IFRAME contentWindow is null

By  on  

I like clean code so I do what I can to avoid unwanted JavaScript global variables.  I initially thought that keys(window) would give me window property leaks but that didn't work because browsers returned different results, so I moved on to using an IFRAME to compare default window property keys.

When I first tried this method, I got a lame error about an IFRAME element's contentWindow property being null.  Ugh.  It didn't take long to figure out why:  you need to wait until the IFRAME has loaded to get the contentWindow:

var iframe = document.createElement('iframe');
iframe.onload = function() {
	// contentWindow is set!	
};
iframe.src = 'about:blank';
document.body.appendChild(iframe);

Of course you'll want to add the onload event before setting the src.  If you use the load event to check for the contentWindow property, you'll be in business!

Recent Features

  • By
    Responsive and Infinitely Scalable JS Animations

    Back in late 2012 it was not easy to find open source projects using requestAnimationFrame() - this is the hook that allows Javascript code to synchronize with a web browser's native paint loop. Animations using this method can run at 60 fps and deliver fantastic...

  • By
    7 Essential JavaScript Functions

    I remember the early days of JavaScript where you needed a simple function for just about everything because the browser vendors implemented features differently, and not just edge features, basic features, like addEventListener and attachEvent.  Times have changed but there are still a few functions each developer should...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Create a Spinning, Zooming Effect with CSS3

    In case you weren't aware, CSS animations are awesome.  They're smooth, less taxing than JavaScript, and are the future of node animation within browsers.  Dojo's mobile solution, dojox.mobile, uses CSS animations instead of JavaScript to lighten the application's JavaScript footprint.  One of my favorite effects...

  • By
    CSS Background Animations

    Background animations are an awesome touch when used correctly.  In the past, I used MooTools to animate a background position.  Luckily these days CSS animations are widely supported enough to rely on them to take over JavaScript-based animation tasks.  The following simple CSS snippet animates...

Discussion

  1. Sisyphe

    Don’t you need to append your iframe element to a DOM tree so that the browser fetches its target content ? I mean, I know that old IE will load scripts as you parse an “HTML string” but in modern browsers, I thought that the asset does not get loaded until you append the element to a document (and in my opinion this it what makes constructors such as Image() so useful).

  2. Yes, good catch! Updated!

  3. James

    Unfortunately this does not appear to be 100% reliable in chrome (i’m currently using version 62.0.3202.94, but this appears to have been an issue for a while), as sometimes contentWindow can still be null when onload is triggered.

  4. bell.jackit

    This solution worked for me! Thanks a lot!

  5. Sharry Stowell

    Thank you, saved me hours!

    Sharry

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!