Firing a Keyboard Event in JavaScript

Question

I'm trying to simulate a keyboard event in Safari using JavaScript.

I have tried this:

var event = document.createEvent("KeyboardEvent");
event.initKeyboardEvent("keypress", true, true, null, false, false, false, false, 115, 0);

...and also this:

var event = document.createEvent("UIEvents");
event.initUIEvent("keypress", true, true, window, 1);
event.keyCode = 115;

After trying both approaches, however, I have the same problem: after the code has been executed, the keyCode/which properties of the event object are set to 0, not 115.

Does anyone know how to reliably create and dispatch a keyboard event in Safari? (I'd prefer to achieve it in plain JavaScript if possible.)

Answer 1

The Mozilla Developer Center provides the following explanation:

1. Create an event using document.createEvent("KeyboardEvent")

2. Init the keyevent using

   event.initKeyEvent (type, bubbles, cancelable, viewArg, ctrlKeyArg, altKeyArg, shiftKeyArg, metaKeyArg, keyCodeArg, charCodeArg)

3. Dispatch the event

I don't see the last one in your code, maybe that's what you're missing. I hope this works in IE as well...