="fred">
  <tr id="thing1">hello1</tr>
  <tr id="thing2">hello2</tr>
</div>

I know that I can ref using this[0], but it seems like there should be an easier way..

I tried .andSelf() but apparently that doesn't do what I thought it should doo..

Answer 1

jQuery doesn't support outerHTML: http://api.jquery.com/html/#comment-84945158

(.andSelf is for element sets, not for depth.)

I think the best solution would be el[0].outerHTML (no extra 'plugin' required and native JS s always good)