window

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window

Description

Represents an open window in the browser.

Remarks

You use the window object to retrieve information about the state of the window and to gain access to the document in the window, to the events that occur in the window, and to features of the browser that affect the window.

Typically, the browser creates one window object when it opens an HTML document. However, if a document defines one or more frames (that is, contains one or more FRAME or IFRAME tags), the browser creates one window object for the original document and one additional window object for each frame. These additional objects are child windows of the original window and can be affected by actions that occur in the original. For example, closing the original window causes all child windows to close. You can also create new windows (and corresponding window objects) by using methods such as open and showModalDialog.

You can apply any window property, method, or collection to any variable or expression that evaluates to a window object, regardless of how that window was created. Additionally, you can access all window properties, methods, and collections in the current window by using the property, method, or collection name directly—that is, without prefixing it with an expression that evaluates to the current window object. However, to help make more readable code and to avoid potential ambiguities, many developers use the window keyword when accessing window properties, methods, and collections for the current window. This keyword always refers to the current window.

Note Window property, method, and collection names are reserved keywords and cannot be used as the names of variables and routines.

The dialogArguments, dialogHeight, dialogLeft, dialogTop, dialogWidth, and returnValue properties are available only for windows created using the showModalDialog method.

Examples

The following example displays an alert (message) box for the current window.

alert("A simple message.")

The following example checks whether the current window contains child windows and, if it does, displays the names of those child windows.

if (window.frames!=null) {
    for (i=0; i<window.frames.length; i++)
        window.alert("Child window "+i+" is named "+window.frames(i).name);
}

The following example shows a simple event handler function for the window's onload event. Note that in the absence of a "window" element, the BODY element hosts the following window object events: onblur, onfocus, onload, and onunload.

<BODY onload="window.status='Page is loaded!'">

Properties

Collections

frames*

Methods

Events


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