Attach event handlers inside other handlers

Written byPhuoc Nguyen

Category

Tip

Created

24 Apr, 2020

Usually, there are many event handlers which handle different events for different elements. These events could depend on each other.

Let's look at a common use case. When user clicks a button, we will open a modal at the center of screen. The modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key.

There are two handlers here:

The first one handles the `click` event of the button
The second one handles the `keydown` event of the entire `document`

We often create two separated handlers as following:

const handleClick = function () {
    // Open the modal
};

const handleKeydown = function (e) {
    // Close the modal if the Escape key is pressed
};

// Assume that `buttonEle` represents the button element
buttonEle.addEventListener('click', handleClick);
document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeydown);

The `handleKeydown` handler depends on `handleClick` because we only check the pressed key if the modal is already opened. It's a common way to add a flag to track if the modal is opened or not:

let isModalOpened = false;

const handleClick = function () {
    // Turn on the flag
    isModalOpened = true;
    // Open the modal ...
};

const handleKeydown = function (e) {
    // Check if the modal is opened first
    if (isModalOpened) {
        // Check the pressed key ...
    }
};

More elements, more dependent events and more flags! As the result, it's more difficult to maintain the code.

Instead of adding event separately at first, we add an event handler right inside another one which it depends on. Here is how the tip approaches:

const handleClick = function () {
    document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeydown);
};

No flag at all! The code is more readable and easier to understand.

#Use cases

You can see the tip used in another posts:

Questions? 🙋

Do you have any questions? Not just about this specific post, but about any topic in front-end development that you'd like to learn more about? If so, feel free to send me a message on Twitter or send me an email. You can find them at the bottom of this page.

I have a long list of upcoming posts, but your questions or ideas for the next one will be my top priority. Let's learn together! Sharing knowledge is the best way to grow 🥷.

Newsletter 🔔

If you're into front-end technologies and you want to see more of the content I'm creating, then you might want to consider subscribing to my newsletter.

By subscribing, you'll be the first to know about new articles, products, and exclusive promotions.

Don't worry, I won't spam you. And if you ever change your mind, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Phước Nguyễn

Attach event handlers inside other handlers

#Use cases

#See also

Questions? 🙋

Recent posts ⚡

Newsletter 🔔