actually now im not sure thats working. it removes some of it, but the combo and combobox data is still attached to the object.

perfect, thank you!

How do you remove the easyui component without deleting the original element?
If i have

Code:

<select id='meh'>
<option value=1>one</option>
<option value=2>two</option>
</select>

then i make a combobox $('#meh').combobox(); ... now how do i get back to my original element? i want to remove the combobox. if i do $('#meh').combobox('destroy'), it disappears completely, including my html markup.
im trying to do this because i multiple selects where the values of one affect what is others. i havent been able to remove or hide options in a way that lets me get them back later if filtering option is changes again.

ok got it now. it was related to it being ajax.

yup that works fine. ive been trying to narrow down the issue. my html with the datetime input is loaded through ajax. when i put it on the initial page statically it works. when i load it through ajax i get that error

TypeError: $.data(...) is undefined
[Break On This Error]    
var opts=$.data(_823,"datetimebox").options;

jquery-easyui.min.js line 11048 ( my easyui min is different from the one you used on jfiddle, but its the same version? ... i tried the one you used and had the same problem ).

When I try to use $('#datefield').datetimebox('setValue','4/12/2013 11:15'); i get the error
TypeError: $.data(...) is undefined
line is jquery-easyui-1.3.2.min.js line 11048
is the command I am using wrong?

Is there anyway to have a panel/tab run a function to load [ajax/other] data instead of just providing an href option with a single url?  If I want to load ajax data but i need to collect other information from the DOM first, how would i create a custom ajax request to get the data for one of these panels?

On an unrelated note, what have I done wrong that I havent seen this library until now?  I havent heard of it and it is extremely impressive and very helpful.