Javascript – Getting the ID of the element that fired an event

dom-eventsjavascriptjquery

Is there any way to get the ID of the element that fires an event?

I'm thinking something like:

$(document).ready(function() {
  $("a").click(function() {
    var test = caller.id;
    alert(test.val());
  });
});

<script type="text/javascript" src="starterkit/jquery.js"></script>

<form class="item" id="aaa">
  <input class="title"></input>
</form>
<form class="item" id="bbb">
  <input class="title"></input>
</form>

Except of course that the var test should contain the id "aaa", if the event is fired from the first form, and "bbb", if the event is fired from the second form.

Best Solution

In jQuery event.target always refers to the element that triggered the event, where event is the parameter passed to the function. http://api.jquery.com/category/events/event-object/

$(document).ready(function() {
    $("a").click(function(event) {
        alert(event.target.id);
    });
});

Note also that this will also work, but that it is not a jQuery object, so if you wish to use a jQuery function on it then you must refer to it as $(this), e.g.:

$(document).ready(function() {
    $("a").click(function(event) {
        // this.append wouldn't work
        $(this).append(" Clicked");
    });
});

Native deep cloning

It's called "structured cloning", works experimentally in Node 11 and later, and hopefully will land in browsers. See this answer for more details.

Fast cloning with data loss - JSON.parse/stringify

If you do not use Dates, functions, undefined, Infinity, RegExps, Maps, Sets, Blobs, FileLists, ImageDatas, sparse Arrays, Typed Arrays or other complex types within your object, a very simple one liner to deep clone an object is:

JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object))

const a = {
  string: 'string',
  number: 123,
  bool: false,
  nul: null,
  date: new Date(),  // stringified
  undef: undefined,  // lost
  inf: Infinity,  // forced to 'null'
  re: /.*/,  // lost
}
console.log(a);
console.log(typeof a.date);  // Date object
const clone = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a));
console.log(clone);
console.log(typeof clone.date);  // result of .toISOString()

See Corban's answer for benchmarks.

Reliable cloning using a library

Since cloning objects is not trivial (complex types, circular references, function etc.), most major libraries provide function to clone objects. Don't reinvent the wheel - if you're already using a library, check if it has an object cloning function. For example,

lodash - cloneDeep; can be imported separately via the lodash.clonedeep module and is probably your best choice if you're not already using a library that provides a deep cloning function
AngularJS - angular.copy
jQuery - jQuery.extend(true, { }, oldObject); .clone() only clones DOM elements
just library - just-clone; Part of a library of zero-dependency npm modules that do just do one thing. Guilt-free utilities for every occasion.

ES6 (shallow copy)

For completeness, note that ES6 offers two shallow copy mechanisms: Object.assign() and the spread syntax. which copies values of all enumerable own properties from one object to another. For example:

var A1 = {a: "2"};
var A2 = Object.assign({}, A1);
var A3 = {...A1};  // Spread Syntax

Javascript – How to detect a click outside an element

Note: Using stopPropagation is something that should be avoided as it breaks normal event flow in the DOM. See this CSS Tricks article for more information. Consider using this method instead.

Attach a click event to the document body which closes the window. Attach a separate click event to the container which stops propagation to the document body.

$(window).click(function() {
  //Hide the menus if visible
});

$('#menucontainer').click(function(event){
  event.stopPropagation();
});

Best Solution

Related Solutions

Javascript – the most efficient way to deep clone an object in JavaScript

Native deep cloning

Fast cloning with data loss - JSON.parse/stringify

Reliable cloning using a library

ES6 (shallow copy)

Javascript – How to detect a click outside an element

Related Question