pf » FireFox Click Wheel does not fire onclick Event

May 08, 2006

FireFox Click Wheel does not fire onclick Event

I just noticed something today in Firefox (on Windows, probably the same on Mac haven't tested yet). Suppose you have a link with a JavaScirpt onclick event such as:

<a href="deleteTB.cfm" onclick="javascript:return confirm('Are you sure?');">delete</a>

If you click this link with the left mouse button the JavaScript is executed. If you click with the scroll wheel the event is not fired. This is a fairly common thing for a FireFox user to do since you can open links in new tabs by clicking on links with the scroll wheel.

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Comments

On 05/08/2006 at 4:09:37 PM MDT Jason Grunstra wrote:

I think this is a good thing! I use it all the time to bypass JavaScript confirmation dialogs.

On 05/08/2006 at 9:41:08 PM MDT Pete Freitag wrote:

Bug or feature? You decide :)

On 05/09/2006 at 7:25:26 AM MDT Brandon Eley wrote:

I think it's a feature. If you wanted to execute the JS you could right-click and choose "Open in a new tab" instead of middle-clicking.

On 05/11/2006 at 3:50:18 PM MDT Bryan Ashcraft wrote:

You could also use Ctrl+Left-Click to open the link in a new teb. At least in Windows.

On 05/12/2006 at 11:53:41 AM MDT gaby de wildw wrote:

It's the way it should be, The js can-not be opened in a new page. A web designer needs to create an alternative way of accessing the site without js. That why the href should always be there.

Middle click should open a new tab. In case there is no real link the js can't open in a new page anyway. Sites that do open the js as if it's an url are just coded badly.

I do agree, it would be more logical for a browser to support onmiddleclick= and target="new_tab"

On 06/19/2006 at 4:43:42 AM MDT tom wrote:

onmouseup is triggered by middle click though...

On 07/21/2006 at 8:34:45 AM MDT scuba steve wrote:

i dislike the js confirmations also, but sometimes a legal disclaimer is needed (for the customer) when opening an external link. onmouse up works but displays the link in the newtab with or without confirmation?

On 11/24/2007 at 1:50:27 PM MST Calvin Spealman wrote:

I am looking for a way around this because I have my button behavior reversed so that left-click opens tabs (my default) and middle click keeps me in the same page. When I use a web app that has a mix of plain and javascript links, I have to learn which are which so I know how to navigate properly. Annoying, but surprisingly learnable. Still, I would love to get the javascript triggered on middle click if I have this behavior setup. (I use Tab Mix Plus for this)