useEventListener

Demo

Usage

The useEventListener function is particularly useful for attaching event listeners to elements you don't directly control. For instance, if you need to listen for events on the document body or window and can't use <svelte:body />, or if you receive an element reference from a parent component.

Example: Tracking Clicks on the Document

		// ClickLogger.ts
import { useEventListener } from "runed";
 
export class ClickLogger {
	#clicks = $state(0);
 
	constructor() {
		useEventListener(
			() => document.body,
			"click",
			() => this.#clicks++
		);
	}
 
	get clicks() {
		return this.#clicks;
	}
}
	

This ClickLogger class tracks the number of clicks on the document body using the useEventListener function. Each time a click occurs, the internal counter increments.

Svelte Component Usage

		<script lang="ts">
	import { ClickLogger } from "./ClickLogger.ts";
 
	const logger = new ClickLogger();
</script>
 
<p>
	You've clicked the document {logger.clicks}
	{logger.clicks === 1 ? "time" : "times"}
</p>
	

In the component above, we create an instance of the ClickLogger class to monitor clicks on the document. The displayed text updates dynamically based on the recorded click count.

Key Points

• Automatic Cleanup: The event listener is removed automatically when the component is destroyed or when the element reference changes.
• Lazy Initialization: The target element can be defined using a function, enabling flexible and dynamic behavior.
• Convenient for Global Listeners: Ideal for scenarios where attaching event listeners directly to the DOM elements is cumbersome or impractical.