Is there a wildcard selector for identifiers (id)?

Question

If I have an unknown amount of identifiers sharing a specific naming-scheme, is there a way to grab them all at once using jQuery?

// These are the IDs I'd like to select
#instance1
#instance2
#instance3
#instance4

// What do I need to add or how do I need to modify this jQuery selector in order to select all the IDs above?
("#instanceWILDCARD").click(function(){}

Answer 1

The attribute starts-with selector ('^=) will work for your IDs, like this:

$("[id^=instance]").click(function() {
  //do stuff
});

However, consider giving your elements a common class, for instance (I crack myself up) .instance, and use that selector:

$(".instance").click(function() {
  //do stuff
});