Please extend val()

[daemach]

At the moment, val() only works properly for single elements. It would be very useful if, when passing val() an array of elements created by using a selector like $('[@name=mycheckboxes]'), it could return an array of values for checkboxes and multi-selects. That is the only feature in the forms plugin I would use so I hate adding the overhead for just this function.

[flesler]

I think you can use the batch plugin by Brandon Aaron, it's very small (not like jQuery.form) and will solve this.

[sunsean]

You can do that via the following:

 $('[name="mycheckboxes"]').map(function(){ return this.checked; });

[dmethvin]

Most likely, you are not looking for the value of the checkbox but the checked state? In that case you'd want either sunsean's solution or use something like $("[name=mycheckboxes]:checked") and process them.

[pfof]

yes, i agree with this suggestion. val() is confusing, given that it returns arrays for single elements and single elements for an array of elements.

$('one, two').val() should return the values of both elements, based on the way almost every other function behaves.

if not that, how about vals() (plural) in the core?

[dmethvin]

Several good and short solutions have been proposed here as alternatives that work with the existing jQuery versions.