onbeforedeactivate

HTML (DHTML)

onbeforedeactivate Event

Internet Development Index

Fires immediately before the activeElement is changed from the current object to another object in the parent document.

Syntax

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

Event Information

BubblesYes
CancelsYes
To invoke
  • Click on an element, other than the active element of the document.
  • Use the keyboard to move focus from the active element to another element.
  • Invoke the setActive method on an element, when the element is not the active element.
  • Invoke the focus method on an element, when the element is not the active element.
Default action Change activation from the event.srcElement to the event.toElement.

Event Object Properties

Although event handlers in the DHTML Object Model do not receive parameters directly, a handler can query an event object for data.

Available Properties

altKey Sets or retrieves a value that indicates the state of the ALT key.
altLeft Sets or retrieves a value that indicates the state of the left ALT key.
cancelBubble Sets or retrieves whether the current event should bubble up the hierarchy of event handlers.
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 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.
shiftLeft Retrieves the state of the left SHIFT key.
srcElement Sets or retrieves the object that fired the event.
toElement Sets or retrieves a reference to the object toward which the user is moving the mouse pointer.
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 position relative to a relatively positioned parent element.
y Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate, in pixels, of the mouse pointer's position relative to a relatively positioned parent element.

Remarks

With Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.5 and later, focus on a document, and the active element of a document can be managed separately. Use the onbeforedeactivate event to cancel moving activation from the current element.

Note  When focus leaves the document, the active element does not change and the onbeforedeactivate event will not fire.

Each document may have up to one active element. Set the active element with the setActive or focus methods. Using the setActive method has no effect on document focus. Using the focus method on an individual element causes the element to gain focus and become the active element.

Using the focus method on a document that does not have the focus moves the document to the front of the display. Additionally, the document's active element gains focus.

For a given display, only one element has focus at any given time. Striking a key directly affects only the element with focus. Events fired by that keystroke may be scripted to affect other documents and child elements.

Standards Information

There is no public standard that applies to this event.

Applies To

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

See Also

ondeactivate, onbeforeactivate, onactivate, onfocusin, onfocusout