Dynamically add printthis button to a certain class

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Sorry if I'm missing something (i'm a beginner in JS). I am looking to use the PrintThis.js JQuery plugin to add a print button to any div with the "printdiv" class. I am using Jquery to number off the buttons and div classes and append the needed JQuery code to the script tag at the bottom of the page.

Here is a codepen I made with the code I am using. https://codepen.io/hinte019/pen/yEybmG?editors=1010

Here is it also in code form

<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <title>Document</title>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
        <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
        <script src="printthis/printThis.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div class="printdiv"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Rem voluptatibus, magni, alias eaque dolor quisquam placeat, similique atque ratione fugiat impedit nam numquam accusantium. Deserunt reiciendis nulla omnis necessitatibus, quo.</p></div>
        <div class="printdiv"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Sit labore commodi, magnam corrupti dignissimos hic soluta. Distinctio quod saepe, tempora inventore ipsum, eligendi, dignissimos, eos recusandae perspiciatis odit consequuntur! Optio.</p></div>
        <div class="printdiv"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Voluptate distinctio fugiat earum, quibusdam soluta ipsa voluptas porro nostrum cupiditate vel modi nesciunt sint rem, vitae id exercitationem debitis, saepe eius?</p></div>
        <script>
        $(function () {
            // print divs
            var i = 1;
            $("body script").append('$(document).ready(function () {');
            $('.printdiv').each(function(){
                $(this).removeClass('printdiv').addClass('printdiv'+i);
                $('.printdiv'+i).prepend('<button type=\"button'+i + '\" class=\"btn btn-primary printbutton' +i + '\">Print<\/button>');
                var printcode = '\r\n        $(\'.printbutton'+i + '\').click(function () {\r\n            $(\'.printdiv'+i + '\').printThis();\r\n        });';
                $("body script").append(printcode);
                i++;
            });
            $("body script").append('\r\n});');
        });
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

This results in printing

$(document).ready(function () {
    $('.printbutton1').click(function () {
        $('.printdiv1').printThis();
    });
    $('.printbutton2').click(function () {
        $('.printdiv2').printThis();
    });
    $('.printbutton3').click(function () {
        $('.printdiv3').printThis();
    });
});

The resulting code should be right, but the print buttons do not work :(

2

There are 2 answers

1
Gabriele Petrioli On BEST ANSWER

The problem is that the script in the body, in which you append your code, has already been parsed/processed by the js engine so you cannot alter its contents.

You should create an in-memory script and after you fill it then append it to the DOM.

$(function() {
  // print divs
  var i = 1;
  var script = $('<script>');
  script.append("$(document).ready(function () {");
  $(".printdiv").each(function() {
    $(this)
      .removeClass("printdiv")
      .addClass("printdiv" + i);
    $(".printdiv" + i).prepend(
      '<button type="button' +
        i +
        '" class="btn btn-primary printbutton' +
        i +
        '">Print</button>'
    );
    var printcode =
      "\r\n        $('.printbutton" +
      i +
      "').on('click', function () {\r\n            $('.printdiv" +
      i +
      "').printThis();\r\n        });";
    script.append(printcode);
    i++;
  });
  script.append("\r\n});");
  script.appendTo('body');
});
0
Jason On

An easier way to accomplish what you want:

Change to html (including print button in the source code):

<div class="printdiv">
    <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</p>
    <button class="btn btn-primary printbutton">Print</button>
</div>
<div class="printdiv">
    <p>consectetur adipisicing elit</p>
    <button class="btn btn-primary printbutton">Print</button>
</div>
<div class="printdiv">
    <p>vitae id exercitationem debitis</p>
    <button class="btn btn-primary printbutton">Print</button>
</div>

jQuery:

$('.printButton').on('click', function(){
    var $parent = $(this).parent('.printdiv');
    $parent.printThis();
});

This jQuery says on click of a button, find that button's parent div matching the class printDiv and passes that as the selector for printThis.

Additionally, I would suggest moving all javascript/jQuery out of the page an into it's own file.

So you would have:

<script src="path/to/jQuery"></script>
<script src="path/to/printThis"></script>
<script src="path/to/your/custom/javascript"></script>

Important note:

  • Appending <script> dynamically is typically not necessary, and is a very roundabout klunky way of affecting the DOM.
  • Use $.on('click',... instead of $.click. For $.click a separate handler gets created for every single element that matches the selector and only works for elements already in the DOM (hence your problem in your initial code). $.on works for dynamically added elements