317

So the following code is in Angular 4 and I can't figure out why it doesn't work the way as expected.

Here is a snippet of my handler:

onUpdatingServerName(event: Event) {
  console.log(event);
  this.newserverName = event.target.value; //this wont work
}

HTML element:

<input type="text" class="form-control" (input)="onUpdatingServerName($event)">

The code gives me the error:

Property 'value' does not exist on type 'EventTarget'.

But as it can be seen in the console.log that value does exist on the event.target.

Andrew Li
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Ravy
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18 Answers18

438

event.target here is an HTMLElement which is the parent of all HTML elements, but isn't guaranteed to have the property value. TypeScript detects this and throws the error. Cast event.target to the appropriate HTML element to ensure it is HTMLInputElement which does have a value property:

(event.target as HTMLInputElement).value

Per the documentation:

Type the $event

The example above casts the $event as an any type. That simplifies the code at a cost. There is no type information that could reveal properties of the event object and prevent silly mistakes.

[...]

The $event is now a specific KeyboardEvent. Not all elements have a value property so it casts target to an input element.

(Emphasis mine)

rofrol
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Andrew Li
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177

Passing HTMLInputElement as a generic to the event type should work too:

onUpdatingServerName(event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) {
  console.log(event);
  this.newserverName = event.target.value;
}
Mikael Lirbank
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    This will not work if the function is called from i.e. an `onChange` proeperty handler reference in React code though. The react handler does not expect the type to be set for the React.ChangeEvent and will show a typing error. I had to revert to (a variant of) the selected answer instead, with a cast: `(event.target as HTMLInputElement).value`. – Spiralis Nov 27 '18 at 23:09
  • This seemed to work for me fine in a React component. Maybe it's the version of React? We're currently on 16.8.*. – hellatan Aug 16 '19 at 19:46
  • Note that your answer is only relevant to react. The OP was asking about angular. – user3658510 Aug 04 '22 at 19:13
89

Here's another fix that works for me:

(event.target as HTMLInputElement).value

That should get rid of the error by letting TS know that event.target is an HTMLInputElement, which inherently has a value. Before specifying, TS likely only knew that event alone was an HTMLInputElement, thus according to TS the keyed-in target was some randomly mapped value that could be anything.

Matt S.
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36

I was looking for a solution to a similar TypeScript error with React:

Property 'dataset' does not exist on type EventTarget in TypeScript

I wanted to get to event.target.dataset of a clicked button element in React:

<button
  onClick={onClickHandler}
  data-index="4"
  data-name="Foo Bar"
>
  Delete Candidate
</button>

Here is how I was able to get the dataset value to "exist" via TypeScript:

const onClickHandler = (event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLButtonElement>) => {
  const { name, index } = (event.target as HTMLButtonElement).dataset
  console.log({ name, index })
  // do stuff with name and index…
}
Beau Smith
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26

In template -

`(keyup)="value2=$any($event.target).value"`

in component -

getInput(event: Event) {
  this.value1 = (event.target as HTMLInputElement).value;
}
Koustav
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22

The way I do it is the following (better than type assertion imho):

onFieldUpdate(event: { target: HTMLInputElement }) {
  this.$emit('onFieldUpdate', event.target.value);
}

This assumes you are only interested in the target property, which is the most common case. If you need to access the other properties of event, a more comprehensive solution involves using the & type intersection operator:

event: Event & { target: HTMLInputElement }

This is a Vue.js version but the concept applies to all frameworks. Obviously you can go more specific and instead of using a general HTMLInputElement you can use e.g. HTMLTextAreaElement for textareas.

belvederef
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13

This works for me in ANGULAR HTML Component !!

$any($event.target).value

Source Link: https://www.tektutorialshub.com/angular/property-value-does-not-exist-on-type-eventtarget-error-in-angular/

Kartik Chandra
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6

To solve this problem, use the $any typecast function ($any($event.target).value) to stop the type checking in the template.

Read more here.

Faizan Ahmad
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5

React has some interface like ChangeEvent for onChange, FormEvent for onSubmit etc

I was also trying to do similar like this below solution worked for me

handleChange (e : React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) {
  console.log(e.currentTarget.value);
}


<input 
   autoFocus
   value={this.state.account.username}
   onChange={this.handleChange}
   id="username" 
   type="text" 
   className="form-control" 
/>
3

You should use event.target.value prop with onChange handler if not you could see :

index.js:1437 Warning: Failed prop type: You provided a `value` prop to a form field without an `onChange` handler. This will render a read-only field. If the field should be mutable use `defaultValue`. Otherwise, set either `onChange` or `readOnly`.

Or If you want to use other handler than onChange, use event.currentTarget.value

JillAndMe
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2

Declare interface

export interface HTMLInputEvent extends Event {
  target: HTMLInputElement & EventTarget;
}

which can be re-used as a type for different input events

public onChange(event: HTMLInputEvent) {
  const value = event.target.value;
}
Vadim Ovchinnikov
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1

you can also create your own interface as well.

    export interface UserEvent {
      target: HTMLInputElement;
    }

       ...

    onUpdatingServerName(event: UserEvent) {
      .....
    }
shahidfoy
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1

You can explicitly parse it into "HTMLInputElement" and then access 'value'

onUpdatingServerName(event: Event) {
  console.log(event);
  this.newserverName = (<HTMLInputElement>event.target).value; 
}
Amit Baderia
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1

Please try this one

<input type = 'text' [value] = 'value' (input) = 'data = $any($event.target).value'>
0

As you know, TypeScript has been always strictly on the element data type. So, You can't directly access attributes of an element without specifying its data type. The event.target is an HTMLElement which is the parent of all HTML elements, but isn't guaranteed to have the property value.

So, we need to typecast the variable event.target then only we can access the value attribute from it.

OnUpdatingServerName (event: Event) {
  console.log(event);
  var element = event.target as HTMLElement
  this.newserverName = element.value;
}
Codemaker2015
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0

I would recommend creating a utility type:

interface MyEvent<T extends EventTarget> extends Omit<Event, 'target'> {
  target: T;
}

And then use it like this:

function onChange({ target: { value } }: MyEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
  doSomethingWith(value);
}
Igor Sukharev
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-7

Try code below:

  console.log(event['target'].value)

it works for me :-)

piotrek1543
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-15

add any type to event

event: any

example

[element].addEvenListener('mousemove', (event: any) =>{
//CODE//
} )

what happens is that typescript adds "event" (click in this case) as Event type and for some reason it doesn't recognize some properties. Adding it of type any no longer exists this problem, this works for any document.[Property]

dylanroman03
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    Welcome on the SO! Why and how? Please explain. – peterh Aug 17 '20 at 15:48
  • you may remove your answer if it get minused hardly – Alexey Nikonov May 26 '21 at 09:18
  • By adding any will give warning on compile-time, and not recommended to use any in TS file, otherwise the purpose of using ts file is dying. – Zeeshan Safdar Jul 08 '21 at 12:38
  • @ZeeshanSafdar I agree that you shouldn't do what @dylanroman03 has done here, however `any` is perfectly fine to use in cases where the object can in fact be anything. In general, if you know what the object's properties are (like we do here), you shouldn't be using `any`. If the object can have any properties, you should use `any`. – ICW Jan 04 '22 at 21:16