The currentTarget
read-only property of the
Event
interface identifies the current target for the event, as the event
traverses the DOM. It always refers to the element to which the event handler has been
attached, as opposed to Event.target
, which identifies the element on
which the event occurred and which may be its descendant.
Syntax
var currentEventTarget = event.currentTarget;
Value
Examples
Event.currentTarget
is interesting to use when attaching the same event
handler to several elements.
function hide(e){
e.currentTarget.style.visibility = 'hidden';
console.log(e.currentTarget);
// When this function is used as an event handler: this === e.currentTarget
}
var ps = document.getElementsByTagName('p');
for(var i = 0; i < ps.length; i++){
// Console: print the clicked <p> element
ps[i].addEventListener('click', hide, false);
}
// Console: print <body>
document.body.addEventListener('click', hide, false);
// Click around and make paragraphs disappear
Note: The value of event.currentTarget
is only available while the event is being handled. If you
console.log()
the
event
object, storing it in a variable, and then look for the
currentTarget
key in the console, its value will be null
.
Instead, you can either directly console.log(event.currentTarget)
to be
able to view it in the console or use
the debugger
statement,
which will pause the execution of your code thus showing you the value of
event.currentTarget
.
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
DOM The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
DOM4 The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification. |
Obsolete | |
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification The definition of 'current event target' in that specification. |
Obsolete | |
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification. |
Obsolete | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
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