select an element with (x,y) coordinates

Question

Is there a way to select an element using it's (x,y) coordinates with jquery or in any other way. other than going through all the page elements and comparing coordinates.

Can you be a little more specific? The answer is no - sort of. However, depending on what you want to do, there might be better ways around that. Getting the coordinates of a clicked element... ...or getting the coordinates of a known element, or moving a known element to specific coordinates, et cetera. — Norguard, Oct 18 '11 at 23:34
vanilla javascript has an elementFromPoint() API. The problem is, support for this seems to vary between browsers. Check this page where someone has provided a consistent way to do it using jQuery -- http://www.zehnet.de/2010/11/19/document-elementfrompoint-a-jquery-solution/ — carpii, Oct 18 '11 at 23:36

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 18 '11 at 23:35

8

You need to use document.elementFromPoint(). Note that this is not jQuery specific. Reference and compatibility guidance on quirksmode.

answered Oct 18 '11 at 23:35

N Rohler

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 18 '11 at 23:35

2

Try this, works cross browser

answered Oct 18 '11 at 23:35

FloydThreepwood

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Note that browser compatibility issues are only present in Opera 10.10 and Safari 4, both antiquated versions at this point. – N Rohler Oct 18 '11 at 23:40
Depends on your target audience. Safari 4 will be present on legace iPhones. – FloydThreepwood Feb 24 '12 at 23:48

select an element with (x,y) coordinates

2 Answers2