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componentFromPoint

Method of dom/HTMLElementdom/HTMLElement

Syntax

var object = object.componentFromPoint(x, y);

Parameters

x

Data-type

any

Specifies the client window coordinate of x.

y

Data-type

any

Specifies the client window coordinate of y.

Return Value

Returns an object of type DOM NodeDOM Node

String

String

{

Examples

This example uses the componentFromPoint method to determine which object the mouse pointer is hovering over.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<SCRIPT>
/*When this function is activated, an alert pops up displays the component at the position of the pointer. */
function ComponentSnapShot(){
   var sElem = "";
   sElem = document.body.componentFromPoint(
      event.clientX,
      event.clientY
   );
   if (sElem=="")
    alert("No component there!");
   else
    alert("Component: " + sElem);
}
function trackElement(){
   var sElem = "";
   sElem = document.body.componentFromPoint(
      event.clientX,
      event.clientY
   );
   window.status = "mousemove " + event.clientX + ", "
      + event.clientY +
      " The mouse pointer is hovering over: " + sElem;

}
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<!-- There are several different events that can be used with componentFromPoint. Below are a few of them.
Be carefull! Not all mouse events can be used with componentFromPoint.  -->
<BODY onmousemove="trackElement()" onmousedown="ComponentSnapShot()" onkeydown="ComponentSnapShot()" oncontextmenu="ComponentSnapShot()">
<TEXTAREA COLS=500 ROWS=500>
This text forces scroll bars to appear in the window.
</TEXTAREA>
</BODY>
</HTML>

View live example

Notes

Remarks

The componentFromPoint method, available as of Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, is applicable to any object that can be given scroll bars through Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The componentFromPoint method might not return the same object consistently when it is used with the onmouseover event. Because a user’s mouse speed and entry point can vary, different components of an element can fire the onmouseover event. For example, when a user moves the cursor over a textArea object with scroll bars, the event might fire when the mouse enters the component border, the scroll bars, or the client region. After the event fires, the expected element might not be returned, unless the scroll bars were the point of entry for the mouse. In this case, the onmousemove event can be used to provide more consistent results. For the object’s sizing handles to appear, designMode must be On, and the object must be selected.

Syntax

Standards information

There are no standards that apply here.

Attributions