How to set focus on an element in Elm?

Question

How can I set the focus on a Html element in Elm? I tried to set the autofocus attribute on the element and it only sets the focus on the page load.

Answer 1

A workaround for this is to use Mutation Observers. Insert this JavaScript either in your main HTML page or in the main view of your Elm code:

var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations) {
  mutations.forEach(function(mutation) {
    handleAutofocus(mutation.addedNodes);
  });
});
var target = document.querySelector('body > div');
var config = { childList: true, subtree: true };
observer.observe(target, config);

function handleAutofocus(nodeList) {
  for (var i = 0; i < nodeList.length; i++) {
    var node = nodeList[i];
    if (node instanceof Element && node.hasAttribute('data-autofocus')) {
      node.focus();
      break;
    } else {
      handleAutofocus(node.childNodes);
    }
  }
}

Then create HTML elements by including Html.Attributes.attribute "data-autofocus" "".