In order to access this site you need to enable JavaScript!

You are here: Reference > JavaScript > client-side > event handling > events > draggesture

draggesture event

Browser support:

Occurs on the source element when the user starts the drag operation.

Note: The draggesture event is obsolete in Firefox from version 3.5. Use the ondragstart event instead.

If some content is selected in a HTML document, the user has the ability to start dragging it. To drag the selected content, press and hold down a mouse button (browsers support dragging with the left button by default) on the selection and start to move the mouse. To drop the dragged data, release the mouse button over the target.

By default, the target of a drag operation can be an editable element (textarea, input:text, input:password, input:search), an element in content editable mode, a document in design mode or another application. If you want to allow for other elements to be a drop target during a drag operation, cancel both the ondragenter and ondragover events.

The following events are fired on the source element:
- The ondragstart (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox from version 3.5) and draggesture (Firefox) events are fired when the user starts to drag the selection.
- The ondrag event is fired periodically during the drag operation.
- The ondragend event is fired when the user has finished the drag operation (released the mouse button or pressed ESC).
Note: If the source of a drag operation is an editable element (see above), the draggesture event is fired after the drag operation has been finished. It seems to be a bug in Firefox.
The following events are fired on an arbitrary element during dragging:
- The ondragenter event is fired when the user moves the mouse pointer into the element.
- The ondragover event is fired periodically while the mouse pointer is over the element.
- The ondragleave (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox from version 3.5) and dragexit (Firefox) events are fired when the user moves the mouse pointer out of the element.
The following events are fired on a possible target element:
- The ondrop (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox from version 3.5) and dragdrop (older Firefox) events are fired when the dragged data is dropped on the element.
Note: the ondragover event needs to be canceled in Google Chrome and Safari to allow firing the ondrop event.

The draggesture event is cancelable, if it is canceled, the drag operation does not start. Note: use the stopPropagation method instead of the preventDefault method to cancel the draggesture event. Example 1 demonstrates it.

How to register:

In HTML:

This event cannot be registered in HTML.

In JavaScript:

object.addEventListener ("draggesture", handler, useCapture);

The event object is accessible to all event handlers in all browsers. The properties of the event object contain additional information about the current event. To get further details about these properties and the possible event handler registration methods, please see the page for the event object.

For a complete list of events, see the page for Events in JavaScript.

Basic information:

Bubbles

Yes

Cancelable

Yes

Event object

MouseEvent


	3.5

DragEvent

	3.5

Actions that invoke the draggesture event:

Starting to drag the selection.

The order of events related to the draggesture event:

Action	Event order
Any action that invokes the draggesture event.	ondragstart ondrag ondragend

Action	Event order
If the source element is an editable element (see above).	ondragstart ondrag ondragend draggesture
In any other cases.	ondragstart draggesture ondrag ondragend

Action	Event order
If the source element is an editable element (see above).	ondrag ondragend draggesture
In any other cases.	draggesture ondrag ondragend

Example HTML code 1:

This example illustrates the use of the draggesture and ondragstart events.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function Init () {
            var forbidSource = document.getElementById ("forbidDrag");
            if (forbidSource.addEventListener) {
                forbidSource.addEventListener ("draggesture", OnDragStart, false);  // Firefox
            }
        }

        function OnDragStart (event) {
            event.stopPropagation ();   // cancels the draggesture event (preventDefault) !!!
        }
    </script>
</head>
<body onload="Init ()">
    <div style="background-color:#f0d0a0; width:200px" id="forbidDrag" ondragstart="return false">
        The drag operation is not allowed for this field.
        Try to select and drag some text from it.
    </div>
    <br />
    <div style="background-color:#d0f0a0; width:200px">
        The drag operation is allowed for this field.
        Try to select and drag some text from it.
    </div>

    <br /><br /><br />
    A possible drop target:<br />
    <textarea rows="5">You can drop the dragged data here.</textarea>
</body>

Copy Code

Preview

Syntax Highlighter

Did you find this example helpful? yes no

Example HTML code 2:

This example dumps the order of events in case of dragging:

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function Init () {
            var source = document.getElementById ("source");
            var target = document.getElementById ("target");
            if (source.addEventListener) {  // all browsers except IE before version 9
                    // Firefox from version 3.5, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                source.addEventListener ("dragstart", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox before version 3.5
                source.addEventListener ("draggesture", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                source.addEventListener ("drag", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                source.addEventListener ("dragend", DumpInfo, false);

                    // Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                target.addEventListener ("dragenter", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                target.addEventListener ("dragover", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox from version 3.5, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                target.addEventListener ("dragleave", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox
                target.addEventListener ("dragexit", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox from version 3.5, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Exlorer
                target.addEventListener ("drop", DumpInfo, false);
                    // Firefox before version 3.5
                target.addEventListener ("dragdrop", DumpInfo, false);
            }
            else {
                if (source.attachEvent) {   // IE before version 9
                    source.attachEvent ("ondragstart", DumpInfo);
                    source.attachEvent ("ondrag", DumpInfo);
                    source.attachEvent ("ondragend", DumpInfo);

                    target.attachEvent ("ondragenter", DumpInfo);
                    target.attachEvent ("ondragover", DumpInfo);
                    target.attachEvent ("ondragleave", DumpInfo);
                    target.attachEvent ("ondrop", DumpInfo);
                }
            }
        }

        function DumpInfo (event) {
            var firedOn = event.target ? event.target : event.srcElement;
            if (firedOn.tagName === undefined) {
                firedOn = firedOn.parentNode;
            }

            var info = document.getElementById ("info");
            if (firedOn.id == "source") {
                info.innerHTML += "<span style='color:#008000'>" + event.type + "</span>, ";
            }
            else {
                info.innerHTML += "<span style='color:#800000'>" + event.type + "</span>, ";
            }

            if (event.type == "dragover") {
                    // the dragover event needs to be canceled to allow firing the drop event
                if (event.preventDefault) {
                    event.preventDefault ();
                }
            }
        }
    </script>
</head>
<body onload="Init ();">
    <div id="source" style="background-color:#d0f0a0; width:200px">
        Select and drag some text from this field and drop it into the target.
    </div>
    <br /><br />
    <textarea id="target" rows="5">
        This is the target element.
    </textarea>
    <br /><br />
    <div id="info" style="background-color:#f0f0ff; font-weight:bold;"></div>
</body>