How to add Drop-Down list (<select>) programmatically?
I have quickly made a function that can achieve this, it may not be the best way to do this but it simply works and should be cross browser, please also know that i am NOT a expert in JavaScript so any tips are great :)
Pure Javascript Create Element Solution
function createElement(){
var element = document.createElement(arguments[0]),
text = arguments[1],
attr = arguments[2],
append = arguments[3],
appendTo = arguments[4];
for(var key = 0; key < Object.keys(attr).length ; key++){
var name = Object.keys(attr)[key],
value = attr[name],
tempAttr = document.createAttribute(name);
tempAttr.value = value;
element.setAttributeNode(tempAttr)
}
if(append){
for(var _key = 0; _key < append.length; _key++) {
element.appendChild(append[_key]);
}
}
if(text) element.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text));
if(appendTo){
var target = appendTo === 'body' ? document.body : document.getElementById(appendTo);
target.appendChild(element)
}
return element;
}
lets see how we make this
<select name="drop1" id="Select1">
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
here's how it works
var options = [
createElement('option', 'Volvo', {value: 'volvo'}),
createElement('option', 'Saab', {value: 'saab'}),
createElement('option', 'Mercedes', {value: 'mercedes'}),
createElement('option', 'Audi', {value: 'audi'})
];
createElement('select', null, // 'select' = name of element to create, null = no text to insert
{id: 'Select1', name: 'drop1'}, // Attributes to attach
[options[0], options[1], options[2], options[3]], // append all 4 elements
'body' // append final element to body - this also takes a element by id without the #
);
this is the params
createElement('tagName', 'Text to Insert', {any: 'attribute', here: 'like', id: 'mainContainer'}, [elements, to, append, to, this, element], 'body || container = where to append this element');
This function would suit if you have to append many element, if there is any way to improve this answer please let me know.
edit:
Here is a working demo
JSFiddle Demo
This can be highly customized to suit your project!
This will work (pure JS, appending to a div of id myDiv
):
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/4pwvg/
var myParent = document.body;
//Create array of options to be added
var array = ["Volvo","Saab","Mercades","Audi"];
//Create and append select list
var selectList = document.createElement("select");
selectList.id = "mySelect";
myParent.appendChild(selectList);
//Create and append the options
for (var i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
var option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = array[i];
option.text = array[i];
selectList.appendChild(option);
}
var sel = document.createElement('select');
sel.name = 'drop1';
sel.id = 'Select1';
var cars = [
"volvo",
"saab",
"mercedes",
"audi"
];
var options_str = "";
cars.forEach( function(car) {
options_str += '<option value="' + car + '">' + car + '</option>';
});
sel.innerHTML = options_str;
window.onload = function() {
document.body.appendChild(sel);
};