entries/jQuery.makeArray.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<entry type="method" name="jQuery.makeArray" return="Array">
  <title>jQuery.makeArray()</title>
  <signature>
    <added>1.2</added>
    <argument name="obj" type="PlainObject">
      <desc>Any object to turn into a native Array.</desc>
    </argument>
  </signature>
  <desc>Convert an array-like object into a true JavaScript array.</desc>
  <longdesc>
    <p>Many methods, both in jQuery and in JavaScript in general, return objects that are array-like. For example, the jQuery factory function <code>$()</code> returns a jQuery object that has many of the properties of an array (a length, the <code>[]</code> array access operator, etc.), but is not exactly the same as an array and lacks some of an array's built-in methods (such as <code>.pop()</code> and <code>.reverse()</code>).</p>
    <p>Note that after the conversion, any special features the object had (such as the jQuery methods in our example) will no longer be present. The object is now a plain array.</p>
  </longdesc>
  <example>
    <desc>Turn a collection of HTMLElements into an Array of them.</desc>
    <code><![CDATA[
// Returns a NodeList
var elems = document.getElementsByTagName( "div" );
// Convert the NodeList to an Array
var arr = jQuery.makeArray( elems );
// Use an Array method on list of dom elements
arr.reverse();
$( arr ).appendTo( document.body );
]]></code>
    <css><![CDATA[
  div {
    color: red;
  }
]]></css>
    <html><![CDATA[
<div>First</div>
<div>Second</div>
<div>Third</div>
<div>Fourth</div>
]]></html>
  </example>
  <example>
    <desc>Turn a jQuery object into an array</desc>
    <code><![CDATA[
var obj = $( "li" );
var arr = $.makeArray( obj );
]]></code>
    <results><![CDATA[
( typeof obj === "object" && obj.jquery ) === true;
jQuery.isArray( arr ) === true;
]]></results>
  </example>
  <category slug="utilities"/>
  <category slug="version/1.2"/>
</entry>