jquery selector suggestor

Question

We all know that there are many different selector combinations one can use to create a unique wrapped set of jQuery elements.

Does a tool (plugin, extension, etc) exist that allows the user to visually click on any section of the DOM (similar to Firebug's inspect feature) and auto-suggests relevant potential selectors that match that element?

The tool would have internal knowledge of jQuery selectors (CSS selectors fall short) and would take into account the surrounding elements + the DOM to provide 10-20 helpful selector suggestions.

Answer 1

Here is a start point to play around with what you need (i hope) or just to understand:

JSFIDDLE DEMO

$("body").click(function(event) { // if you are not interested on 'body' himself use: $("body>*")

    // QUESTIONS:
    var Q_qwer = 'Not a parent';
    var Q_children = 'Not a children';
    var Q_last = 'Not last';
    var Q_first = 'Not first';

    //#

    if ($(event.target).children().size() > 0) {
        myChildren = $(event.target).children();
        var Q_parent = myChildren[0].nodeName + ' (ID: ' + myChildren[0].id + ' || CLASS: ' + myChildren[0].className + ' )';
    }
    if ($(event.target).parent().size() > 0) {
        myParent = $(event.target).parent();
        var Q_children = myParent[0].nodeName + ' (ID: ' + myParent[0].id + ' || CLASS: ' + myParent[0].className + ' )';     
    }
    if ($(event.target).is(':last-child')) {
        Q_last = 'LAST!' ;      
    }
    if ($(event.target).is(':first-child')) { // or use: $(event.target).index() == 0
        Q_first = 'FIRST!' ;     
    }

    $("#log").html(' event.target: ' + event.target +
                   ' <br> nodeName: ' + event.target.nodeName +
                   ' , Tag: ' + event.target.tagName +
                   ' <br> ID: ' + event.target.id +
                   ' <br> Class: ' + event.target.className +
                   ' <br> Href: ' + event.target.href +
                   ' <br> Value: ' + event.target.value +
                   ' <br> Children of: ' + Q_children +
                   ' <br> Parent of: ' + Q_parent + ' (First children)' +
                   ' <br> Last children?: ' + Q_last +
                   ' <br> First children?: ' + Q_first +
                   ' <br> .index( ' + $(event.target).index() + ')' +
                   ' <br> .eq( ' + $(event.target).prevAll().length + ')' +
                   ' <br> <hr>' + $(event.target).html()

                  );
});

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You could try this bookmarklet called SelectorGadget