javascript - Click Entire Row (preserving middle click and ctrl+click)

Question

I have an HTML table with a link in the first column. I want to allow the user to click anywhere in the row to activate that link. At the same time, I would like to preserve the middle click and ctrl+click functionality of opening a new tab/window. Here is an example of the table:

<table id="row_link"> 
  <tbody> 
    <tr>
      <td><a href="link1.html">link</a></td> 
      <td>info 1</td> 
    </tr>       
    <tr>
      <td><a href="link2.html">link</a></td> 
      <td>info 2</td> 
    </tr>       
  </tbody> 
</table> 

Using jQuery I can allow the user to left click anywhere in a row:

$("table#row_link tbody tr").click(function () {
    window.location = $(this).find("a:first").attr("href");
});

This of course disables the standard middle click and ctrl+click functionality of opening a new tab. Is there a better way to allow users to click on the entire row while preserving the standard middle click and ctrl+clcik behavior?

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is no way to simulate a link and all associated behaviour in every browser. Therefore, the only way to achieve what you want is to have a link that follows the cursor around the <tr> element; this link would be invisible so, to the user, it looks like they're clicking on the <tr> but they're actually clicking on a hidden link. Using this method, the middle-button, ctrl+click and any other behaviours are left intact!

Here's a DEMO: http://jsbin.com/ufugo

And here's the code:

$("table tr").each(function(){

    var $link = $('a:first', this).clone(true),
        dim = {
            x: [
                $(this).offset().left,
                $(this).offset().left + $(this).outerWidth()
            ],
            y: [
                $(this).offset().top,
                $(this).offset().top + $(this).outerHeight()
            ]
        }

    $link
        .click(function(){
            $(this).blur();
        })
        .css({
            position: 'absolute',
            display: 'none',
            // Opacity:0  means it's invisible
            opacity: 0
        })
        .appendTo('body');

    $(this).mouseover(function(){
        $link.show();
    });

    $(document).mousemove(function(e){
        var y = e.pageY,
            x = e.pageX;
        // Check to see if cursor is outside of <tr>
        // If it is then hide the cloned link (display:none;)
        if (x < dim.x[0] || x > dim.x[1] || y < dim.y[0] || y > dim.y[1]) {  
            return $link.hide();
        }
        $link.css({
            top: e.pageY - 5,
            left: e.pageX - 5
        })
    });

});

EDIT:

I created a jQuery plugin using a slightly better aproach than above: http://james.padolsey.com/javascript/table-rows-as-clickable-anchors/