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window object

Represents an open window.

Members

The window object has these types of members:

Events
Methods
Properties

Events

The window object has these events.

Event	Description
abort	Fires when the user aborts the download.
afterprint	Fires on the object immediately after its associated document prints or previews for printing.
beforeprint	Fires on the object before its associated document prints or previews for printing.
beforeunload	Fires prior to a document being unloaded.
blur	Fires when the object loses the input focus.
canplay	Occurs when playback is possible, but would require further buffering.
canplaythrough	Occurs when playback to end is possible without requiring a stop for further buffering.
change	Fires when the contents of the object or selection have changed.
click	Fires when the user clicks the left mouse button on the object.
contextmenu	Fires when the user clicks the right mouse button in the client area, opening the context menu.
dblclick	Fires when the user double-clicks the object.
drag	Fires on the source object continuously during a drag operation.
dragend	Fires on the source object when the user releases the mouse at the close of a drag operation.
dragenter	Fires on the target element when the user drags the object to a valid drop target.
dragleave	Fires on the target object when the user moves the mouse out of a valid drop target during a drag operation.
dragover	Fires on the target element continuously while the user drags the object over a valid drop target.
dragstart	Fires on the source object when the user starts to drag a text selection or selected object.
drop	Fires on the target object when the mouse button is released during a drag-and-drop operation.
durationchange	Occurs when the duration attribute is updated.
emptied	Occurs when the media element is reset to its initial state.
ended	Occurs when the end of playback is reached.
error	Fires when an error occurs during object loading.
focus	Fires when the object receives focus.
focusin	Fires for an element just prior to setting focus on that element.
focusout	Fires for the current element with focus immediately after moving focus to another element.
hashchange	Raised when there are changes to the portion of a URL that follows the number sign (#). This event is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
help	Fires when the user presses the F1 key while the client is the active window.
input	Occurs when the text content of an element is changed through the user interface.
keydown	Fires when the user presses a key.
keypress	Fires when the user presses an alphanumeric key.
load	Fires immediately after the client loads the object.
loadeddata	Occurs when media data is loaded at the current playback position.
loadedmetadata	Occurs when the duration and dimensions of the media have been determined.
loadstart	Occurs when Internet Explorer begins looking for media data.
message	Fires when the user sends a cross-document message or a message is sent from a Worker with postMessage.
mousedown	Fires when the user clicks the object with either mouse button.
mousemove	Fires when the user moves the mouse over the object.
mouseout	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer outside the boundaries of the object.
mouseover	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer into the object.
mouseup	Fires when the user releases a mouse button while the mouse is over the object.
mousewheel	Fires when the wheel button is rotated.
MSPointerCancel	Fires when the system cancels a pointer event.
offline	Raised when Internet Explorer is working offline. This event is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
onbeforedeactivate	Fires immediately before the activeElement is changed from the current object to another object in the parent document.
onkeyup	Fires when the user releases a key.
online	Raised when Internet Explorer is working online. This event is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
onselect	Fires when the current selection changes.
pause	Occurs when playback is paused.
play	Occurs when the play method is requested.
playing	Occurs when the audio or video has started playing.
progress	Occurs to indicate progress while downloading media data.
ratechange	Occurs when the playback rate is increased or decreased.
reset	Fires when the user resets a form.
scroll	Fires when the user repositions the scroll box in the scroll bar on the object.
seeked	Occurs when the seek operation ends.
seeking	Occurs when the current playback position is moved.
stalled	Occurs when the download has stopped.
storage	Fires when a Web Storage area is updated.
suspend	Occurs if the load operation has been intentionally halted.
timeupdate	Occurs to indicate the current playback position.
unload	Fires immediately before the object is unloaded.
volumechange	Occurs when the volume is changed, or playback is muted or unmuted.
waiting	Occurs when playback stops because the next frame of a video resource is not available.

Methods

The window object has these methods.

