Using an array with jQuery's .not()

Question

What I'm trying to learn is how to use an array with .not() in jQuery. My code is below. Do you know why .item-ii is not being excluded from the selection? Thanks in advance!

<ul class="level-1">
  <li class="item-i">I</li>
  <li class="item-ii">II
    <ul class="level-2">
      <li class="item-a">A</li>
      <li class="item-b">B
        <ul class="level-3">
          <li class="item-1">1</li>
          <li class="item-2">2</li>
          <li class="item-3">3</li>
        </ul>
      </li>
      <li class="item-c">C</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li class="item-iii">III</li>
</ul>
<script>
    var temp = new Array();
    temp[0] = '.item-ii';
    console.log(temp);
    $('li').not(temp).css('background', 'red');
</script>

Answer 1

If you need to exclude all the selectors in the temp array, you can do:

$('li').not(temp.join(',')).css('background', 'red');

For example if temp = ['.item-ii', '.item-i'], the above will be equivalent to:

$('li').not('.item-ii,.item-i').css('background', 'red');