onmousedown Event (A, ADDRESS, APPLET, ...)

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onmousedown Event

onmousedown Event

Fires when the user clicks the object with either mouse button.

Syntax

Inline HTML <ELEMENT onmousedown = "handler" ... > All platforms
Event property object.onmousedown = handler JScript only
object.onmousedown = GetRef("handler") Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) 5.0 or later only
Named script <SCRIPT FOR = object EVENT = onmousedown> Internet Explorer only

Inline HTML	<ELEMENT onmousedown = "handler" ... >	All platforms
Event property	object.onmousedown = handler	JScript only
object.onmousedown = GetRef("handler")	Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) 5.0 or later only
Named script	<`SCRIPT FOR` = object `EVENT` = onmousedown>	Internet Explorer only

Event Information

Bubbles Yes
Cancels Yes
To invoke Click a mouse button.
Default action Initiates actions associated with the event and with the object being clicked.

Bubbles	Yes
Cancels	Yes
To invoke	Click a mouse button.
Default action	Initiates actions associated with the event and with the object being clicked.

Event Object Properties

Although event handlers in the DHTML Object Model do not receive parameters directly, a handler can query the event object for the following event properties.
Available Properties
altKey Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the ALT key.
altLeft Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the left ALT key.
button Sets or retrieves the mouse button pressed by the user.
cancelBubble Sets or retrieves whether the current event should bubble up the hierarchy of event handlers.
clientX Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the client area of the window, excluding window decorations and scroll bars.
clientY Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the client area of the window, excluding window decorations and scroll bars.
ctrlKey Sets or retrieves the state of the CTRL key.
ctrlLeft Sets or retrieves the state of the left CTRL key.
offsetX Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the object firing the event.
offsetY Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the object firing the event.
returnValue Sets or retrieves the return value from the event.
screenX Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen.
screenY Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen.
shiftKey Retrieves the state of the SHIFT key.
shiftLeft Retrieves the state of the left SHIFT key.
srcElement Sets or retrieves the object that fired the event.
type Sets or retrieves the event name from the event object.
x Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate (in pixels) of the mouse pointer's offset from the closest relatively positioned parent element of the element that fired the event.
y Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate (in pixels) of the mouse pointer's offset from the closest relatively positioned parent element of the element that fired the event.

altKey	Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the ALT key.
altLeft	Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the left ALT key.
button	Sets or retrieves the mouse button pressed by the user.
cancelBubble	Sets or retrieves whether the current event should bubble up the hierarchy of event handlers.
clientX	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the client area of the window, excluding window decorations and scroll bars.
clientY	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the client area of the window, excluding window decorations and scroll bars.
ctrlKey	Sets or retrieves the state of the CTRL key.
ctrlLeft	Sets or retrieves the state of the left CTRL key.
offsetX	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the object firing the event.
offsetY	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the object firing the event.
returnValue	Sets or retrieves the return value from the event.
screenX	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen.
screenY	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen.
shiftKey	Retrieves the state of the SHIFT key.
shiftLeft	Retrieves the state of the left SHIFT key.
srcElement	Sets or retrieves the object that fired the event.
type	Sets or retrieves the event name from the event object.
x	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate (in pixels) of the mouse pointer's offset from the closest relatively positioned parent element of the element that fired the event.
y	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate (in pixels) of the mouse pointer's offset from the closest relatively positioned parent element of the element that fired the event.

Remarks

Use the button property to determine which mouse button is clicked.

Example

This example shows how to determine the origin of the onmousedown event when event bubbling is used.

<BODY onmousedown="alert(event.srcElement.tagName)"> <TABLE BORDER=1> <TH>Click the items below with your mouse.</TH> <TR><TD><BUTTON>Click Me</BUTTON></TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT TYPE=text VALUE="Click Me"></TD></TR> <TR><TD><SPAN>Click Me</SPAN></TD></TR> </TABLE> <P>This code retrieves the tagName of the object on which the onmousedown event has fired. </BODY>

This feature requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Click the following icon to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.

Standards Information

This event is defined in HTML 4.0 .

Applies To

A, ADDRESS, APPLET, AREA, B, BDO, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, BUTTON, CAPTION, CENTER, CITE, CODE, CUSTOM, DD, DFN, DIR, DIV, DL, document, DT, EM, EMBED, FIELDSET, FONT, FORM, hn, HR, I, IMG, INPUT type=button, INPUT type=checkbox, INPUT type=file, INPUT type=image, INPUT type=password, INPUT type=radio, INPUT type=reset, INPUT type=submit, INPUT type=text, KBD, LABEL, LEGEND, LI, LISTING, MAP, MARQUEE, MENU, OL, P, PLAINTEXT, PRE, RT, RUBY, S, SAMP, SELECT, SMALL, SPAN, STRIKE, STRONG, SUB, SUP, TABLE, TBODY, TD, TEXTAREA, TFOOT, TH, THEAD, TR, TT, U, UL, VAR, XMP, Element Constructor, HTMLDocument Constructor

See Also

onmousewheel, onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover, onmouseup