Back to docs index

# Name

MochiKit.Signal - Simple universal event handling

# Synopsis

Signal for DOM events:

    // DOM events are also signals. Connect freely! The functions will be
    // called with the custom event as a parameter.

    // calls myClicked.apply(getElement('myID'), [event])
    connect('myID', 'onclick', myClicked);

    // calls wasClicked.apply(myObject, [event])
    connect('myID', 'onclick', myObject, wasClicked);

    // calls myObject.wasClicked(event)
    connect('myID', 'onclick', myObject, 'wasClicked');

    // the event is normalized, no more e = e || window.event!
    myObject.wasClicked = function(e) {
        var crossBrowserCoordinates = e.mouse().page;
        // e.mouse().page is a MochiKit.Style.Coordinates object
    }

Signal for non-DOM events:

    // otherObject.gotFlash() will be called when 'flash' signalled.
    connect(myObject, 'flash', otherObject, 'gotFlash');

    // gotBang.apply(otherObject, [...]) will be called when 'bang' signalled.
    // You can access otherObject from within gotBang as 'this'.
    connect(myObject, 'bang', otherObject, gotBang);

    // myFunc.apply(myObject, [...]) will be called when 'flash' signalled.
    // You can access myObject from within myFunc as 'this'.
    var ident = connect(myObject, 'flash', myFunc);

    // You may disconnect with the return value from connect
    disconnect(ident);

    // Signal can take parameters. These will be passed along to the
    // connected functions.
    signal(myObject, 'flash');
    signal(myObject, 'bang', 'BANG!');

# Description

Event handling was never so easy!

This module takes care of all the hard work—figuring out which event model to use, trying to retrieve the event object, and handling your own internal events, as well as cleanup when the page is unloaded to clean up IE's nasty memory leakage.

This event system is largely based on Qt's signal/slot system. Read more on how that is handled and also how it is used in model/view programming at: http://doc.trolltech.com/

# Dependencies

- MochiKit.Base
- MochiKit.DOM

# Overview

## Using Signal for DOM Events

When using MochiKit.Signal, do not use the browser's native event API. That means, no `onclick="blah"`, no `elem.addEventListener(...)`, and certainly no `elem.attachEvent(...)`. This also means that MochiKit.DOM.addToCallStack and MochiKit.DOM.addLoadEvent should not be used in combination with this module.

Signals for DOM objects are named with the `'on'` prefix, e.g.: `'onclick'`, `'onkeyup'`, etc.

When the signal fires, your slot will be called with one parameter, the custom event object.

## Custom Event Objects for DOM events

Signals triggered by DOM events are called with a custom event object as a parameter. The custom event object presents a consistent view of the event across all supported platforms and browsers, and provides many conveniences not available even in a correct W3C implementation.

See the DOM Custom Event Object Reference for a detailed API description of this object.

If you find that you're accessing the native event for any reason, create a new ticket and we'll look into normalizing the behavior you're looking for.

## Memory Usage

Any object that has connected slots (via connect()) is referenced by the Signal mechanism until it is disconnected via disconnect() or disconnectAll().

Signal does not leak. It registers an `'onunload'` event that disconnects all objects on the page when the browser leaves the page. However, memory usage will grow during the page view for every connection made until it is disconnected. Even if the DOM object is removed from the document, it will still be referenced by Signal until it is explicitly disconnected.

In order to conserve memory during the page view, disconnectAll() any DOM elements that are about to be removed from the document.

## Synthesized Events

Certain events supported by MochiKit are not generated natively by all browsers. MochiKit can synthesize these events even for non-supporting browsers, however, by watching for related events and triggering the appropriate signals at the right times.

These events include:

`onmouseenter`

> Similar to `'onmouseover'`, but does not "bubble" up to parent nodes. Such bubbling is often a cause of confusion. On an `'onmouseenter'` event, you can be certain that the mouse has left the node attached to the event.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.4+

`onmouseleave`

> Similar to `'onmouseout'`, but does not "bubble" up to parent nodes. This is the analog to `'onmouseenter'`.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.4+

`onmousewheel`

> Not strictly synthesized, but named `'DOMMouseScroll'` in Gecko-based browsers. MochiKit translates `'onmousewheel'` to the corresponding event in these browsers.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.4+

## Using Signal for non-DOM objects

Signals are triggered with the signal(src, 'signal', ...) function. Additional parameters passed to this are passed onto the connected slots. Explicit signals are not required for DOM events.

Slots that are connected to a signal are called in the following manner when that signal is signalled:

- If the slot was a single function, then it is called with `this` set to the object originating the signal with whatever parameters it was signalled with.
- If the slot was an object and a function, then it is called with `this` set to the object, and with whatever parameters it was signalled with.
- If the slot was an object and a string, then `object[string]` is called with the parameters to the signal.

# API Reference

## Signal API Reference

connect(src, signal, dest[, func]):

> Connects a signal to a slot, and return a unique identifier that can be used to disconnect that signal.

> `src` is the object that has the signal. You may pass in a string, in which case, it is interpreted as an id for an HTML element.

> `signal` is a string that represents a signal name. If 'src' is an HTML Element, `window`, or the `document`, then it can be one of the 'on-XYZ' events. You must include the 'on' prefix, and it must be all lower-case.

> `dest` and `func` describe the slot, or the action to take when the signal is triggered.

> > - If `dest` is an object and `func` is a string, then `dest[func].apply(dest, [...])` will be called when the signal is signalled.
> > - If `dest` is an object and `func` is a function, then `func.apply(dest, [...])` will be called when the signal is signalled.
> > - If `func` is undefined and `dest` is a function, then `dest.apply(src, [...])` will be called when the signal is signalled.

