jQuery attribute contains selector with text containing slashes

Question

I'm trying to write a jQuery selector to find links to files contained in a documents folder. There are several documents folders in various places on the site. A sample URL to match is

http://example.com/magazine/volume5/documents/magazine2010_11-8_final.pdf

This works:

$("a[href*='documents']")

But for completeness, I want to match the slashes on either side. I see that to include a slash in a selector, I need to prefix it with two backslashes, like this: \\/. But that's working only for the trailing slash, not the leading slash.

This works:

$("a[href*='documents\\/']")

But this does not:

$("a[href*='\\/documents\\/']")

What am I doing wrong?

Update On jsFiddle (http://jsfiddle.net/jA3AJ/), it works, but not on my site (using the same browser, Firefox 4.0). My full code snippet is

<script type="text/javascript">
    // Instrument download links for GA
    $(document).ready(function () {
        $("a[href*='\\/documents\\/']").click(function () {
            alert("Download: " + this.pathname);
            // if (typeof _gaq !== 'undefined') { _gaq.push(["_trackEvent", "Files", "Download", this.pathname]); }
        });
    });
</script>

According to the answer to this How do I get jQuery to select elements with a . (period) in their ID?, I need to use two backslashes. The jsFiddle works for me either way. In fact, it works with no backslashes: $("a[href*='/documents/'])"

Updated I'm using jQuery 1.6.4. I updated the jsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/jA3AJ/1/ and there, it works fine.

Both versions are working for me, both with the current quote setup and reversing them as shown in api. http://jsfiddle.net/Tentonaxe/ykvw5/ — Kevin B, Jan 13 '12 at 21:04

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 13 '12 at 21:01

2

Its works for me. Use $("a[href*='\/documents\/']"). If you want to escape a forward slash just put one escape character(\) in front of it. You don't need 2 escape characters.

Wroking Demo

answered Jan 13 '12 at 21:01

ShankarSangoli

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I didn't even see the second escape... Need new contacts – Kyle Macey Jan 13 '12 at 21:15
On jsfiddle, all versions work -- one or two slashes, any order of quotes. I'll update my question with more code. – Carl Raymond Jan 13 '12 at 21:15
If `$("a[href*='/documents/'])"` works they why are you putting the slash? – ShankarSangoli Jan 13 '12 at 21:47

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 13 '12 at 21:02

2

Reverse your single and double quotes

$('a[href*="\/documents\/"]')

answered Jan 13 '12 at 21:02

Kyle Macey

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Reversing the quotes made no difference. – Carl Raymond Jan 13 '12 at 21:13

jQuery attribute contains selector with text containing slashes

2 Answers2