javascript – How to use a name with square brackets (brackets) in a jQuery selector?

Question:

What's the best way to call an element that has square brackets in the name, using jQuery?.

HTML

<div name="name[1]"></div>

jQuery

$('div[name=name[1]]'); //errado?
$('div[name="name[1]"]'); //correto?
$('div[name="name\\[1\\]"]'); //correto?
$('div[name=name\\[1\\]]'); //correto?

Answer:

The first example $('div[name=name[1]]'); is incorrect, and gives the error unrecognized expression: div[name=name[1]] .

The other options are correct, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Explanation:

  • $('div[name="name[1]"]') is ok to use because jQuery treats name[1] as a string as it is inside quotes, not as a CSS/jQuery selector, and so it doesn't need to be shielded with the \\ escape.

  • $('div[name="name\\[1\\]"]') , works but doesn't need \\ . jQuery reads the name\\[1\\] selector as a string as it is inside quotes, and in javascript the backslash causes the second slash to be ignored \ resulting in \[ , which in turn is the same as [ . So this example has backslashes unnecessarily.

  • $('div[name=name\\[1\\]]') is ok and the inner square brackets [] must be shielded with backslashes in this way so as not to be confused with CSS/jQuery selectors.

From the jQuery documentation:

To use any of the following meta characters !"#$%&'()*+,./:;<=>?@[]^`{|}~ as part of a name, they must be shielded with two backslashes, leading slashes: \\.

example here

More reading (in English):

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