uniqueID Property

Retrieves an auto-generated, unique identifier for the object.

Syntax

HTML	N/A
Scripting	[ sID = ] object.uniqueID

Possible Values

sID	String that specifies the unique identifier.

The property is read-only with no default value.

Remarks

When you apply this property to the document object, the browser automatically generates a new identifier that you can assign to an element's ID property.

A new ID is generated and assigned to the element the first time the property is retrieved. Every subsequent access to the property on the same element returns the same ID.

Note The unique identifier generated is not guaranteed to be the same every time the page is loaded.

Example

The following examples use the uniqueID property within an HTML Component (HTC) to assign a unique identifier to an element.

This example assigns a uniqueID to an element from within a behavior. Every time the setTimeout method is invoked, the behavior-defined tick() function is called. The uniqueID attaches the element to the tick() function defined in the behavior's namespace.

Sample Code

<PUBLIC:METHOD NAME="tick" />
<PUBLIC:METHOD NAME="startFly" />
<PUBLIC:PROPERTY NAME="from" />
<PUBLIC:PROPERTY NAME="fromX" />
<PUBLIC:PROPERTY NAME="fromY" />
<PUBLIC:PROPERTY NAME="delay" />
:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="jscript">
var currCount;
var flyCount;
var flying;
var msecs;
var oTop, oLeft;

msecs = 50;
flyCount = 20;
flying = false;

runtimeStyle.position = "relative";
runtimeStyle.visibility = "hidden";

window.attachEvent("onload", onload);

function onload()
{
  // delay commences from the window.onLoad event
  if (delay != "none")
  {
     window.setTimeout(uniqueID+".tick()", delay);
  }
}

function tick()
{
   if (flying == false)
   {
      startFly();
   }
   else
   {
      doFly();
   }
}
:
</SCRIPT>

This feature requires Internet Explorer 5 or later. Click the icon below to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.

This example uses the uniqueID property to show how the browser can auto-generate a unique ID for an element inserted into the page by a behavior.

<PUBLIC:ATTACH EVENT="onload" FOR="window" ONEVENT="init()" />
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JScript">

function init()
{
   // Specifying an ID=document.uniqueID ensures that a unique identifier
   // will be assigned to the element being inserted into the page by
   // the behavior.
   newTextAreaID = element.document.uniqueID;
   element.document.body.insertAdjacentHTML ("beforeEnd",
   "<P><TEXTAREA STYLE='height: 200 ;
     width: 350' ID= " + newTextAreaID + "></TEXTAREA></P>");
}
</SCRIPT>

Applies To

[ Object Name ] Platform Version Win16: Win32: Mac: Unix: WinCE: Version data is listed when the mouse hovers over a link, or the link has focus.

A, ACRONYM, ADDRESS, APPLET, AREA, B, BASE, BASEFONT, BGSOUND, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, BR, BUTTON, CAPTION, CENTER, CITE, CODE, COL, COLGROUP, COMMENT, DD, DEL, DFN, DIR, DIV, DL, document, DT, EM, EMBED, FIELDSET, FONT, FORM, FRAME, FRAMESET, HEAD, Hn, HR, HTML, I, IFRAME, IMG, INPUT type=button, INPUT type=checkbox, INPUT type=file, INPUT type=hidden, INPUT type=image, INPUT type=password, INPUT type=radio, INPUT type=reset, INPUT type=submit, INPUT type=text, INS, KBD, LABEL, LEGEND, LI, LINK, LISTING, MAP, MARQUEE, MENU, NOBR, OBJECT, OL, OPTION, P, PLAINTEXT, PRE, Q, S, SAMP, SCRIPT, SELECT, SMALL, SPAN, STRIKE, STRONG, SUB, SUP, TABLE, TBODY, TD, TEXTAREA, TFOOT, TH, THEAD, TITLE, TR, TT, U, UL, VAR, XMP

See Also

DHTML Behaviors, Implementing Behaviors in Script