Writing to a window
JavaScript FAQ |
JavaScript Windows FAQ
|
Question: How do I write script-generated content to another window?
Answer:
To write script-generated content to another window,
use the method
winRef.document.write() or
winRef.document.writeln(),
where winRef is the
window reference, as returned by the
window.open() method.
To make sure that your script's output actually shows up in the other window,
use winRef.document.close() after writing the content.
As an example, consider the following function that opens a new window
with the title Console and writes the specified content
to the new window.
writeConsole('Hello from JavaScript!');
function writeConsole(content) {
top.consoleRef=window.open('','myconsole',
'width=350,height=250'
+',menubar=0'
+',toolbar=1'
+',status=0'
+',scrollbars=1'
+',resizable=1')
top.consoleRef.document.writeln(
'<html><head><title>Console</title></head>'
+'<body bgcolor=white onLoad="self.focus()">'
+content
+'</body></html>'
)
top.consoleRef.document.close()
}
If you try the above example in Internet Explorer or Firefox, you might notice that
after you write something to the console several times,
the console window will allow you to navigate back and forth
in the output's history. This is not always a desired feature.
If you would like to output the new content without creating
a new history entry, add the following operator
after opening the window (and before the first write):
docRef = top.winRef.document.open("text/html","replace");
Here winRef is the window reference
returned by the window.open() method, and
docRef is a global variable in which the script stores
the reference to your new document.
Note:
Some browsers, e.g. Google Chrome or Safari, won't allow the back/forward navigation in the secondary window in this example,
with or without document.open("text/html","replace").