Create a label using jQuery on the fly

Question

I need to create a label and text field on the fly and also include datepicker for the textfield. I need something like this:

<label for="from">From </label> <input type="text" id="from" name="from" />

I have tried something like this in jQuery:

var label = $("<label>").attr('for', "from");   
                    label.html('Date: ' +
                        '<input type="text" id="from name="from" value="">');

                    $(function() {
                        $("#from").datepicker();
                    }); 

This one somehow doesn't create the label and also the text field. I am not sure what I am missing.

EDIT

To be more precise, I am using this in the portlets and I don't have body tags in the jsp page. So when I call the function to append to body it won't.

Answer 1

You will need to attach the label you've created to the DOM to get it to show:

var label = $("<label>").attr('for', "from");
    label.html('Date: ' +
      '<input type="text" id="from name="from" value="">');

label.appendTo('body');

// set up datepicker
label.find('#from').datepicker();

Answer 2

Something like this would work:

//Create the label element
var $label = $("<label>").text('Date:');
//Create the input element
var $input = $('<input type="text">').attr({id: 'from', name: 'from'});

//Insert the input into the label
$input.appendTo($label);
//Insert the label into the DOM - replace body with the required position
$('body').append($label);

//applying datepicker on input
input.datepicker();

jsFiddle Demo

Please note that you don't have to use the for attribute on the label if the input element is inside it. So use one of these:

<label><input id="x1"></label>

<label for="x1"></label> <input id="x1">

Answer 3

Where are you trying to insert the label? If you want it at the beginning of the page, you can do something like this.

var $label = $("<label>").attr('for', "from");   

$label.html('Date: <input type="text" id="from" name="from" value="">');

$(function() {
    $('body').prepend($label);

    $(':input', $label).datepicker();
});

Answer 4

1) You are missing closing quote at the end of the ID attribute.
2) You didn't append the label itself to anything.