reverse of jQuery.parseHTML

Question

1. jQuery.parseHTML() produces an array. I'm looking for a way to convert it back to string. This is my top question.

2. Is parseHTML() the only method to treat a string as html?

3. Bassically, I was parsing my string as html so that I can use find() function of jQuery to match a certain element and then perfrom a replacement only on that portion of the code (see my previous question for more details). So, is parsing to html necessary for that?

Answer 1

A simple function

function htmlToSource(selector){
 return $('<div />').append($(selector).clone()).html();
};

htmlToSource('body');

Answer 2

Sounds like you want to just construct some DOM elements on the fly. You can do that by just passing an HTML string to the jQuery function ($()). No parseHTML() required.

var mySet = $('<div>blah blah blah<span>some stuff</span></div>');

// perform operations on the set just like you would a regular jQuery set
var divsInMySet = mySet.find('div');

// be aware some functions will return unexpected results since your set exists in memory not on the page
// for example anything related to positioning or visibility will fail
var whoKnows = mySet.position();
var dontDoThis = mySet.is(':visible');