JavaScript Events: change, input, cut, copy, paste

Table of Contents

1. Event: change
2. Event: input
3. Events: cut, copy, paste
4. Summary

Let’s cover various events that accompany data updates.

1. Event: change

The change event triggers when the element has finished changing.

For text inputs that means that the event occurs when it loses focus.

For instance, while we are typing in the text field below – there’s no event. But when we move the focus somewhere else, for instance, click on a button – there will be a change event:

<input type="text" onchange="alert(this.value)">
<input type="button" value="Button">

For other elements: select, input type=checkbox/radio it triggers right after the selection changes:

<select onchange="alert(this.value)">
  <option value="">Select something</option>
  <option value="1">Option 1</option>
  <option value="2">Option 2</option>
  <option value="3">Option 3</option>
</select>

2. Event: input

The input event triggers every time after a value is modified by the user.

Unlike keyboard events, it triggers on any value change, even those that does not involve keyboard actions: pasting with a mouse or using speech recognition to dictate the text.

For instance:

<input type="text" id="input"> oninput: <span id="result"></span>
<script>
  input.oninput = function() {
    result.innerHTML = input.value;
  };
</script>

If we want to handle every modification of an <input> then this event is the best choice.

On the other hand, input event doesn’t trigger on keyboard input and other actions that do not involve value change, e.g. pressing arrow keys ⇦ ⇨ while in the input.

Can’t prevent anything in oninput

The input event occurs after the value is modified.

So we can’t use event.preventDefault() there – it’s just too late, there would be no effect.

3. Events: cut, copy, paste

These events occur on cutting/copying/pasting a value.

They belong to ClipboardEvent class and provide access to the data that is copied/pasted.

We also can use event.preventDefault() to abort the action, then nothing gets copied/pasted.

For instance, the code below prevents all such events and shows what we are trying to cut/copy/paste:

<input type="text" id="input">
<script>
  input.oncut = input.oncopy = input.onpaste = function(event) {
    alert(event.type + ' - ' + event.clipboardData.getData('text/plain'));
    return false;
  };
</script>

Please note, that it’s possible to copy/paste not just text, but everything. For instance, we can copy a file in the OS file manager, and paste it.

That’s because clipboardData implements DataTransfer interface, commonly used for drag’n’drop and copy/pasting. It’s bit beyound our scope now, but you can find its methods in the specification.

ClipboardAPI: user safety restrictions

The clipboard is a “global” OS-level thing. So most browsers allow read/write access to the clipboard only in the scope of certain user actions for the safety, e.g. in onclick event handlers.

Also it’s forbidden to generate “custom” clipboard events with dispatchEvent in all browsers except Firefox.

4. Summary

Data change events:

Event	Description	Specials
`change`	A value was changed.	For text inputs triggers on focus loss.
`input`	For text inputs on every change.	Triggers immediately unlike `change`.
`cut/copy/paste`	Cut/copy/paste actions.	The action can be prevented. The `event.clipboardData` property gives read/write access to the clipboard.