You can use DOMParser
:
var parser = new DOMParser();
var doc = parser.parseFromString(data, 'text/html');
var elements = doc.getElementsByClassName('select_this');
for (var i = 0, len = elements.length; i < len; i++) {
alert(elements[i].innerHTML);
}
See http://jsfiddle.net/t6w57/4/ for a working example.
Edit: For older browsers, you will need a polyfill (this code is adapted from the DOMParser documentation by the Mozilla Developer Network):
(function(a){var b=a.prototype,d=b.parseFromString;try{return(new a).parseFromString("","text/html")}catch(e){}b.parseFromString=function(a,b){var c;return/^\s*text\/html\s*(?:;|$)/i.test(b)?(c=document.implementation.createHTMLDocument(""),(/<!DOCTYPE/i.test(a)?c.documentElement:c.body).innerHTML=a,c):d.apply(this,arguments)}})(DOMParser);
Non-minified code:
/*
* DOMParser HTML extension
* 2012-09-04
*
* By Eli Grey, http://eligrey.com
* Public domain.
* NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
*/
/*! @source https://gist.github.com/1129031 */
/*global document, DOMParser*/
(function(DOMParser) {
"use strict";
var
DOMParser_proto = DOMParser.prototype
, real_parseFromString = DOMParser_proto.parseFromString
;
// Firefox/Opera/IE throw errors on unsupported types
try {
// WebKit returns null on unsupported types
if ((new DOMParser).parseFromString("", "text/html")) {
// text/html parsing is natively supported
return;
}
} catch (ex) {}
DOMParser_proto.parseFromString = function(markup, type) {
if (/^\s*text\/html\s*(?:;|$)/i.test(type)) {
var
doc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("")
;
if (markup.toLowerCase().indexOf('<!doctype') > -1) {
doc.documentElement.innerHTML = markup;
}
else {
doc.body.innerHTML = markup;
}
return doc;
} else {
return real_parseFromString.apply(this, arguments);
}
};
}(DOMParser));