Possible duplicate of #7768

I saw bug #7768 before I filed this report and I don't think it has anything to do with this issue.

#7768 complains of 'focus' not firing in WebKit (in response to the 'click' event apparently).

My report is about:

• 'change' events not firing when programmatically blurring using jQuery.blur(). That happens in WebKit, AND Gecko.

• 'change' / 'blur' events not firing when programmatically focusing using jQuery.focus(). That happens in WebKit, and Gecko, and Presto.

Conversely, calling HTMLInputElement.blur() / HTMLInputElement.focus() works as expected and doesn't block the 'change' / 'blur' events from firing.

Thanks for the report, but this is not a jQuery bug, just a confusing quirk of the hell that is HTML forms.

The blur and focus methods on an HTMLInputElement are action methods that call code that actively change the state of the DOM element. The blur and focus methods in jQuery, however, are just event dispatchers. They perform two completely different functions.

For example, a focus event is normally dispatched after an element is focused—this is why, for instance, you cannot prevent an element from focusing by calling preventDefault from inside a focus event. You can still dispatch a focus event whenever you want, but it will never actually ''focus'' the element, because that’s not what a focus event does. Maybe it should, but that’s a discussion for the spec authors, not jQuery.

Replying to [comment:3 snover]:

The blur and focus methods in jQuery, however, are just event dispatchers. They perform two completely different functions.

That's not consistent with the documented or actual behavior of jQuery.blur() and jQuery.focus(). See:

• Last example here ("Example: To focus on a login input box with id 'login' on page startup, try:"):

http://api.jquery.com/focus/

• http://jsfiddle.net/64AFS/ (click Run after page loads)

You can still dispatch a focus event whenever you want, but it will never actually focus the element, because that's not what a focus event does.

jQuery.focus() actually focuses the element. In the versions of Firefox, Safari, and Opera I listed previously, the INPUT is focused in the testcase above (64AFS).

Have you even looked at the testcases from my original report? In the focus testcase it's not even in question that jQuery.focus() actually focuses the target element, the issue is that it prevents 'blur' and 'change' events from firing on the element that is blurred when focus() is called.

The "blur example 1" and "focus example 1" testcases still fail to behave as expected in Firefox 7 Win, but work as expected when updated to jQuery 1.5.2 (the next version after 1.4.4 available on jsfiddle), so obviously something was wrong with 1.4.4 and it was changed by 1.5.2.

Blur example

Original (1.4.4)

http://jsfiddle.net/feXRh/1/

Updated (1.5.2)

http://jsfiddle.net/feXRh/41/

Focus example

This one had to be updated slightly, since jsfiddle now does something with focus that makes it impossible to run the original testcase. The "click Run" part of the original instructions referred to jsfiddle's Run button. That no longer works. It's now necessary to click the "Run test" link in the output panel, but it otherwise performs as before with jQuery 1.4.4.

Original (1.4.4)

http://jsfiddle.net/a7Yks/11/

Updated (1.5.2)

http://jsfiddle.net/a7Yks/12/

The test case itself is somewhat complex, so before I start to investigate can you update to jQuery-git (or at least jQuery 1.7.2) to see if anything has changed, and give a clear explanation of the behavior you expected vs the behavior you observed? Be sure to explain which browsers you used for testing.

Thanks for your reply. To be clear, this does not work as expected in 1.4.4, but does work as expected in 1.5.2 and 1.7.2 (and perhaps everything in between) -- at least in Firefox (I haven't retested all of the browsers I did originally). So whatever was wrong in 1.4.4 was changed by 1.5.2, despite my report getting short shrift and marked as invalid.

But since the report was marked invalid, who knows what happened, e.g. if it was even fixed deliberately, or accidentally.

If you're going to investigate (perhaps to make sure there are tests for whatever the problem was so it doesn't reoccur?), I will provide whatever you need.

Blur Example !#1 from the original report would illustrate the problem and has a test case with only 2 steps to reproduce (I did it today in Firefox 7 Win), and includes expected and actual results. But if that isn't something you can work with, I'll make a new test case and / or description that is as clear and minimal as I can.

Basically, if you try blur example !#1 and follow the 2 steps to reproduce, when you press Enter at the end of step 2, the "Name:" and "Blurs:" parts of the output should both update. In 1.4.4, only the "Blurs:" part does. jQuery.blur() prevents the change event from firing on the INPUT. If I instead call DOM HTMLInputElement.blur() or use jQuery 1.5.2, it works as expected.

If you're going to investigate, I will create a new test case / description if you want.

Thanks

The only version we support at the moment is the latest one, so if 1.7.2 works fine then all we have to do is avoid breaking it in 1.8. :)