Method	Description
AddChannel	Obsolete. Presents a dialog box that enables the user to add the specified channel, or to change the channel URL, if it is already installed.
addEventListener	Registers an event handler for the specified event type.
AddSearchProvider	Deprecated. Adds a search provider to the registry.
AddService	Deprecated. User initiated action to add a service.
AddToFavoritesBar	Deprecated. Adds a URL to the Favorites Bar.
alert	Displays a dialog box containing an application-defined message. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
attachEvent	Binds the specified function to an event, so that the function gets called whenever the event fires on the object.
blur	Causes the element to lose focus and fires the onblur event.
clearImmediate	Cancels a function request created with setImmediate.
clearInterval	Cancels the interval previously started using the setInterval method.
clearTimeout	Cancels a time-out that was set with the setTimeout method.
close	Closes the current browser window or HTA. Closes the app without prompting the user. To the user, it appears as though the app has crashed.
confirm	Displays a confirmation dialog box that contains an optional message as well as OK and Cancel buttons. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
ContentDiscoveryReset	Resets the list of feeds, search providers, and Web Slices associated with the page.
create	Creates a new img element of the specified width and height. This method cannot be called directly. See Image object.
create	Initializes a new option element. This method cannot be called directly. See Option object.
createPopup	Creates a popup window object.
detachEvent	Unbinds the specified function from the event, so that the function stops receiving notifications when the event fires.
dispatchEvent	Sends an event to the current element.
execScript	Executes the specified script in the provided language.
focus	Causes the element to receive the focus and executes the code specified by the onfocus event.
getComputedStyle	Returns a currentStyle object containing the CSS settings that are applied to the specified element or a pseudo-element related to the specified element.
getSelection	Returns an object that represents the current selection of the document.
InPrivateFilteringEnabled	Detects whether the user has enabled InPrivate Filtering.
IsSearchProviderInstalled	Deprecated. Determines if a search provider has been installed for the current user and whether it is set as default.
IsServiceInstalled	Deprecated. Check if a service is already installed.
item	Retrieves an object from various collections, including the all collection.
matchMedia	Accepts a string containing one or more media queries, and returns a MediaQueryList object.
moveBy	Moves the screen position of the window by the specified x and y offset values.
moveTo	Moves the screen position of the upper-left corner of the window to the specified x and y position.
msActiveXFilteringEnabled	Determines whether ActiveX Filtering is enabled by the user.
msAddSiteMode	Creates a pinned site shortcut to the current webpage on the Windows Start menu. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msAddTrackingProtectionList	Adds an external Tracking Protection list.
msIsSiteMode	Determines whether the current page was launched as a pinned site.
msIsSiteModeFirstRun	Determines whether a pinned site was launched for the first time.
msIsStaticHTML	Returns a Boolean value indicating whether or not the given HTML string is safe.
msSiteModeActivate	Flashes the pinned site taskbar button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeAddButtonStyle	Defines an alternate icon image and tooltip for the specified button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeAddJumpListItem	Adds a new entry to the Jump List of a taskbar button.
msSiteModeAddThumbBarButton	Adds a button to the Thumbnail Toolbar. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeClearIconOverlay	Removes the icon overlay from the taskbar button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeClearJumpList	Deletes the Jump List.
msSiteModeCreateJumpList	Creates a new group of items on the Jump List.
msSiteModeSetIconOverlay	Adds an icon overlay to the pinned site taskbar button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeShowButtonStyle	Changes the icon image and tooltip of a Thumbnail Toolbar button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeShowJumpList	Shows updates to the list of items in a Jump List.
msSiteModeShowThumbBar	Enables the Thumbnail Toolbar in the thumbnail preview of a pinned site. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msSiteModeUpdateThumbBarButton	Changes the state of a Thumbnail Toolbar button. This method is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
msTrackingProtectionEnabled	Determines whether any Tracking Protection lists are enabled by the user.
msWriteProfilerMark	Writes a profiling event.
navigate	Loads the specified URL to the current window.
open	Opens a new window and loads the document specified by a given URL. Navigates the app window to the specified location.
postMessage	Sends a cross-document message.
print	Prints the document associated with the window.
prompt	Displays a dialog box that prompts the user with a message and an input field.
removeEventListener	Removes an event handler that the addEventListener method registered.
resizeBy	Changes the current size of the window by the specified x- and y-offset.
resizeTo	Sets the size of the window to the specified width and height values.
scroll	Causes the window to scroll to the specified x- and y-offset at the upper-left corner of the window.
scrollBy	Causes the window to scroll relative to the current scrolled position by the specified x- and y-pixel offset.
scrollTo	Scrolls the window to the specified x- and y-offset.
setImmediate	Requests that a function be called when current or pending tasks are complete, such as events or screen updates.
setInterval	Evaluates an expression each time a specified number of milliseconds has elapsed.
setTimeout	Evaluates an expression after a specified number of milliseconds has elapsed.
showHelp	Displays a Help file. This method can be used with Microsoft HTML Help.
showModalDialog	Creates a modal dialog box that displays the specified HTML document.
showModelessDialog	Creates a modeless dialog box that displays the specified HTML document.
toStaticHTML	Removes dynamic HTML elements and attributes from an HTML fragment.

Properties

The window object has these properties.

