jQuery - Check if element has a class from an array?

Question

Im trying to check if an element has a class from an array and if so what is the value of that class. At the moment I am just using:

if ($(this).hasClass('purple_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'purple_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('red_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'red_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('green_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'green_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('blue_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'blue_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('yellow_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'yellow_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('light_yellow_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'light_yellow_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('lighter_yellow_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'lighter_yellow_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('grey_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'grey_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('light_grey_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'light_grey_grad';
        } else if ($(this).hasClass('black_grad')) {
            $thisFKeyColour = 'black_grad';
        }
}
alert($thisFKeyColour);

Is there a better way of doing this? Something like:

if (in_array(classes, element.attr('class'))) {
    $thisFKeyColour = Class_Of_Element_That_Matched_Array;
}

Also, I cant just return the .attr('class') as their are multiple classes on the element.

Cheers
Charlie

Answer 1

The following should do it (untested):

var elementClasses = $(this).attr("class").split(" ");
for(var i = 0; i < elementClasses.length; i++) {
    if($.inArray(elementClasses[i], classes)) {
        $thisFKeyColour = classes[i];
        break;
    }
}

Try it out here.

Reference:

http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.inArray/