Get the DOM path of the clicked

Question

HTML

Answer 1

Here is a native JS version that returns a jQuery path. I'm also adding IDs for elements if they have them. This would give you the opportunity to do the shortest path if you see an id in the array.

var path = getDomPath(element);
console.log(path.join(' > '));

Outputs

body > section:eq(0) > div:eq(3) > section#content > section#firehose > div#firehoselist > article#firehose-46813651 > header > h2 > span#title-46813651

Here is the function.

function getDomPath(el) {
  var stack = [];
  while ( el.parentNode != null ) {
    console.log(el.nodeName);
    var sibCount = 0;
    var sibIndex = 0;
    for ( var i = 0; i < el.parentNode.childNodes.length; i++ ) {
      var sib = el.parentNode.childNodes[i];
      if ( sib.nodeName == el.nodeName ) {
        if ( sib === el ) {
          sibIndex = sibCount;
        }
        sibCount++;
      }
    }
    if ( el.hasAttribute('id') && el.id != '' ) {
      stack.unshift(el.nodeName.toLowerCase() + '#' + el.id);
    } else if ( sibCount > 1 ) {
      stack.unshift(el.nodeName.toLowerCase() + ':eq(' + sibIndex + ')');
    } else {
      stack.unshift(el.nodeName.toLowerCase());
    }
    el = el.parentNode;
  }

  return stack.slice(1); // removes the html element
}