How do you override inline onclick event?

Question

This seems deceptively simple.

How do you override the onclick event in the following HTML using JavaScript?

<a id="sample" href="..." onclick="alert('hello world')" />...</a> 

I've tried it with jQuery, but that didn't do the trick:

$('#sample').attr('onclick','alert("done")') 

Assume the HTML is pre-written and cannot be changed, other than manipulating it with JavaScript.

Answer 1

Try this:

// Setting the DOM element's onclick to null removes  // the inline click handler $("#sample")[0].onclick = null; $("#sample").click(function() { alert("done") });