How to call a function before leaving page with Javascript

Question

I would like to execute a function before leaving page without showing a confirmation popup with Javascript only. I\'ve tried with the code below but it did

Answer 1

Just call your function from within window.onbeforeunload. Note, some browsers restrict what you can do here (eg: no redirects or alerts). See: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Events/beforeunload for more info.

I've also added the appropriate code for readers that do want to show a confirmation dialog.

function doSomething(){
    //do some stuff here. eg:
    document.getElementById("test").innerHTML="Goodbye!";
}
function showADialog(e){
    var confirmationMessage = 'Your message here';
    //some of the older browsers require you to set the return value of the event
    (e || window.event).returnValue = confirmationMessage;     // Gecko and Trident
    return confirmationMessage;                                // Gecko and WebKit
}
window.addEventListener("beforeunload", function (e) {
    //To do something (Remember, redirects or alerts are blocked here by most browsers):
    doSomething();    
    //To show a dialog (uncomment to test):
    //return showADialog(e);  
});

Just hit 'Run' to test: http://jsfiddle.net/2Lv4pa9p/1/