How to simulate target="_blank" in JavaScript

I know this is a done and sorted out deal, but here's what I'm using to solve the problem in my app.

if (!e.target.hasAttribute("target")) {
    e.preventDefault();     
    e.target.setAttribute("target", "_blank");
    e.target.click();
    return;
}

Basically what is going on here is I run a check for if the link has target=_blank attribute. If it doesn't, it stops the link from triggering, sets it up to open in a new window then programmatically clicks on it.

You can go one step further and skip the stopping of the original click (and make your code a whole lot more compact) by trying this:

if (!e.target.hasAttribute("target")) {
    e.target.setAttribute("target", "_blank");
}

If you were using jQuery to abstract away the implementation of adding an attribute cross-browser, you should use this instead of e.target.setAttribute("target", "_blank"):

    jQuery(event.target).attr("target", "_blank")

You may need to rework it to fit your exact use-case, but here's how I scratched my own itch.

Here's a demo of it in action for you to mess with.

(The link in jsfiddle comes back to this discussion .. no need a new tab :))

This might help

var link = document.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml", "a");
    link.href = 'http://www.google.com';
    link.target = '_blank';
    var event = new MouseEvent('click', {
        'view': window,
        'bubbles': false,
        'cancelable': true
    });
    link.dispatchEvent(event);

<script>
    window.open('http://www.example.com?ReportID=1', '_blank');
</script>

The second parameter is optional and is the name of the target window.