What is p5.js select() Function?

In this article, we will learn p5.js select() Function,This free p5.js tutorial for complete beginners will help you learn p5.js from scratch.

p5.js select() Function

Q: How to use p5.js select() Function in p5.js?

The select() function is used to search an element in the page with the given id, class or tag name and return it as a p5

p5.js Constants and Structure Complete Reference

p5.js selectAll() Function

The select() function is used to search an element in the page with the given id, class or tag name and return it as a p5.element. It has a syntax similar to the CSS selector. An optional parameter is available that can be used to search within a given element. This method only returns the first element if multiple elements exist on the page that matches the selector.

Note: The DOM node of the element can be accessed using the .elt property.

Syntax:

select(name, [container])

Parameters: This function accept two parameters as mentioned above and described below:

name: It is a string which denotes the id, class or tag name of the element that has to be searched.
container: It is an optional parameter which denotes an element to search.

Return Value: When the given element is successfully found, it returns a p5.element that contains the node. Otherwise, it returns null.

Below examples illustrates the select() function in p5.js:

Example 1:

function setup() { 
  createCanvas(650, 50); 
  textSize(20); 
  text("Click the mouse to select the paragraph" + 
       " element and change its position.", 0, 20); 
   
  para1 = createP("This is paragraph 1"); 
  para2 = createP("This is paragraph 2"); 
  para3 = createP("This is paragraph 3"); 
} 
   
function mouseClicked() { 
  
  // Select the first 
  // paragraph element 
  selectedP = select("p"); 
   
  // Change position to 200, 20 
  selectedP.position(200, 20); 
} 

Output:

Example 2:

function setup() { 
  createCanvas(650, 300); 
  textSize(20); 
  text("Click the mouse once to select the"+ 
       " canvas and change its color.", 0, 20); 
   
} 
   
function mouseClicked() { 
  
  // Select the first 
  // canvas element 
  selectedCanvas = select("canvas"); 
   
  // Get the DOM node using .elt and 
  // change background color to green 
  selectedCanvas.elt.style.backgroundColor 
        = "green"; 
} 