jQuery - setting the selected value of a select control via its text description

Question

I have a select control, and in a javascript variable I have a text string.

Using jQuery I want to set the selected element of the select control to be the item with the text description I have (as opposed to the value, which I don't have).

I know setting it by value is pretty trivial. e.g.

$("#my-select").val(myVal); 

But I'm a bit stumped on doing it via the text description. I guess there must be a way of getting the value out from the text description, but my brain is too Friday afternoon-ed to be able to work it out.

Answer 1

Select by description for jQuery v1.6+

var text1 = 'Two';  $("select option").filter(function() {    //may want to use $.trim in here    return $(this).text() == text1;  }).prop('selected', true);

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>    <select>    <option value="0">One</option>    <option value="1">Two</option>  </select>

jQuery versions below 1.6 and greater than or equal to 1.4

var text1 = 'Two';  $("select option").filter(function() {    //may want to use $.trim in here    return $(this).text() == text1;  }).attr('selected', true);

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.0/jquery.min.js"></script>    <select>    <option value="0">One</option>    <option value="1">Two</option>  </select>

Note that while this approach will work in versions that are above 1.6 but less than 1.9, it has been deprecated since 1.6. It will not work in jQuery 1.9+.

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Previous versions

val() should handle both cases.

$('select').val('1'); // selects "Two"  $('select').val('Two'); // also selects "Two"

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.3/jquery.min.js"></script>    <select>    <option value="0">One</option>    <option value="1">Two</option>  </select>