Does .html() function return only "static" code?

Does .html() function return only "static" code?

I have a question about the jquery .html() function.

Here is a sample code ...

<div id="testHtmlFunction">
<input name="userName" id="userName" value="Sunil" />
</div>

So when I call something like $("#testHtmlFunction").html(), then it returns me the following

<input name="userName" id="userName" value="Sunil" />

which is correct and expected. So everything is fine and dandy till now.

Now, let's say the user has change the input field text from "Sunil" to "Changed". So I will expect the same html() function call to return me something like

<input name="userName" id="userName" value="Changed" />

But it does not and keeps returning the same old stuff.

So my question is whether there is any other method which can give me the "changed" html code. And this happens not only for text fields but also for select and other elements too. So in other words, I need to be able to read the html code including selected, checked attributes etc. once the user has input responses on the form. Is this possible?

Please let me know, Thanx, Sunil.