GWT: Opening new mail window without browser tab opened

Question

I am trying to open an email client just like using <a href="mailto:[email protected]">mail me</a> tag.

But I want to use my custom widget, which is not hyperlink, anchor or so. I added a DOM handler to my widget to listen to clicks:

public class VContactWidget extends VHorizontalLayout implements ClickHandler {

private HandlerRegistration clickHandler;

public VContactWidget() {
    // added some content here
    clickHandler = addDomHandler(this, ClickEvent.getType());
}

@Override
public void onClick(ClickEvent event) {
    Window.open("mailto:[email protected]", "_blank", "");
}

}

Everything is working fine except one detail: When the widget is clicked, new empty browser tab will open with url set to mailto:[email protected]. I don't want the new tab opened. Can I avoid it somehow?

Note I set _blank parameter, as used in many examples. I also tried to use empty string or some other values as well. I looked into documentation, but didn't find anything useful. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/window.open

One solution may be to use Anchor, but my component is more complex, not just single <a> link.

Another detail to note may be application server - I am using Tomcat 7 now.

Answer 1

Trying to fire native event on hidden Anchor programatically did not work for me. (Which does not mean it cannot be done.)

This is, how I actually solved my problem: Instead of Window.open(), I used following call:

public void onClick(ClickEvent event) {
    Window.Location.assign("mailto:[email protected]");
}