Disable (and re-enable) the href and onclick on elements

Question

I just want to enable / disable onclick and href on elements (a or div).

I don't know how to do this.

I can disable onclick by adding an handler on click event, but the href is still available.

 
$(this).unbind().click(function(event){
     event.preventDefault();
     return;
});

Edit FOUND A HACK FOR A ELEMENTS

if ($(this).attr("href")) {
     $(this).attr("x-href", $(this).attr("href"));
     $(this).removeAttr("href");
}

Answer 1

If you return false on the onclick event, the href is irgnored.

1. This will go to Goole: <a href="http://www.google.com" onclick="alert('Go to Google')">Test</a>

2. This will not go to Google: <a href="http://www.google.com" onclick="alert('Go to Google'); return false;">Test</a>

Answer 2

Ok i've found a workaround : putting an overlay over the main div containing all the elements i wanted to disable .. It just works.

Answer 3

You could try the following:

$('a, div').click(
    function(e){
    return false;
        // cancels default action *and* stops propagation

    // or e.preventDefault;
       // cancels default action without stopping propagation
});

MDC documentation for preventDefault, jQuery documentation for event.preventDefault.

SO question: JavaScript event.preventDefault vs return false.

I'm unsure as to the problem of the "href still being available," since the click event is cancelled; however if you want to remove the href from a elements:

$('a[href]').attr('href','#');

will remove them (or, rather, replace the URL with a #).

---

Edited in response to comment (to question) by OP:

Ok, sorry ;) I just want to be able (by clicking on a button), to disable / enable all the links (click or href) over elements (div or a)

$('#buttonRemoveClickId, .buttonClassName').click(
function() {
    $('a, div').unbind('click');
});
$('#buttonReplaceClickId, .buttonOtherClassName').click(
function() {
    $('a, div').bind('click');
});

• unbind(),
• bind().

Answer 4

Try this to disable click:

$(this).unbind('click');

Answer 5

You can set the href attribute directly to "" to prevent the original from showing up in the status bar, if that's what you're asking.

$(this).unbind().click(function(event){
     event.preventDefault();
}).attr("href", "");

Otherwise, a event.preventDefault() already stops links from being clickable.