Create an one-time event handler

Written byPhuoc Nguyen

Tags

DOM, JavaScript

Created

24 Mar, 2021

Sometimes we want a given event of an element to happen once. Usually, it can be done by attaching a handler which removes itself:

const handler = (e) => {
    // Do something ...
    element.removeEventListener('click', handler);
};

element.addEventListener('click', handler);

We can use a named function expression to shorten the code a little bit:

element.addEventListener('click', function handler(e) {
    // Do something ...

    // Remove the handler
    e.currentTarget.removeEventListener(e.type, handler);
});

However, the modern browsers provide the new `once` option that makes things easier. We don't have to track the reference of the handler anymore.

element.addEventListener(
    'click',
    (e) => {
        // Do something ...
    },
    {
        once: true,
    }
);

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Phước Nguyễn

Create an one-time event handler

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