Get a number for a style value WITHOUT the "px;" suffix
JavascriptHtmlCssJavascript Problem Overview
I am trying to do some comparison logic about the positions of HTML elements. I have a system that I think should work, but there is a problem.
In my code I compare the current left and top values of one absolutely positioned element to those of another (which may be moving) using inequality statements (>
and <
). The problem is that the feedback I get form document.getElementById(nameVar).style.left
is in the form of a string (e.g. 200px
) not a number (e.g. 200
), so the comparisons don't work.
My question is, is there any way to turn the string into a number that I can manipulate the way I want to? Either by using an altered address or by preforming some procedure with the feedback once I get it.
Any help would be great.
Javascript Solutions
Solution 1 - Javascript
parseInt
gives you the numerical value:
var tmp = parseInt(document.getElementById(nameVar).style.left, 10);
console.log(tmp);
or, as @PeteWilson suggests in the comments, use parseFloat
Solution 2 - Javascript
An alternative approach to the one from Konsolenfreddy, is to use:
var numericValue = window
.getComputedStyle(document.getElementById('div'),null)
.getPropertyValue('left')
.match(/\d+/);
The benefit of this approach is that it works to retrieve the value set in CSS, regardless of that value being set in the style
attribute of the element or in a linked stylesheet, which I think Konsolenfreddy's approach is limited by.
References:
Solution 3 - Javascript
You can use .offsetLeft
and .offsetTop
to get values without px
and the return type is numeric.
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/ThinkingStiff/2sbvL/
Script:
var result = document.getElementById( 'result' ),
position = document.getElementById( 'position' );
result.textContent = position.offsetLeft + ', ' + position.offsetTop;
HTML:
<div id="position"></div>
<div id="result"></div>
CSS:
#position {
border: 1px solid black;
height: 50px;
left: 50px;
position: absolute;
top: 50px;
width: 50px;
}
Output:
Solution 4 - Javascript
You may also use:
element.getBoundingClientRect()
it returns DOMRect object (with some useful coordinates).
Solution 5 - Javascript
Just solved this issue with TypeScript:
const parseCSSNumericValue = (value: string, unit: string): number | undefined => {
const match = value.match(new RegExp(`(-?\\d+)${unit}`))
if (!match) return
const [, g1] = match
return Number(g1)
}
You have to provide a value like '10px' and a unit you want to catch, like 'px'.
const [x] = getComputedStyle(element).backgroundPosition.split(' ')
const pixels = parseCSSNumericValue(x, 'px')
It's because you do not want to get 10
when you want to parse pixels but there is a '10%'
.