DataTransferItemList.clear

The DataTransferItemList.clear() method removes all DataTransferItem objects from the drag data items list, leaving the list empty.

Syntax

DataTransferItemList.clear();

Parameters

None.

Return value

undefined

Example

This example shows the use of the clear() method.

HTML

 <div>
   <p id="source" ondragstart="dragstart_handler(event);" ondragend="dragend_handler(event);" draggable="true">
     Select this element, drag it to the Drop Zone and then release the selection to move the element.</p>
 </div>
 <div id="target" ondrop="drop_handler(event);" ondragover="dragover_handler(event);">Drop Zone</div>

CSS

  div {
    margin: 0em;
    padding: 2em;
  }
  #source {
    color: blue;
    border: 1px solid black;
  }
  #target {
    border: 1px solid black;
  }

JavaScript

function dragstart_handler(ev) {
  console.log("dragStart");
  // Add this element's id to the drag payload so the drop handler will
  // know which element to add to its tree
  var dataList = ev.dataTransfer.items;
  dataList.add(ev.target.id, "text/plain");
  // Add some other items to the drag payload
  dataList.add("<p>... paragraph ...</p>", "text/html");
  dataList.add("http://www.example.org","text/uri-list");
}

function drop_handler(ev) {
  console.log("Drop");
  ev.preventDefault();
  var data = event.dataTransfer.items;
  // Loop through the dropped items and log their data
  for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
    if ((data[i].kind == 'string') && (data[i].type.match('^text/plain'))) {
      // This item is the target node
      data[i].getAsString(function (s){
        ev.target.appendChild(document.getElementById(s));
      });
    } else if ((data[i].kind == 'string') && (data[i].type.match('^text/html'))) {
      // Drag data item is HTML
      data[i].getAsString(function (s){
        console.log("... Drop: HTML = " + s);
      });
    } else if ((data[i].kind == 'string') && (data[i].type.match('^text/uri-list'))) {
      // Drag data item is URI
      data[i].getAsString(function (s){
        console.log("... Drop: URI = " + s);
      });
    }
  }
}

function dragover_handler(ev) {
  console.log("dragOver");
  ev.preventDefault();
  // Set the dropEffect to move
  ev.dataTransfer.dropEffect = "move"
}

function dragend_handler(ev) {
  console.log("dragEnd");
  var dataList = ev.dataTransfer.items;
  for (var i = 0; i < dataList.length; i++) {
    dataList.remove(i);
  }
  // Clear any remaining drag data
  dataList.clear();
}

Result

Result link

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of 'clear()' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5.1 The definition of 'clear()' in that specification.	Recommendation	Not included in W3C HTML5 Recommendation

Browser compatibility