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Vanilla JavaScript data attribute filters

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In this tutorial we will learn how to select and filter elements based on data attributes using pure Vanilla JavaScript.

26 Oct, 2020 · 3 min read

Today we will be creating a custom filter element based on data attributes in Vanilla JavaScript.

This means that we will have a filter mechanism select list and a list of elements with specific data attributes.

See the result in this Codepen

(Choose an option to see the effect)

See the Pen Vanilla JavaScript data attribute selection by Chris Bongers (@rebelchris) on CodePen.

HTML Structure

We need a select list for the dropdown and a ul with random list ratings as values for the attributes.

It will look something like this:

<select id="rating">
  <option value="">Choose a rating</option>
  <option value="5">Minimum 5 stars</option>
  <option value="4">Minimum 4 stars</option>
  <option value="3">Minimum 3 stars</option>
  <option value="2">Minimum 2 stars</option>
  <option value="1">Minimum 1 stars</option>
</select>

<ul>
  <li data-rating="4"><span>item 1</span><i>rating 4</i></li>
  <li data-rating="2"><span>item 2</span><i>rating 2</i></li>
  <li data-rating="3"><span>item 3</span><i>rating 3</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 4</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="4"><span>item 5</span><i>rating 4</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 6</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="4"><span>item 7</span><i>rating 4</i></li>
  <li data-rating="4"><span>item 8</span><i>rating 4</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 9</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="5"><span>item 10</span><i>rating 5</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 11</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="2"><span>item 12</span><i>rating 2</i></li>
  <li data-rating="3"><span>item 13</span><i>rating 3</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 14</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="3"><span>item 15</span><i>rating 3</i></li>
  <li data-rating="5"><span>item 16</span><i>rating 5</i></li>
  <li data-rating="3"><span>item 17</span><i>rating 3</i></li>
  <li data-rating="5"><span>item 18</span><i>rating 5</i></li>
  <li data-rating="1"><span>item 19</span><i>rating 1</i></li>
  <li data-rating="2"><span>item 20</span><i>rating 2</i></li>
</ul>

Let’s get cracking on making the CSS look a little bit better.

CSS Styling

select {
  margin: 50px auto;
  display: block;
}
ul {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr 1fr;
}
ul li {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  border: 1px dashed #ba3b46;
  flex-direction: column;
  height: 100px;
}
ul li.hidden {
  display: none;
}
ul span {
  font-weight: bold;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
}

We set some margin on the select element to space it out a little bit better. Then we convert the ul into a grid with four columns. And make the list items more excellent, and a bit more spacious.

Vanilla JavaScript data-attribute filter

Now, let’s enter the magic part, JavaScript.

First, we want to get the select item by its ID.

const rating = document.getElementById('rating');

The next thing we need is a list of items. We use a querySelectorAll to get them.

const elements = document.querySelectorAll('li');

Let’s add an eventListener to our select item. It will be called every time the value changes.

rating.addEventListener('change', function () {
  // Code here
});

Inside that, we need to get the value of the rating first.

let value = rating.value;
// 1,2,3,4, or 5

Then we want to loop over all our list items.

[...elements].forEach((element) => {
  // Code here
});

We want to check if we have a value at all within this block. Else we need to reset all the items.

Once we have a value, we must check if the rating is lower than the attribute value.

if (value === '') {
  // Select empty option
  element.classList.remove('hidden');
} else {
  // Get the rating for this list item
  const rating = element.dataset.rating;
  // Check if the rating is lower than the value
  if (!rating || rating < value) {
    // Hide the element
    element.classList.add('hidden');
  } else {
    // Show the element
    element.classList.remove('hidden');
  }
}

The whole code will look like this:

const rating = document.getElementById('rating');
const elements = document.querySelectorAll('li');

rating.addEventListener('change', function () {
  let value = rating.value;
  [...elements].forEach((element) => {
    if (value === '') {
      element.classList.remove('hidden');
    } else {
      const rating = element.dataset.rating;
      if (!rating || rating < value) {
        element.classList.add('hidden');
      } else {
        element.classList.remove('hidden');
      }
    }
  });
});

There you go. We now have a Vanilla JS filter based on data attributes.

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