This is probably the beginning of many questions to come.
I have finished building my site and I was using Firefox to view and test the site. I am now IE fixing and am stuck at the first JavaScript error which only IE seems to be throwing a hissy about.
I run the IE 8 JavaScript debugger and get this:
Object doesn't support this property or method app.js, line 1 character 1
Source of app.js (first 5 lines):
var menu = {};
menu.current = "";
menu.first = true;
menu.titleBase = "";
menu.init = function(){...
I have tested the site in a Webkit browser and it works fine in that.
What can I do to fix this? The site is pretty jQuery intensive so i have given up any hope for getting it to work in IE6 but I would appreciate it working in all the others.
UPDATE: I have upload the latest version of my site to http://www.frankychanyau.com
In IE8, your code is causing jQuery to fail on this line
$("title").text(title);
in the menu.updateTitle() function. Doing a bit of research (i.e. searching with Google), it seems that you might have to use document.title with IE.
Your issue is (probably) here:
menu.updateTitle = function(hash){
var title = menu.titleBase + ": " + $(hash).data("title");
$("title").text(title); // IE fails on setting title property
};
I can't be bothered to track down why jQuery's text() method fails here, but it does. In any case, it's much simpler to not use it. There is a title property of the document object that is the content of the document's title element. It isn't marked readonly, so to set its value you can simply assign a new one:
document.title = title;
and IE is happy with that.
It is a good idea to directly access DOM properties wherever possible and not use jQuery's equivalent methods. Property access is less troublesome and (very much) faster, usually with less code.
Well, your line 1 certainly looks straight forward enough. Assuming the error line and number is not erroneous, it makes me think there is a hidden character in the first spot of your js file that is throwing IE for a fit. Try opening the file in another text editor that may support display of normally hidden characters. Sometimes copying/pasting the source into a super-basic text-editor, like Notepad, can sometimes strip out non-displayable characters and then save it back into place directly from Notepad.
I have the following code which works perfect in Chrome, IE8, and FF. However, I get an error when I'm testing it with IE7. Does anyone have a clue what's happening here?
function do_replace(s, p1,p2,p3,child_node,syn_text) {
reg = new RegExp('[h\|H][1-7]');
if(p1.length>0){ //this might not be necessary
//create textnode
var text_node = document.createTextNode(p1);
child_node.parentNode.insertBefore(text_node,child_node); //errors out here in IE7
}
The code errors out at the last line- IE7 give an "htmlfile: Invalid argument." error when I look at the code through a debugger. child_node, parentNode, and text_node appear to be formed identical to Firefox and Chrome when running this script.
Any ideas? Or does IE7 just not support this method as well as other browsers?
Thanks
Rather than leave this problem unsolved, I figured out what was wrong with my code:
I was using an extensive frameset(yuck!!) and when I made the text_node = document.createTextNode() call, I was not doing this in the frame that my application was in.
I fixed this by explicitly calling out the frame to create the object in:
var text_node = MainFrame.child_frame.WhySoManyFrames.document.createTextNode(p1);
After doing this, the insertBefore method works perfect!
Hopefully this helps anyone looking at this question- I know this took me a long time and lots of frustration to figure out!
JavaScript 'InsertBefore' function is supported by IE7. Remember that you have to use this function only when page is fully loaded!
Details
I have the following code:
$('#smallcart .plusone').live('click',function(){
var id = $(this).attr('id');
articlenr = id.split('_')[1];
});
this works fine in FF, safari, Chrome, however in IE (7 and 8) it throws an error on the split-function (this property or method is not supported by this object).
if I alert the 'id'-variable I get something like plus_5751. (so I want to get the '5751' part)
if I do alert(typeof(id)) I get String as an answer...
Maybe somebody can point me to the right answer?
Thx
The split works pretty well in IE. The problem is the part left of the equal-sign. It's an object with all input-fields having the name articlenr and therefor IE quits with 'this property or method is not supported by this object' when you're trying to assign a string to it.
Your code works just fine for me in Internet Explorer - as it should be expected to. The problem must lie elsewhere, perhaps something is overriding String.prototype.split?. You can see a working example of your code at http://jsfiddle.net/AndyE/6K77Y/. The first thing to check for is any Internet Explorer specific code in your scripts.
I would make one small improvement for efficiency. $(this).attr('id'); is pretty much the long winded way of writing this.id. It's slower, because a new jQuery object has to be created and then the attr function has to run. Without it, your code can be compressed more, whilst still remaining very readable, if you like:
$('#smallcart .plusone').live('click',function(){
articlenr = this.id.split('_')[1];
});
Try renaming your variable 'id' to something else. IE doesn't like it when you name things in your scripts the same as items in the DOM.
