Convert css width string to regular number

Question

While trying to compute the width of an hidden element I found that jquery.width() returns 0 for that elements\' width.

I found out that using jquery.css(\'width\'

Answer 1

I would stick to .width() because it actually gets the computed width instead of css width. Instead of hiding it with .hide() (display: none) you could hide it with .css('visible', 'hidden') then .width() should work.

from my comment If you don't want to change your .hide()´s then you could apply visible: hidden and thereafter .show() and then measure the height. After you have measured it, reverse that. Objects still affects the page layout when they are hidden by visible: hidden - beware of that.

To avoid tags which mess with the layout, you could set the position to absolute, move it to the body tag and then measure.