this.class vs. this.getAttribute('class')

Question

I have a radio button, and when it is pressed a function is called, which accepts the class of the button as an argument. So something like this:

<input class="myclass" type="radio" name="name" value="x" checked="true" onClick="myFunction(this.value, this.getAttribute('class'))"></input>

Notice that in my onClick, I have this.getAttribute('class') instead of simply this.class. I tried using this.class but I kept getting undefined. Is this.class not an acceptable thing to do? I have used this.id elsewhere in my code which works fine, but for some reason I need to use getAttribute when I want to reference class.

So essentially I am asking what is the difference between this.class and this.getAttribute('class')?

`this.class` is incorrect; you intended to access `this.className`. — Jon, Aug 18 '14 at 15:23
Or `classList`: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/element.classList — jgillich, Aug 18 '14 at 15:25
`getAttribute` looks for HTML attributes. Using `this.class` looks for a JS attribute, which does not exist. The JS equivalent of the HTML `class` attribute is `className`. `class` is also a reserved keyword in JavaScript, so avoid using it. — SeinopSys, Aug 18 '14 at 15:25
possible duplicate of [HTML - attributes vs properties](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19246714/html-attributes-vs-properties) — Oriol, Aug 18 '14 at 15:28

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 15 '18 at 19:12

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There is no this.class. i think you mean this.className. see this:

getAttribute("class") is more universal, because it can be used in different types of documents. In XML documents, most importantly. Including SVG.

this.className works only in HTML

edited Dec 15 '18 at 19:12

Brokkoli 71

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answered Aug 18 '14 at 15:34

Suchit kumar

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You haven't cited your quote. Where did you get that from? – James Donnelly Aug 18 '14 at 15:35
you can see the comparision here http://jsperf.com/classname-vs-getattribute-class – Suchit kumar Aug 18 '14 at 15:42

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '14 at 15:27

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Use className to get the current value of the class attribute. I think the reason behind this is because class is a reserved word.

answered Aug 18 '14 at 15:27

E. Sundin

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this.class vs. this.getAttribute('class')

2 Answers2