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

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.

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.
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 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 Sets or 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 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

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