Property	Description
ActiveXObject	Returns a null value.
animationStartTime	Obsolete. Returns a timestamp of the start time of the current refresh interval, such that multiple animations can be synchronized with each other.
applicationCache	Returns an ApplicationCache object.
closed	Retrieves whether the referenced window is closed.
console	Returns the windows console object to use to send messages.
constructor	Returns a reference to the constructor of an object.
defaultStatus	Sets or retrieves the default message displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the window.
dialogArguments	Gets the variable or array of variables passed into the modal dialog window.
dialogHeight	Sets or gets the height of the modal dialog window.
dialogLeft	Sets or gets the left coordinate of the modal dialog window.
dialogTop	Sets or gets the top coordinate of the modal dialog window.
dialogWidth	Sets or gets the width of the modal dialog window.
frameElement	Retrieves the frame or iframe object that is hosting the window in the parent document.
hidden	Returns whether a webpage is visible.
indexedDB	Allows access to the Indexed Database API, as implemented by Internet Explorer 10.
innerHeight	Gets the height of the window, excluding user interface elements, such as the window frame, toolbars, and so on.
innerWidth	Gets the width of the window, excluding user interface elements, such as the window frame.
length	Sets or retrieves the number of objects in a collection.
localStorage	Retrieves the Web Storage area specific to the current document.
maxConnectionsPerServer	Retrieves the maximum number of concurrent connections to a Web server.
name	Sets or retrieves a value that indicates the window name.
offscreenBuffering	Sets or retrieves whether objects are drawn offscreen before being made visible to the user.
opener	Sets or retrieves a reference to the window that created the current window.
outerHeight	Gets the height of the window, including user interface elements, such as the window frame, toolbars, and so on.
outerWidth	Gets the width of the window, including user interface elements, such as the window frame.
pageXOffset	Gets the distance, in pixels, that a document has scrolled horizontally.
pageYOffset	Gets the distance, in pixels, that a document has scrolled vertically.
parent	Retrieves the parent of the window in the object hierarchy.
performance	Provides access to timing related information regarding navigation and performance for the document that is loaded into the window object.
returnValue	Sets or gets the value returned from the modal dialog window. This property is not supported for Windows Store apps using JavaScript.
screenLeft	Retrieves the x-coordinate of the upper left-hand corner of the window frame, relative to the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
screenTop	Retrieves the y-coordinate of the top corner of the client area, relative to the top corner of the screen.
screenX	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen. For the standards based property, see screenX.
screenY	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the mouse pointer's position relative to the user's screen. For the standards based property, see screenY.
self	Retrieves a reference to the current window or frame.
sessionStorage	Retrieves the Web Storage area for the session.
status	Sets or retrieves the message in the status bar at the bottom of the window.
styleMedia	Gets a StyleMedia object that contains methods and properties. These methods and properties determine the media types that are supported by the object that displays the document object.
top	Retrieves the topmost ancestor window.
XMLHttpRequest	Instantiates the XMLHttpRequest object for the window.

Standards information

There are no standards that apply here.

Remarks

You can use the window object to retrieve information about the state of the window. You also can use this object to gain access to the document in the window, to the events that occur in the window, and to other factors that affect the window.

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 authors use the window keyword when accessing window properties, methods, and collections for the current window. This keyword always refers to the current window.

Note The window's properties, methods, and collection names are reserved keywords and cannot be used as the names of variables or routines.

The following table lists pertinent information for some of the properties of the window object.

Property	Method	Description
opener	open	The opener property is available only from a document opened using the window.open method.
parent, top	None	The parent and top properties are available for a window opened inside a frame or iframe. The two properties return the topmost parent and immediate parent, respectively.
parent, top	open	The parent and top properties are available for a window opened via the open method or as a dialog and returns the current window.
length	None	Regardless of how the window is opened, the length property returns the number of frames in a window.
dialogArguments, dialogHeight, dialogLeft, dialogTop, dialogWidth, returnValue	showModalDialog and showModelessDialog	These properties are available only for windows created using the two methods listed—showModalDialog and showModelessDialog

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 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) using methods such as open, showModalDialog, and showModelessDialog.

Unsupported window members for Windows Store apps using JavaScript

These window members are unavailable to Windows Store apps using JavaScript:

In Windows CE, the document object is not available through scripting for a window object opened using the open method.

Examples

This example checks whether the current window contains child windows and, if it does, displays the names of those child windows in a debugging console window (see F12 Developer Tools for more information).


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

This example shows a simple event handler function for the window's onload event. In the absence of a "window" element, the body element hosts the following window object events: onblur, onbeforeunload, onfocus, onload, and onunload.


<body onload="console.log('Document is loaded!');">

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Build date: 11/27/2012

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