JavaScript: Windows and Frames

Related Reading JavaScript: The Definitive Guide By David Flanagan

This beta excerpt is Chapter 13 from JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition, to be released in November, 2001 by O'Reilly.

Chapter 12 described the Window object and the central role it plays in client-side JavaScript. We've seen that the Window object serves as the global object for client-side JavaScript programs, and it is also the root of the client-side object hierarchy.

Besides these special roles, the Window object is an important object in its own right. Every web browser window and every frame within every window is represented by a Window object. The Window object defines quite a few properties and methods that are important in client-side JavaScript programming. This chapter explores those properties and methods and demonstrates some important techniques for programming with windows and frames. Note that because the Window object is so central to client-side programming, this chapter is quite long. Don't feel you have to master all this material at once--you may find it easier to study this chapter in several shorter chunks!

Contents

Window Overview

Simple Dialog Boxes

The Status Line

Timeouts and Intervals

Error Handling

The Navigator Object

The Screen Object

Window Control Methods

Opening Windows
Closing Windows
Window Geometry
Keyboard Focus and Visibility
Scrolling
Window Methods Example

The Location Object

The History Object

Multiple Windows and Frames

Relationships Between Frames
Window and Frame Names
JavaScript in Interacting Windows
Example: Colored Frames