.click() method, browser support

Question

I'd like to use the js method .click() as follows:

document.getElementById(id).click();

But since it is essential that it works, I was wondering of what browsers support the .click() method has.

Answer 1

The only browser I have encountered that does not support .click() is Safari. Safari supports .click() on buttons (e.g. <input type="button" />) but not on other elements such as anchor elements (e.g. <a href="#">Click Me</a>).

For Safari, you have to use a workaround:

function click_by_id(your_id)
{
    var element = document.getElementById(your_id);
    if(element.click)
        element.click();
    else if(document.createEvent)
    {
        var eventObj = document.createEvent('MouseEvents');
        eventObj.initEvent('click',true,true);
        element.dispatchEvent(eventObj);
    }
}

Using the above function, you can support 90%+ of browsers.

Tested in IE7-10, Firefox, Chrome, Safari.