Is it possible to clone html element objects in JavaScript?

Question

I have a html element (like select box input field) in a table. Now I want to copy the object and generate a new one out of the copy, and that with JavaScript or jQuery. I think this should work somehow but I'm a little bit clueless at the moment.

Something like this (pseudo code):

oldDdl = $("#ddl_1").get(); 

newDdl = oldDdl;

oldDdl.attr('id', newId);

oldDdl.html();

Answer 1

With native JavaScript:

newelement = element.cloneNode(bool)

where the Boolean indicates whether to clone child nodes or not.

Here is the complete documentation on MDN.

Answer 2

Using your code you can do something like this in plain JavaScript using the cloneNode() method:

// Create a clone of element with id ddl_1:
let clone = document.querySelector('#ddl_1').cloneNode( true );

// Change the id attribute of the newly created element:
clone.setAttribute( 'id', newId );

// Append the newly created element on element p 
document.querySelector('p').appendChild( clone );

Or using jQuery clone() method (not the most efficient):

$('#ddl_1').clone().attr('id', newId).appendTo('p'); // append to where you want

Answer 3

Yes, you can copy children of one element and paste them into the other element:

var foo1 = jQuery('#foo1');
var foo2 = jQuery('#foo2');

foo1.html(foo2.children().clone());

Proof: http://jsfiddle.net/de9kc/

Answer 4

It's actually very easy in jQuery:

$("#ddl_1").clone().attr("id",newId).appendTo("body");

Change .appendTo() of course...

Answer 5

You can use clone() method to create a copy..

$('#foo1').html( $('#foo2 > div').clone())​;

FIDDLE HERE

Answer 6

Get the HTML of the element to clone with .innerHTML, and then just make a new object by means of createElement()...

var html = document.getElementById('test').innerHTML;
var clone = document.createElement('span');
clone.innerHTML = html;

In general, clone() functions must be coded by, or understood by, the cloner. For example, let's clone this: <div>Hello, <span>name!</span></div>. If I delete the clone's <span> tags, should it also delete the original's span tags? If both are deleted, the object references were cloned; if only one set is deleted, the object references are brand-new instantiations. In some cases you want one, in others the other.

In HTML, typically, you'll want anything cloned to be referentially self-contained. The best way to make sure these new references are contained properly is to have the same innerHTML rerun and re-understood by the browser within a new element. Better than working to solve your problem, you should know exactly how it's doing its cloning...

Full Working Demo:

function cloneElement() {
    var html = document.getElementById('test').innerHTML;
    var clone = document.createElement('span');
    clone.innerHTML = html;
    document.getElementById('clones').appendChild(clone);
}

<span id="test">Hello!!!</span><br><br>

<span id="clones"></span><br><br>

<input type="button" onclick="cloneElement();" value="Click Here to Clone an Element">

Answer 7

Try this:

$('#foo1').html($('#foo2').children().clone());

Answer 8

Vanilla JS approach on what you are trying to do

const oldDdl = document.querySelector('#ddl_1');

const newDdl = oldDdl.cloneNode(true);

oldDdl.setAttribute('id','newId');

const oldDdlHtml = oldDdl.innerHTML;

Answer 9

You need to select "#foo2" as your selector. Then, get it with html().

Here is the html:

<div id="foo1">

</div>
<div id="foo2">
    <div>Foo Here</div>
</div>​

Here is the javascript:

$("#foo2").click(function() {
    //alert("clicked");
    var value=$(this).html();
    $("#foo1").html(value);
});​

Here is the jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/fritzdenim/DhCjf/

Answer 10

In one line:

$('#selector').clone().attr('id','newid').appendTo('#newPlace');