The before() and after() methods

In the previous chapter, we used the append() and prepend() methods to insert stuff inside an element, but in some cases, you need to insert things before or after one or several elements instead. jQuery has the before() and after() methods for just this purpose, and they are just as easy to use. Check out this example:

<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="$('input.test1')
.before('<i>Before</i>');">Before</a>  
<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="$('input.test1')
.after('<b>After</b>');">After</a>

<br /><br />

<input type="text" class="test1" value="Input 1" name="txtInput1" /><br />
<input type="text" class="test1" value="Input 2" name="txtInput2" /><br />

Depending on which of the two links you click, an italic or a bold tag will be inserted before or after each input element on the page using the "test1" class. Just like with append() and prepend(), both after() and before() allows you to use HTML strings, DOM elements and jQuery objects as parameters and an infinite amount of them as well. We'll demonstrate that in the next example:

<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="InsertElements();">Insert elements</a>
<br /><br />
<span id="spnTest2">Hello world? </span>

<script type="text/javascript">
function InsertElements()
{
        var element1 = $("<b></b>").text("Hello ");
        var element2 = "<i>there </i>";
        var element3 = document.createElement("u");
        element3.innerHTML = "jQuery!";

        $("#spnTest2").after(element1, element2, element3);
}
</script>

In this example, we create a jQuery object, an HTML string and a JavaScript DOM element, and then we use the after() method to insert all of them after our span tag. Of course, the before() method could have been used in exactly the same way.

There are variations of the before() and after() methods, called insertBefore() and insertAfter(). They do pretty much the same, but they do it the other way around, so instead of calling them on the elements you wish to insert data before or after, with a parameter of what is to be inserted, you do the exact opposite. Which method to use obviously depends on the situation, but here's an example showing you how to use them both:

<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="InsertElementsBefore();">
Insert elemenets</a>
<br /><br />
<span id="spnTest3">Hello world? </span>

<script type="text/javascript">
function InsertElementsBefore()
{      
        $("#spnTest3").before($("<i></i>").text("before() "));
        $("<b></b>").text("insertBefore() ").insertBefore("#spnTest3");
}
</script>

In this example, we insert the items before the span tag, but you could of course do the exact same using after() and insertAfter(), if you wish to insert after the target elemenet. As you can see, the result is the same - only the order of what we do differs.

The live() method

In the previous chapters, we used the bind() and unbind() methods to attach and detach event handlers to various elements on the page. This works great for elements which already exists, but what if you want your event handler to be attached to future elements as well? Normally you would have to do this manually, upon creating the new elements, and this is still possible. However, using the live() method, you can inform jQuery to attach your event handler to any future elements which matches your original selector, without having to lift a finger. Let me first show you an example where we use the bind() method, and then replace it with the live() method, to show you the difference:

<div id="divTestArea1">
        <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="AddBox();">Add box</a>
        <div class="test">This is a box</div>
</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function()
{
        $(".test").bind("mouseover", function()
        {
                $(this).css("background-color", "blue");
        }).bind("mouseout", function()
        {
                $(this).css("background-color", "white");
        });
});

function AddBox()
{
        var div = $("<div></div>").addClass("test").text("Another box");
        $("#divTestArea1").append(div);
}
</script>

Okay, this example might seem a bit complicated, but actually it's not. Let me walk you through it. We have a link, which will call the AddBox() JavaScript method, and then we have a div with the class "test". The AddBox() method will simply add another div to the page, with the same class, so that when you click the link, you get yet another box on the page. In the ready event, we select all elements with the "test" class and then we bind a handler to two of the events: The mouseover and the mouseout event, where we change the color of the element invoking the event. Try the example in your browser. The first div will have the mouseover effect, but if you click the link to add more boxes, they won't have the same effect. The reason is pretty obvious: We attached the events before these new boxes were created.

Now try the following example instead. I have only changed two words in it: The two calls to bind() has been replaced with calls to live():

<div id="divTestArea2">
        <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="AddBox();">Add box</a>
        <div class="test">This is a box</div>
</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function()
{
        $(".test").live("mouseover", function()
        {
                $(this).css("background-color", "blue");
        }).live("mouseout", function()
        {
                $(this).css("background-color", "white");
        });
});

function AddBox()
{
        var div = $("<div></div>").addClass("test").text("Another box");
        $("#divTestArea2").append(div);
}
</script>

Now if you run this example, you will see that even though you add new elements after the page has loaded, jQuery will automatically attach the event handlers to them for you. The live() method works just like bind() in all the other aspects, so check the previous chapters for more information on it. The same goes for the die() method, which works just like the unbind() method, but should be used for cases where the live() method has been used.