Can`t get preventDefault to work: item.preventDefault is not a function

Question

I try to create a js script That firstly block default and only second time let go to link for mobile menus, but I can not get preventDefault to work, the error is: item.preventDefault is not a function. the others are ok, the .setAttribute is working.

this is my script i tried with no luck:

var hasChild = document.querySelectorAll(".menu-item-has-children a");
hasChild.forEach(setPrevent);

function setPrevent(item) {
  item.setAttribute('data-active', 'false');
  item.addEventListener("click", respButAction);
  item.preventDefault();
  // this.preventDefault();
}

function respButAction(item) {
  isaActive = this.getAttribute('data-active');
  console.log(isaActive);

  if (isaActive == 'false') {
    this.setAttribute('data-active', 'true');
    // item.setAttribute('data-active', 'true');
    item.stopPropagation();
    // this.stopPropagation();
  }
  if (isaActive == 'true') {
    this.setAttribute('data-active', 'false');
    // item.setAttribute('data-active', 'false');
    item.preventDefault();
    //this.preventDefault();
  }
}

Answer 1

as I mentioned in the comment.

The issue is in the method setPrevent(item), here you can't call item.preventDefault(); because the item variable is the actual DOM element.

I would suggest 2 changes: 1. remove the call in the method setPrevent(item) 2. rename the variable in the method respButAction(item)

example:

var hasChild = document.querySelectorAll(".menu-item-has-children a");
hasChild.forEach(setPrevent);

function setPrevent(item) {
    item.setAttribute('data-active', 'false');
    item.addEventListener("click", respButAction);
    // remove: item.preventDefault();
}

function respButAction(event) {
    isaActive = this.getAttribute('data-active');
    console.log(isaActive);

    if (isaActive == 'false') {
         this.setAttribute('data-active', 'true');
         event.stopPropagation();
    }
    if (isaActive == 'true') {
         this.setAttribute('data-active', 'false');
         event.preventDefault();
    }
}

With this new variable name event you avoid confusion with item an event types, if you see in the docs from about the preventDefault you can understand the difference better