CSS "id" and "class" syntax in javascript

[BobBlock]

I have a box defined like this:

<div id="shadow-container1">
<div class="shadow1">
<div class="shadow2">
<div class="shadow3">
<div class="container">

the innermost "container" is where content appears.

I have to pass the id of "container" to the javascript variable parameter
"target":

var countries=new ddajaxtabs("source", "target")

How do I replace "target" with the full id of "container", that is what would the correct syntax for "target" be?

I tried many variations but could not come up with one that works, tho this must be a simple one for the experts here.

[acoder]

If it's as you've described, it should be "shadow-container1". If that doesn't work, give a link to the Ajax-tab code that you're using.

[BobBlock]

acoder,

As "target" has to resolve to "#shadow-container1 .container", the # alone does not work.

I don't understand what you mean by "give a link to the Ajax-tab code that you're using".

[acoder]

I did a quick search and found that you're using the Dynamic Drive Ajax Tabs. OK, you need to pass the ID, so the easiest way is to give the container a unique ID:

<div class="container" id="container">

and pass that ID.

[BobBlock]

So I gave every div in the group a unique ID, doing away with the "class"es alltogether. This made the script happy!

Does this mean id+class combinations cannot be used in JS in general, or is this peculiar to the script in question?

Thank you and cheers.

[acoder]

They can be used together, but the script required a unique ID. IDs are unique whereas classes are not. Sometimes you want some CSS rule/script to apply to a set of elements, so you use one class for all of them, but you also want to refer to a particular element for some rule and giving a unique ID makes sure of that. You can refer to a particular element without IDs, e.g. by using getElementsByClassName() and then indexing the correct one, but in this case, that wouldn't have worked.

[rnd me]

@BobBlock
jQuery supports mixed searches just like css.

[BobBlock]

@acoder
Thank you again, acorder. Cheers.