convert prototype's findElement to jQuery

Question

Can someone explain the jQuery equivalent of Form.event.findElement to me?

$('.ad-publish-button').bind('click', function(e) { // jquery

     // section of prototype I need to convert to jquery
     if ( e.findElement('.ad').down('form').down('#location').value != '' ) {
          e.findElement('.ad').down('form').request();
     }

});

Answer 1

give it a try

$('.ad-publish-button').bind('click', function(e) { 
    var _form=$('form',$(e.target).closest('.ad')[0]).first();
    if ($('#location',_form).val() != '') {
        $.ajax(_form.prop('action'), {type:_form.prop('method'),data:_form.serialize()});
    }
});

1. e.target is the clicked element
2. $(e.target).closest('.ad')[0] is the closest ancestor with className '.ad'
   of the element from #1 . This element is used as context for the selector 'form'
   (so it will find a form inside the .ad-element)
3. $.ajax() will send a request(using the form- properties action+method and the serialized elements)