Obtain the predecessor of the element that was clicked

I have a complex structure with nested tables, rows, and cells, each containing div elements with multiple spans. I am trying to create a function that will capture the clicked cell every time I click on either the cell itself or any of its child elements (div, span#1, span#2, span#3).

My initial attempt involved adjusting the z-index property of the cells to be higher than that of the div and span elements in an effort to hide them behind the cells. Unfortunately, this approach did not yield the desired outcome.

You can view my current code here: http://jsbin.com/mocajahalu/2/edit?html,css,js,output

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

javascripthtmlcss

Answer №1

Give this a try...

document.addEventListener('click',function (e) {
   var targetElement = null;

   if (e.target.tagName === "TD") {
     // Handle click on TD element
     targetElement = e.target;
   } else if (e.target.parentElement.tagName === "TD") {
     // Handle click on child elements of TD (DIVs and SPANs)
     targetElement = e.target.parentElement;
   }

   alert(targetElement);
   e.preventDefault();
}, false);

Answer №2

Consider utilizing the parentNode property of the current DOM node for better manipulation:

window.addEventListener('click',function (evt) {
  alert('You have clicked on ' + evt.target.parentNode);
  evt.preventDefault();
},false);

This method should work effectively!

To ensure that you have not directly clicked on the TD element itself, you can add a condition:

targetNode = evt.target;
if (targetNode.nodeName != 'TD') targetNode = targetNode.parentElement;

If your spans contain child elements, iterate through each parentNode until reaching the TD node. When using while(targetNode.nodeName!='TD'), be sure to verify if parentNode is 'undefined' or not.

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