Prevent default event action not working...?

Question

I'm trying to add keyboard shortcuts on my website to make fast navigation possible using the keyboard. I'm running into a slight problem, however, with my attempted Alt+X shortcut. The event runs just fine and returns false as it should, but the browser's File menu comes up regardless. I've also tried the preventDefault method, but no change.

The cut-down version of the script is:

document.documentElement.onkeydown = function(e) {
    e = e || window.event;
    switch( e.keyCode || e.which) {
        // some cases here - most notably:
        case 116: // F5 key
            if( activeFrame) {
                activeFrame.contentWindow.location.reload();
                // reloads an iframe if one is active
                return false;
            }
            break;
        // more cases...
        case 88: // X key
            if( e.altKey) {
                // do something
                return false;
            }
    }
}

As noted above, overriding the default action of the F5 key works just fine - the browser reloads the page only if no iframe is active. I don't quite see how to prevent the menu from appearing when Alt+X is pressed.

Answer 1

use stopPropagation(e); instead of preventDefault method

function stopPropagation(e)
{
    e = e || event;/* get IE event ( not passed ) */
    e.stopPropagation? e.stopPropagation() : e.cancelBubble = true;
}

Reference link

Another SO question which mentions that preventDefault has issue in IE.

UPDATE

Try using below code as per MSDN Reference

event.returnValue=false;

And some point from Detecting keystrokes

Some general caveats:

• Generally, Mac is less reliable than Windows, and some keys cannot be detected.
• Explorer doesn't fire the keypress event for delete, end, enter, escape, function keys, home, insert, pageUp/Down and tab.
• Onkeypress, Safari gives weird keyCode values in the 63200 range for delete, end, function keys, home and pageUp.Down. The onkeydown and -up values are normal.
• Alt, Cmd, Ctrl and Shift cannot be detected on Mac, except in Opera. However, you can always use the altKey, ctrlKey, and shiftKey properties.