If statement not triggering alert box

Question

I am trying to create a if statement that triggers a alert box if there is text in the div.

My Jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/D7cPT/21/

My HTML:

<div id="post-preview">aasasdasd</div>

MY JQUERY:

$(document).ready(function() {
    // Bind it to some action.
    if{$('#post_body_html').html();) {
       alert('asdasda');
      }
});

Looks syntactically invalid at first glance. Double check what you wrote. I see a left brace after the if keyword that looks suspicious, as well as the semicolon in the test expression. — dyoo, Nov 28 '11 at 21:43

Chad · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-20T21:24:18.463

13

OH DEAR GOD:

//why is there a bracket after the if and a semicolon in there?
if{$('#post_body_html').html();) {

How about:

//change if{ to if( and remove semicolon
if($('#post_body_html').html()) {

Also your selector doesn't match the ID of your element. Change #post_body_html to #post-preview

jsFiddle

Edit:

To those who land here later on, a better way to accomplish the same test is written:

if($('#post_body_html')[0].childNodes.length) {

instead.

edited Dec 20 '11 at 21:24

answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:41

Chad

19,219
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1

I love the 'lightbulb' moment where we try to pretend that that was the biggest thing wrong with that code - :P we all gotta start somewhere. – rlemon Nov 28 '11 at 22:01
1

Note that `.html()` is foolish, you probably want something like `[0].childNodes.length` instead – Raynos Nov 28 '11 at 22:43
@Raynos added to answer, just in case. – Chad Nov 29 '11 at 01:10

Manse · Answer 2 · 2011-11-28T21:50:36.393

3

Try this ->

$(document).ready(function() {
    // Bind it to some action.
    if($('#post-preview').html()) { // wrong ID and wrong syntax
       alert('asdasda');
     }
});

Working demo : http://jsfiddle.net/manseuk/D7cPT/25/

edited Nov 28 '11 at 21:50

answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:42

Manse

37,765
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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:44

0

You have MANY problems:

It should be post-preview, not #post_body_html
You have if { instead of if (
You end your if statement with a semi-colon? Huh?
html() doesn't return a bool, it returns a string.

Try this:

$(document).ready(function() {
    // Bind it to some action.
    if ($('#post-preview').html().length > 0) {
       alert('asdasda');
      }
});

answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:44

aquinas

23,318
5
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An empty string would evaluate the `if` statement to false. `.length > 0` is not *really* necessary. See [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/154059/what-is-the-best-way-to-check-for-an-empty-string-in-javascript) – Chad Nov 28 '11 at 21:47
True, it's only necessary for my sanity ;) – aquinas Nov 28 '11 at 21:53

score -3 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:42

-3

You should remove the ;

$(document).ready(function() {
    // Bind it to some action.
    if{$('#post_body_html').html()) { //line changed
       alert('asdasda');
      }
});

answered Nov 28 '11 at 21:42

Adilson de Almeida Jr

2,761
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37

except that if still has a bracket after it...`if{` – Chad Nov 28 '11 at 21:46

If statement not triggering alert box

4 Answers4