KeyboardEvent.initKeyEvent()

The KeyboardEvent.initKeyEvent() method is used to initialize the value of an event created using document.createEvent("KeyboardEvent"). Events initialized in this way must have been created with the document.createEvent("KeyboardEvent") method. initKeyEvent() must be called to set the event before it is dispatched.

Syntax

event.initKeyEvent (type, bubbles, cancelable, viewArg,
                    ctrlKeyArg, altKeyArg, shiftKeyArg, metaKeyArg,
                    keyCodeArg, charCodeArg)

Parameters

type

Is a DOMString representing the type of event.

bubbles

Is a boolean value indicating whether the event should bubble up through the event chain or not (see bubbles).

cancelable

Is a boolean value indicating whether the event can be canceled (see cancelable).

viewArg

Specifies the UIEvent.view; this value may be null.

ctrlKeyArg

Is a boolean value that is true if the virtual key to be generated is a combination of keys containing the

Ctrl

key.

altKeyArg

Is a boolean value that is true if the virtual key to be generated is a combination of keys containing the

Alt

key.

shiftKeyArg

A boolean value that is true if the virtual key to be generated is a combination of keys containing the

Shift

key.

metaKeyArg

Is a boolean value that is true if the virtual key to be generated is a combination of keys containing the

Meta

key.

keyCodeArg

Is a unsigned long representing the virtual key code value of the key which was depressed, otherwise 0. See KeyboardEvent.keyCode for the list of key codes.

charCodeArg

Is a unsigned long representingthe Unicode character associated with the depressed key otherwise 0.

Example

var event = document.createEvent('KeyboardEvent'); // create a key event
// define the event
event.initKeyEvent("keypress",       // typeArg,
                   true,             // canBubbleArg,
                   true,             // cancelableArg,
                   null,             // viewArg,  Specifies UIEvent.view. This value may be null.
                   false,            // ctrlKeyArg,
                   false,            // altKeyArg,
                   false,            // shiftKeyArg,
                   false,            // metaKeyArg,
                    9,               // keyCodeArg,
                    0);              // charCodeArg);

document.getElementById('blah').dispatchEvent(event);

Specifications

This implementation of keyboard events is based on the key events spec in the early versions of DOM 2 Events, later removed from that spec.

The initKeyEvent is the current Gecko equivalent of the DOM Level 3 Events (initially drafted and also deprecated in favor of KeyboardEvent() Keyboard.initKeyboardEvent() method with the following arguments:

typeArg of type DOMString
canBubbleArg of type boolean
cancelableArg of type boolean
viewArg of type views::AbstractView
keyIdentifierArg of type DOMString
keyLocationArg of type unsigned long
modifiersList of type DOMString);