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JAVASCRIPT

Building `Drag-and-Drop` DIVs: Developing a Basic Script
By: Alejandro Gervasio
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  • Rating: 5 stars5 stars5 stars5 stars5 stars / 39
    2005-12-07

    Table of Contents:
  • Building `Drag-and-Drop` DIVs: Developing a Basic Script
  • Setting up the basics: emulating drag-and-drop triggers
  • Dragging DIV elements: defining the “startDrag()” function
  • Moving DIVs around the web document: defining the “dragDiv()” function
  • Gluing the pieces together: defining the complete DIV dragging script

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    Building `Drag-and-Drop` DIVs: Developing a Basic Script - Gluing the pieces together: defining the complete DIV dragging script


    (Page 5 of 5 )

    As I mentioned earlier, here is the complete DIV dragging script, along with some sample “drag-and-drop” DIVs:

    <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
    <html>
    <head>
    <title>BASIC DRAG-AND-DROP DIVS</title>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
    <script language="javascript">
    // start dragging
    function startDrag(e){
     // determine event object
     if(!e){var e=window.event};
     // determine target element
     var targ=e.target?e.target:e.srcElement;
     if(targ.className!='draggable'){return};
     // calculate event X,Y coordinates
        offsetX=e.clientX;
        offsetY=e.clientY;
     // assign default values for top and left properties
     if(!targ.style.left){targ.style.left='0px'};
     if(!targ.style.top){targ.style.top='0px'};
     // calculate integer values for top and left properties
        coordX=parseInt(targ.style.left);
        coordY=parseInt(targ.style.top);
        drag=true;
     // move div element
        document.onmousemove=dragDiv;
    }
    // continue dragging
    function dragDiv(e){
     if(!drag){return};
     if(!e){var e=window.event};
     var targ=e.target?e.target:e.srcElement;
     // move div element
       targ.style.left=coordX+e.clientX-offsetX+'px';
       targ.style.top=coordY+e.clientY-offsetY+'px';
       return false;
    }
    // stop dragging
    function stopDrag(){
     drag=false;
    }
    window.onload=function(){
     document.onmousedown=startDrag;
     document.onmouseup=stopDrag;
    }
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
    .draggable {
     position: relative;
     width: 250px;
     height: 200px;
     background-color: #ccc;
     border: 1px solid #000;
    }
    </style>
    </head>
    <body>
    <div class="draggable">

     

        This is a dragging DIV element

    </div>
    <div class="draggable">

        This is a dragging DIV element

    </div>
    </body>
    </html>

    If you wish to use the above script and tweak its code, you can either copy it or download the sample file from here (which is also available at the beginning of this article). 

    Bottom line

    In this tutorial, I’ve provided you with a basic (yet functional) DIV dragging script, which can be easily included as part of your JavaScript applications. Of course, this is only a basic example, and it’s not intended to be used in production environments.

    However, all isn’t lost. If you’re looking for a more robust and flexible method for building “drag-and-drop” DIVs, you’ll have to wait until the next article, where I’ll use a powerful, cross-browser library, in order to encapsulate most of the complexities involved in creating a DIV dragging JavaScript program. You won’t want to miss it!


    DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

       · This first tutorial goes through the implementation of a basic script for building...
       · This is a nice intro to developing draggable interfaces. There is a bug in the demo...
       · Thank you for the kind comments on my article. Yes, there's a small bug in the...
       · I can only say "Woooooowww..."Thank you Alejandro !Ecco
       · Thank you Ecco for your kind words on this tutorial. I feel extremely safisfied of...
       · Great script !!!I don't know if you still work on this but ...I need to make...
       · Thanks for commenting on this article, as well as for the kind words about the...
       · I have messed a bit obout with it and made some changes ... it now works perfectly,...
       · I'm glad to know you got it working. And of course, your feedback is truly...
       · One of the problems with this design occurs when you start adding content to the...
       · Thank you for commenting on my JavaScript article. Also, I’d like to thank you for...
       · First of all, thanks for a great tutorial. Nice structure and to the point!In an...
       · it was a very lucid style of explanation.... thanks a lot... this helped me very...
       · Thank you for the kind words on my JavaScript article, and of course I feel glad to...
       · This is a great article for something I was needing to do on in a short time frame....
       · Thank you for the kind comments on my article. Regarding your question, you can...
       · The article was very helpful. Yes, it did have some bugs, like the part wherein if...
       · Thanks for the kind comments. I'd recommend you to use a JavaScript library like...
       · Very Very Nice Article
       · Good to know my article has been useful to you.Thanks.
     

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