Fix for jQuery bug in IE - Working with XML documents

April 10th 2007 - UPDATE:
Official patch released - see details. Use the information below for reference only.

It's been driving me crazy and I'm not alone (1, 2). But I've finally managed to fix the weird jQuery bug in IE when working with XML documents (or so I hope).

The bug isn't in jQuery itself, it's in the very popular Metadata plug-in, used to load meta data and settings from elements using the class property.

The Error
Lines 101 - 105 in the Metadata plugin.

if ( $.meta.single )
this[ $.meta.single ] = data; // Throws error on XML documents in IE
else
$.extend( this, data ); // Throws error on XML documents in IE

this.metaDone = true; // Throws error on XML documents in IE

The fix
Find lines 75-77 in the Metadata plugin:

$.fn.setArray = function(){
return setArray.apply( this, arguments ).each(function(){
if ( this.metaDone ) return;

And make the following change: (add line)

$.fn.setArray = function(){
return setArray.apply( this, arguments ).each(function(){
try{ this['meta']=null; }catch(e){ return; } // Detect and trap error
if ( this.metaDone ) return;

And that's it! This fix will allow Metadata to do what it does on HTML elements and not throw that obscure "Object doesn't support this property or method" error in Internet Explorer.