The getMatchingClass plugin is useful for determing whether a singular matching element contains a particular <em><strong>partial class name</strong></em>. The idea behind the function is to allow for partial matching using a subset of jQuery selectors. h

jquery-getMatchingClass-examples.js

// example one - remove class if a match is found at the beginning
$elem = $('#elemToMatch');
$.each($elem.getMatchingClass('*=classBeginsWith_'), function() {
	$elem.removeClass(this);
});

// example two - perform an action if a match is found at the end
// note this is not a very good method for showing and hiding 
// child elements and is only used as an example
$('#elemToMatch').click(function() {
	var parent, match, $this = $(this);
	if (match = $this.getMatchingClass('$="_hideChildren"')) {
		parent = match.split('_')[0];
		$this.removeClass(match).addClass(parent + '_showChildren').children('ul').fadeOut(200);
	} else if (match = $elem.getMatchingClass('$="_showChildren"')) {
		parent = match.split('_')[0];
		$elem.removeClass(match).addClass(parent + '_showChildren').children('ul').fadeIn(200);
	}
});

jquery.getMatchingClass.js

$.fn.getMatchingClass = function(selector) {
	var regex, _class, tmp;
	tmp = $(this)[0].className;
	_class = selector;
	_class = _class.replace(/(^|*|$)?=/i, '');
	_class = _class.replace(/"/g, '');
	if (selector.indexOf('$=') != -1) {
		regex = new RegExp('[\s]+' + _class + '$', 'g');
	} else if (selector.indexOf('^=') != -1) {
		regex = new RegExp('^' + _class + '[\s]+', 'g');
	} else if (selector.indexOf('*=') != -1) {
		regex = new RegExp('[a-zA-z0-9_\-]*' + _class + '[a-zA-z0-9_\-]*', 'g');
	} else if (selector.indexOf('=') != -1) {
		regex = new RegExp('^' + _class + '$', 'g');
	} else return false;
	return tmp.match(regex);
}