> No other combinations are allowed and will raise an exception.

> The return value can be passed to disconnect to disconnect the signal.

> In MochiKit 1.4+, if `src` is an object that has a `__connect__` method, then `src.__connect__(ident, signal, objOrFunc, funcOrStr)` will be called. The `__connect__` method is allowed to disconnect the signal. DOM objects can not implement this feature.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

disconnect(ident):

> To disconnect a signal, pass its ident returned by connect(). This is similar to how the browser's `setTimeout` and `clearTimeout` works.

> In MochiKit 1.4+, if the signal source is an object that has a `__disconnect__` method, then `src.__disconnect__(ident, signal, objOrFunc, funcOrStr)` will be called. DOM objects can not implement this feature.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

disconnectAll(src[, signal, ...]):

> Removes a set of signals from `src`, similar to calling disconnect(ident) for each one.

> `disconnectAll(src)` removes all signals from src.

> `disconnectAll(src, 'onmousedown', 'mySignal')` will remove all `'onmousedown'` and `'mySignal'` signals from src.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

disconnectAllTo(dest[, func]):

> Removes a set of signals connected to `dest`, similar to calling disconnect(ident) for each one.

> `disconnectAllTo(dest)` removes all signals connected to dest.

> `disconnectAllTo(dest, func)` will remove all signals connected to dest using func.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.4+

signal(src, signal, ...):

> This will signal a signal, passing whatever additional parameters on to the connected slots. `src` and `signal` are the same as for connect().

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

## DOM Custom Event Object Reference

event():

> The native event produced by the browser. You should not need to use this.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

src():

> The element that this signal is connected to.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

type():

> The event type (`'click'`, `'mouseover'`, `'keypress'`, etc.) as a string. Does not include the `'on'` prefix.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

target():

> The element that triggered the event. This may be a child of src().

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

modifier():

> Returns `{shift, ctrl, meta, alt, any}`, where each property is `true` if its respective modifier key was pressed, `false` otherwise. `any` is `true` if any modifier is pressed, `false` otherwise.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

stopPropagation():

> Works like W3C's stopPropagation().

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

preventDefault():

> Works like W3C's preventDefault().

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

stop():

> Shortcut that calls `stopPropagation()` and `preventDefault()`.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

key():

> Returns `{code, string}`.

> Use `'onkeydown'` and `'onkeyup'` handlers to detect control characters such as `'KEY_F1'`. Use the `'onkeypress'` handler to detect "printable" characters, such as `'é'`.

> When a user presses F1, in `'onkeydown'` and `'onkeyup'` this method returns `{code: 122, string: 'KEY_F1'}`. In `'onkeypress'`, it returns `{code: 0, string: ''}`.

> If a user presses Shift+2 on a US keyboard, this method returns `{code: 50, string: 'KEY_2'}` in `'onkeydown'` and `'onkeyup'`. In `'onkeypress'`, it returns `{code: 64, string: '@'}`.

> See `_specialKeys` in the source code for a comprehensive list of control characters.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

mouse():

> Properties for `'onmouse*'`, `'onclick'`, `'ondblclick'`, and `'oncontextmenu'`:

> > - `page` is a MochiKit.Style.Coordinates object that represents the cursor position relative to the HTML document. Equivalent to `pageX` and `pageY` in Safari, Mozilla, and Opera.
> > - `client` is a MochiKit.Style.Coordinates object that represents the cursor position relative to the visible portion of the HTML document. Equivalent to `clientX` and `clientY` on all browsers. Current versions of Safari incorrectly return clientX as relative to the canvas instead of relative to the viewport (Safari Bug 8707).

> Properties for `'onmouseup'`, `'onmousedown'`, `'onclick'`, and `'ondblclick'`:

> > - `mouse().button` returns `{left, right, middle}` where each property is `true` if the mouse button was pressed, `false` otherwise.

> Properties for `'onmousewheel'`:

> > - `mouse().wheel` is a MochiKit.Style.Coordinates object containing the scroll wheel offset. The number will be positive when scrolling down (or to the right) and negative when scrolling up (or to the left). Note that only Safari 3 currently supports horizontal scrolling. In other browsers, the `'y'` component will contain the scroll offset for both directions.

> Known browser bugs:

> > - Current versions of Safari won't signal `'ondblclick'` when attached via `connect()` (Safari Bug 7790).

> > - In Safari < 2.0.4, calling `preventDefault()` or `stop()` in `'onclick'` events signalled from `<a>` tags does not prevent the browser from following those links.

> > - Mac browsers don't report right-click consistently. Firefox signals the slot and sets `modifier().ctrl` to true, Opera signals the slot and sets `modifier().meta` to `true`, and Safari doesn't signal the slot at all (Safari Bug 6595).

> >   To find a right-click in Safari, Firefox, and IE, you can connect an element to `'oncontextmenu'`. This doesn't work in Opera.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

relatedTarget():

> Returns the document element that the mouse has moved to. This is generated for `'onmouseover'` and `'onmouseout'` events.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.3.1+

confirmUnload(msg):

> In browsers that support the `'onbeforeunload'` event (IE and Firefox), calling this in the event handler will show a dialog box that allows the user to confirm or cancel the navigation away from the page.

> Availability:
>   Available in MochiKit 1.4+

# Authors

- Jonathan Gardner <jgardner@jonathangardner.net>
- Beau Hartshorne <beau@hartshornesoftware.com>
- Bob Ippolito <bob@redivi.com>

# Copyright

Copyright 2006 Jonathan Gardner <jgardner@jonathangardner.net>, Beau Hartshorne <beau@hartshornesoftware.com>, and Bob Ippolito <bob@redivi.com>. This program is dual-licensed free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the MIT License or the Academic Free License v2.1.