Subj : SELECT onChange doesn't work with keypresses
To   : netscape.public.mozilla.jseng
From : "Sam Hulick" <goaway@evilspam.org>
Date : Wed Jan 22 2003 10:29 am

I know this is a WONTFIX, because W3C docs say that onChange will be
triggered only when the SELECT loses focus.  But this is kind of
ridiculous.. What about situations where you really NEED to do something
whenever the SELECT value is changed, via mouseclicks or keypresses?
Currently, in 1.2.1, the onChange is triggered immediately by mouseclicks,
no need for the element to lose focus.  But keypresses (up/down) do nothing
at all until the item has no focus.  I've remedied this by putting funcs in
for two events to cover both bases:

  <select name="bob" onChange="do_it()" onKeyUp="do_it()">

But this is kind of hacky, and in IE, the do_it() fires twice.  I suppose I
could hack it more and put in a check in the do_it() function that sees if
the value really changed.  If not, don't do anything.  But this shouldn't be
necessary.

Personally, I find the W3C's decision in this matter to be not very well
thought out.  One can't simply make up a rule about how an event should work
without first looking around in the world to see how people are currently
using it, and how it will affect them.

--
Sam Hulick
Designer/Developer
HitNet
http://www.hitnet.com/

.