Only in a link

Hi All,

Does this function call only work if in a link?
E.G.

This will work!!!
=================
<a href="javascript:test('it is an example', 'target=showText,preload=loadSpan');">test it</a>

This will NOT:
<input type="button" value="test it" onclick="javascript:test('it is an example', 'target=showText,preload=loadSpan');">

Thanks,
Erick