Event: initEvent() method

Available in workers

The Event.initEvent() method is used to initialize the value of an event created using createEvent().

Events initialized in this way must have been created with the createEvent() method. This method must be called to set the event before it is dispatched, using dispatchEvent(). Once dispatched, it doesn’t do anything anymore.

[!NOTE] Do not use this method anymore as it is deprecated. Instead use specific event constructors, like Event(). The section on Creating and dispatching events gives more information about the way to use these.

Syntax

initEvent(type, bubbles, cancelable)

Parameters

• type
  • : A string defining the type of event.
• bubbles
  • : A boolean value deciding whether the event should bubble up through the event chain or not. Once set, the read-only property bubbles will give its value.
• cancelable
  • : A boolean value defining whether the event can be canceled. Once set, the read-only property cancelable will give its value.

Return value

None.

Example

// Create the event.
const event = document.createEvent("Event");

// Create a click event that bubbles up and
// cannot be canceled
event.initEvent("click", true, false);

// Listen for the event.
elem.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
  // e.target matches elem
});

elem.dispatchEvent(event);

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The constructor to use instead of this deprecated method: Event(). To create more specific event interfaces than Event, use the constructor defined for the desired event interface.