EventTarget: dispatchEvent() method

The dispatchEvent() method of the EventTarget sends an Event to the object, (synchronously) invoking the affected event listeners in the appropriate order. The normal event processing rules (including the capturing and optional bubbling phase) also apply to events dispatched manually with dispatchEvent().

Calling dispatchEvent() is the last step to firing an event. The event should have already been created and initialized using an Event() constructor.

Unlike "native" events, which are fired by the browser and invoke event handlers asynchronously via the event loop, dispatchEvent() invokes event handlers synchronously. All applicable event handlers are called and return before dispatchEvent() returns.

Syntax

dispatchEvent(event)

Parameters

event

The Event object to dispatch. Its Event.target property will be set to the current EventTarget.

Return value

false if event is cancelable, and at least one of the event handlers which received event called Event.preventDefault(). Otherwise true.

Exceptions

InvalidStateError DomException

Thrown if the event's type was not specified during event initialization.

Example

See Creating and dispatching events.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The Event object reference