HTMLElement: showPopover() method

The showPopover() method of the HTMLElement interface shows a popover element (i.e. one that has a valid popover attribute) by adding it to the top layer.

When showPopover() is called on an element with the popover attribute that is currently hidden, a beforetoggle event will be fired, followed by the popover showing, and then the toggle event firing. If the element is already showing, an error will be thrown.

Syntax

js
showPopover()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

InvalidStateError DOMException

Thrown if the popover is already showing.

Examples

The following example provides functionality to show a popover by pressing a particular key on the keyboard.

First, some HTML:

html
<div id="mypopover" popover>
  <h2>Help!</h2>

  <p>You can use the following commands to control the app</p>

  <ul>
    <li>Press <ins>C</ins> to order cheese</li>
    <li>Press <ins>T</ins> to order tofu</li>
    <li>Press <ins>B</ins> to order bacon</li>
    <hr />
    <li>Say "Service" to summon the robot waiter to take your order</li>
    <li>Say "Escape" to engage the ejector seat</li>
  </ul>
</div>

And now the JavaScript to wire up the functionality:

js
const popover = document.getElementById("mypopover");

document.addEventListener("keydown", (event) => {
  if (event.key === "h") {
    popover.showPopover();
  }
});

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# dom-showpopover

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also