jQuery .attr('value') returns undefined for text area

Question

I have a page which dynamically brings in a form via ajax and displays it in a modal div (one that sits above an overlay div that covers the entire page). This is to let them save certain data before a window closes. Everything works great except one thing.

$('#save_close_form').find('*[name]').each(function(index, form_element) {
    var cfe = (form_element.jquery == undefined ? $(form_element) : form_element);
    console.log(cfe.attr('name') + " => " + cfe.attr('value'));
    if (cfe.attr('name').match(/data\[/)) {
        if (cfe.attr('type') == 'checkbox') {
            if (cfe.attr('checked')) {
                map[cfe.attr('name')] = 'on';
            }
            else {
                map[cfe.attr('name')] = '';
            }
        }
        else if (cfe.attr('type') == 'radio') {
            // only get checked radio buttons
            if (cfe.attr('checked')) {
                map[cfe.attr('name')] = cfe.attr('value');
            }
        }
        else {
            map[cfe.attr('name')] = cfe.attr('value');
        }
    }
});

The part in the else {} clause at the end triggers for TextArea and input type="text" elements, but for some reason it always sees cfe.attr('value'); as undefined for the TextArea. I'm using FF6.0 with jQuery 1.6 for this.

in a previous version of this code i tried that and it never worked. the weird thing is that the above code was working just fine until recently when i upgraded JQ from 1.3 to 1.6 — Derek, Aug 24 '11 at 18:52

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:50

14

Try .val() instead of .attr('value').

<textarea> doesn't have a value attribute (the text is between the tags, not in value="") however I believe .val() will retrieve it.

answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:50

JJ.

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I guess in 1.6 they fixed the way .val() works in textareas, as it now seems to work with that. The strange thing is that .attr('value') was working fine until now. – Derek Aug 24 '11 at 19:06

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

2

For textareas use :

 $("#textareaid").val() or $("#textareaid").html()

instead.

jQuery get textarea text

Set value of textarea in jQuery

edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

Community

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answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:51

AJC

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1

`.html()` will get the value the textarea started with, `.val()` will get the current value. – gen_Eric Aug 24 '11 at 18:56

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:52

1

TextArea does not have an attribute called value...try using val

map[cfe.attr('name')] = cfe.val();

answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:52

legendofawesomeness

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:52

1

textarea does not have a value attribute by default. You should use cfe.val() or cfe.html() to get its content.

answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:52

ShankarSangoli

69,612
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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:51

0

It's because a textarea doesn't have a value attribute.

Use .val() instead.

answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:51

PeeHaa

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 24 '11 at 18:51

Ok, so the reason is that jQuery 1.6 makes a distinction between the attribute at creation and your current property value. You've created the textarea without a value attribute more than likely; thus, the initial value is undefined. When you want to pull the defined value, you need to either use .prop('value'), or call the more helpful .val() method.

jQuery .attr('value') returns undefined for text area

6 Answers6

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