pointerType

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pointerType

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W3C Working Draft

Summary

Indicates the device type that caused the event (mouse, pen, touch, etc.).

Property of dom/PointerEvent

Syntax

Note: This property is read-only.

var result = event.pointerType;

Return Value

Returns an object of type String.

Examples

Detecting the type of input from a user

JavaScript

window.addEventListener("pointerdown", detectInputType, false);
function detectInputType(event) {
	switch(event.pointerType) {
		case "mouse":
			alert("You used a mouse!");
			break;
		case "pen":
			alert("You used a pen stylus!");
			break;
		case "touch":
			alert("You used touch!");
			break;	
		default:
			alert("Not sure what device was used!");
	}
}

Usage

If a user agent is to fire a pointer event for a mouse, pen stylus, or touch input device, then the value of pointerType must be according to the following table:

Pointer Device Type	pointerType Value
Mouse	mouse
Pen Stylus	pen
Touch Contact	touch

If the device type cannot be detected by the user agent, then the value must be an empty string. If a user agent supports pointer device types other than those listed above, the value of pointerType should be vendor prefixed to avoid conflicting names for different types of devices. Future specifications may provide additional normative values for other device types.

Compatibility

Desktop

Feature	Chrome	Firefox (Gecko)	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic Support	?	?	IE10	?	?

Mobile

Feature	Android	BlackBerry	Chrome for mobile	Firefox Mobile (Gecko)	IE Mobile	Opera Mobile	Opera Mini	Safari Mobile
Basic support	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Compatibility notes

Browser	Version	Note
Internet Explorer	10	The PointerEvent object and associated events are supported with the MS prefix. E.g., MSPointerEvent