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
    6 Things You Didn’t Know About Firefox OS

    Firefox OS is all over the tech news and for good reason:  Mozilla's finally given web developers the platform that they need to create apps the way they've been creating them for years -- with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.  Firefox OS has been rapidly improving...

  • By
    Conquering Impostor Syndrome

    Two years ago I documented my struggles with Imposter Syndrome and the response was immense.  I received messages of support and commiseration from new web developers, veteran engineers, and even persons of all experience levels in other professions.  I've even caught myself reading the post...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Create a Brilliant Sprited, CSS-Powered Firefox Animation

    Mozilla recently formally announced Firefox OS and its partners at Mobile World Congress and I couldn't be more excited.  Firefox OS is going to change the lives of people in developing countries, hopefully making a name for itself in the US as well.  The...

  • By
    Elegant Overflow with CSS Ellipsis

    Overflow with text is always a big issue, especially in a programmatic environment. There's always only so much space but variable content to add into that space. I was recently working on a table for displaying user information and noticed that longer strings were...

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!