First, you have to get the values when you actually click the save button, not before, as then the values will always be empty strings
var save = $("<input type='submit' value='Save' />").on('click', function () {
var name = $("#elem1").val();
var degree = $("#elem2").val();
var dateFrom = $("#elem3").val();
var dateTo = $("#elem4").val();
if (!($.trim(name) == '' || $.trim(degree) == '' || $.trim(dateFrom) == '' || $.trim(dateTo) == '')) {
console.log('test')
$("#list").append("<li>Name1: " + $('#elem1').val() +
"<br>Name2: " + $('#elem2').val() +
"<br>Name3: " + $('#elem3').val() +
"<br>Name4: " + $('#elem4').val() +
"</li>");
cancel.click();
} else {
console.log('no')
}
});
then you should note that things work a little differently when you negate the variables and use OR
You can either negate the whole thing at once
if (! ($.trim(name)==''||$.trim(degree)==''||$.trim(dateFrom)==''||$.trim(dateTo)=='')) {
or use AND instead
if (!$.trim(name)=='' && !$.trim(degree)=='' && !$.trim(dateFrom)=='' ... etc