Get the clicked object that triggered jquery blur(

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• When a 'blur' event occurs, how can I find out which element focus went *to*? 23 answers

Suppose I do this:

$(target).blur(function(e){
  //do stuff
});

Is there a way to fetch the object that was clicked on in order to trigger the blur action?

I tried using e.target, but that appears to be returning the object attached to the blur action rather than the clicked object.

Answer 1

The trick is to wait an extra tick:

$(el).blur(function (event) {
    // If we just hangout an extra tick, we'll find out which element got focus really
    setTimeout(function(){
       document.activeElement; // This is the element that has focus
    },1);
})

Answer 2

If I understand your question correctly, this should do it:

$(function() {

    var clicky;

    $(document).mousedown(function(e) {
        // The latest element clicked
        clicky = $(e.target);
    });

    // when 'clicky == null' on blur, we know it was not caused by a click
    // but maybe by pressing the tab key
    $(document).mouseup(function(e) {
        clicky = null;
    });

    $(target).blur(function(e) {
        console.log(clicky);
    });​​

});

Answer 3

Using this within blur handler function will give you the blured element.

$(target).blur(function(e){
   var bluredElement = this;  // dom element
   // To make a jQuery object 
   var bluredElement = $(this);
});

Within blur event you can't catch the clicked element. To get the clicked element you need click event. For example:

$(element).click(function() {
  var clickedElement = this;
});

And to get the focused element you can use :focus selector like: $(':focus') will returns you focused element in document.

Answer 4

Inside an event handler, this will be the element the event is bound to, and e.target will be the element that triggered the event (may or not be the same as this).

You are handing a blur event, not a click event. So, inside your event, you will have the element that you blured. If you want the clicked element, you'd need another event to get that.

blur can be triggered by other events, such as focusing something; not just clicking on something. So, there is no way to get the element that "caused the blur".