jQuery: Target all except ___?

Question

I'm looking for a way to select all elements on a page, except those with a specified DOM location.. Here's an example of what I'd like to do:

jQuery('*').except('.ignore').bind('click', function(e) { ... });

Is this possible in a "native jQuery" way?

Andrew Hare · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-23T16:48:52.680

30

You want to use the :not() selector:

jQuery(":not(.ignore)").bind("click", function(e) { ... });

edited Sep 23 '09 at 16:48

answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:42

Andrew Hare

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Ah, I guess the asterisk in my example is probably redundant. – Matt Ball Sep 23 '09 at 16:44
1

Now looking at it, I think I prefer without the asterisk. – Andrew Hare Sep 23 '09 at 16:49
hmmm, I wonder if $(':hover') works for elements that are in a hover state when it is called. – trusktr Apr 16 '12 at 06:39

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:55

24

Another way, if you already have selectors for both:

$('.foo').not('.ignore').bind(...);

Also, more filters.

answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:55

orip

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score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:43

8

jQuery not-selector to the rescue!

$('*:not(.ignore)').bind('click', function(e) { ... });

answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:43

Matt Ball

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 23 '09 at 16:57

On the other hand, doing something to every element on a page simultaneous is nasty. There's a better way. I would recommend binding to the body then ignoring clicks on some elements:

$(document.body).click(function(e){
    if($target.closest('.ignore').length) return true;
    ...
});

…Or using jQuery 1.3's .live(), which does this for you:

 $(":not(.ignore)").live(function(e){
    ...
});

jQuery: Target all except ___?

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