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JavaScript jQuery Basics (2014) Creating a Simple Lightbox Perform: Part 1

Posted by Henry Stiltner
Henry Stiltner
4,178 Points

Trouble with "this" and e.target

I have been using arrow functions consistently and when I do this with this code it logs "undefined" 

//Problem: User when clicking on an image goes to a dead end
//Solution: Create an overlay with the large image

//1, Capture the click event on a link to an image
$("#imageGallery a").click(e => {
    e.preventDefault();
    let href = $(e.target).attr('href');
    console.log(href);
    //1.1, Show the overlay
    //1.2, Update overlay with the image linked in the link
    //1.3, Get child's alt atribute and set caption
}); 
//2, Add overlay 
    //2.1, An image
    //2.2, A caption
//3, When overlay is clicked 
    //3.1, Hide the overlay

1 Answer

andren
andren
28,558 Points
andren
andren
28,558 Points

this within regular jQuery functions is equivalent to e.currentTarget not e.target. So if you use e.currentTarget like this:

$("#imageGallery a").click(e => {
    e.preventDefault();
    let href = $(e.currentTarget).attr('href');
    console.log(href);

Then the code will work.

The difference between currentTarget and target is that currentTarget will always refer to the element that the event listener is attached to, the a elements in this case. Whereas target refers to the element that actually triggered the event, which in this case is the img elements inside the a elements.

Henry Stiltner
Henry Stiltner
4,178 Points

This is simple the way you explained! Thanks alot this really helps.