EventTarget: dispatchEvent() method
{{APIRef("DOM")}} {{AvailableInWorkers}}
The dispatchEvent() method of the {{domxref("EventTarget")}} sends an {{domxref("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 {{domxref("Event/Event", "Event()")}} constructor.
[!NOTE] When calling this method, the
{{domxref("Event.target")}}property is initialized to the currentEventTarget.
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
{{domxref("Event")}}object to dispatch. Its{{domxref("Event.target")}}property will be set to the current{{domxref("EventTarget")}}.
- : The
Return value
false if event is cancelable, and at least one of the event handlers which received event called {{domxref("Event.preventDefault()")}} . Otherwise true.
Exceptions
InvalidStateError{{domxref("DomException")}}- : Thrown if the event’s type was not specified during event initialization.
[!WARNING] Exceptions thrown by event handlers are reported as uncaught exceptions. The event handlers run on a nested callstack; they block the caller until they complete, but exceptions do not propagate to the caller.
Example
See Creating and triggering events.
Specifications
{{Specifications}}
Browser compatibility
{{Compat}}