Identifying the element clicked

[Michael Powe]

Hello,

Here is my problem: I have a site that uses urls of this format to
submit forms:

<a id="1_1_2_0"
href="javascript:if(validate)submitForm(...)">Subm it</a>
I'm just a third-party programmer, I have no control over this
format. I am tasked with writing a function that will be able to fire
on the click and within that function I need to identify exactly which
submission was fired. The function will run inside the validation
code.

When called within the href, 'this' seems to refer to the entire
window, not to the anchor element. For example:

<script>

function list(obj){
var text = "";
for (n in obj){
text += n + "\n";
}
alert(text);
}

</script>
<a id="1_1_2_0"
href="javascript:if(validate)list(this);submitForm (...)">Submit</a>

Thus, I can't use the ordinary method of 'this.id' which would return
the link id value.

Is there some way within that href of dynamically determining which
anchor is being clicked? I can't see it.

thanks.

mp

--
cat: $HOME/.signature: No such file or directory

[Georgi Naumov]

On 14 æÅ×, 12:02, Michael Powe <[e-mail]:

Hello,

Here is my problem: I have a site that uses urls of this format to
submit forms:

<a id="1_1_2_0"
href="javascript:if(validate)submitForm(...)">Subm it</a>

I'm just a third-party programmer, I have no control over this
format. I am tasked with writing a function that will be able to fire
on the click and within that function I need to identify exactly which
submission was fired. The function will run inside the validation
code.

When called within the href, 'this' seems to refer to the entire
window, not to the anchor element. For example:

<script>

function list(obj){
var text = "";
for (n in obj){
text += n + "\n";
}
alert(text);

}

</script>
<a id="1_1_2_0"
href="javascript:if(validate)list(this);submitForm (...)">Submit</a>

Thus, I can't use the ordinary method of 'this.id' which would return
the link id value.

Is there some way within that href of dynamically determining which
anchor is being clicked? I can't see it.

thanks.

mp

--
cat: $HOME/.signature: No such file or directory

Hi. See this.
function list(aEvt){
var element = typeof aEvt.which=="undefined" ?
aEvt.srcElement : aEvt.target;
alert(element.href);
return false;
}

<a href="tes.html" onclick="return list(event);">test</a>

[Henry]

On Feb 14, 10:27 am, Georgi Naumov wrote:
<snip>

function list(aEvt){
var element = typeof aEvt.which=="undefined" ?
aEvt.srcElement : aEvt.target;

Why the unfounded inference from the type of a - which - property of
an event object to the use of its - srcElement - or - target -
properties? Surly the trueness of the values of the - srcElement - and/
or - target - properties would have a reliable and direct relationship
with the viability of employing them?

alert(element.href);
return false;
}

<a href="tes.html" onclick="return list(event);">test</a>

In the - onclick - attribute code of an A element the - this - keyword
can reliably be expected to refer to the element, making your - list -
function needlessly complex in context. The OP's problem is that he is
attempting to use the HREF attribute to execute code and code from
that source is executed in the global context and there the - this -
keyword refers to the window/global object. The solution to that
problem is to abandon the use of the HREF to execute code and instead
use an - onclick - attribute, especially as, to the best of my
recollection of that distant a past, the only browsers where executing
code in an HREF was supported for A elements and an - onclick -
handler was not were Netscape <=2, and nobody worries about those
browsers any more.

[Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn]

Michael Powe wrote:

Here is my problem: I have a site that uses urls of this format to
submit forms:

<a id="1_1_2_0"
href="javascript:if(validate)submitForm(...)">Subm it</a>
I'm just a third-party programmer, I have no control over this
format.

You would be well-advised to lose the bad framework that generates this
inaccessible code element then. Proper validating and submitting forms
is done as follows:

<form ... onsubmit="return validate;">
...
<input type="submit" ...>
or
<input type="image" ...>
</form>

Usually `validate' would be `validate()', calling a validation function that
returns `true' on success if scripting is supported, submitting the form,
`false' otherwise. If there was no scripting support, the `onsubmit'
attribute would be ignored; that also emphasizes that you have to do
server-side validation anyway.
PointedEars
--
realism: HTML 4.01 Strict
evangelism: XHTML 1.0 Strict
madness: XHTML 1.1 as application/xhtml+xml
-- Bjoern Hoehrmann