Never mind, that seems to have not been the issue in this case. I have, however, had issues in the past with IE specific bugs caused by variable names.
Some users are reporting occasional JS errors on my site. The error message says "Expected identifier, string or number" and the line number is 423725915, which is just an arbitrary number and changes for each report when this occurs.
This mostly happens with IE7/ Mozilla 4.0 browsers.
I scanned my code a bunch of times and ran jslint but it didn't pick anything up - anyone know of the general type of JS problems that lead to this error message?
The cause of this type of error can often be a misplaced comma in an object or array definition:
var obj = {
id: 23,
name: "test", <--
}
If it appears at a random line, maybe it's part of an object defintion you are creating dynamically.
Using the word class as a key in a Javascript dictionary can also trigger the dreaded "Expected identifier, string or number" error because class is a reserved keyword in Internet Explorer.
BAD
{ class : 'overlay'} // ERROR: Expected identifier, string or number
GOOD
{'class': 'overlay'}
When using a reserved keyword as a key in a Javascript dictionary, enclose the key in quotes.
Hope this hint saves you a day of debugging hell.
Actually I got something like that on IE recently and it was related to JavaScript syntax "errors". I say error in quotes because it was fine everywhere but on IE. This was under IE6. The problem was related to JSON object creation and an extra comma, such as
{ one:1, two:2, three:3, }
IE6 really doesn't like that comma after 3. You might look for something like that, touchy little syntax formality issues.
Yeah, I thought the multi-million line number in my 25 line JavaScript was interesting too.
Good luck.
This is a definitive un-answer: eliminating a tempting-but-wrong answer to help others navigate toward correct answers.
It might seem like debugging would highlight the problem. However, the only browser the problem occurs in is IE, and in IE you can only debug code that was part of the original document. For dynamically added code, the debugger just shows the body element as the current instruction, and IE claims the error happened on a huge line number.
Here's a sample web page that will demonstrate this problem in IE:
<html>
<head>
<title>javascript debug test</title>
</head>
<body onload="attachScript();">
<script type="text/javascript">
function attachScript() {
var s = document.createElement("script");
s.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
document.body.appendChild(s);
s.text = "var a = document.getElementById('nonexistent'); alert(a.tagName);"
}
</script>
</body>
This yielded for me the following error:
Line: 54654408
Error: Object required
Just saw the bug in one of my applications, as a catch-all, remember to enclose the name of all javascript properties that are the same as keyword.
Found this bug after attending to a bug where an object such as:
var x = { class: 'myClass', function: 'myFunction'};
generated the error (class and function are keywords)
this was fixed by adding quotes
var x = { 'class': 'myClass', 'function': 'myFunction'};
I hope to save you some time
http://closure-compiler.appspot.com/home will pick this error up with an accurate reference to the actual line number in the offending script.
As noted previously, having an extra comma threw an error.
Also in IE 7.0, not having a semicolon at the end of a line caused an error. It works fine in Safari and Chrome (with no errors in console).
IE7 is much less forgiving than newer browsers, especially Chrome. I like to use JSLint to find these bugs. It will find these improperly placed commas, among other things. You will probably want to activate the option to ignore improper whitespace.
In addition to improperly placed commas, at this blog in the comments someone reported:
I've been hunting down an error that only said "Expected identifier"
only in IE (7). My research led me to this page. After some
frustration, it turned out that the problem that I used a reserved
word as a function name ("switch"). THe error wasn't clear and it
pointed to the wrong line number.
Remove the unwanted , sign in the function. you will get the solution.
Refer this
http://blog.favrik.com/2007/11/29/ie7-error-expected-identifier-string-or-number/
This error occurs when we add or missed to remove a comma at the end of array or in function code. It is necessary to observe the entire code of a web page for such error.
I got it in a Facebook app code while I was coding for a Facebook API.
<div id='fb-root'>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({appId:'".$appid."', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});
FB.Canvas.setSize({ width: 800 , height: 860 , });
// ^ extra comma here
};
</script>
This sounds to me like a script that was pulled in with src, and loaded just halfway, causing a syntax error sine the remainder is not loaded.
IE7 has problems with arrays of objects
columns: [
{
field: "id",
header: "ID"
},
{
field: "name",
header: "Name" , /* this comma was the problem*/
},
...
Another variation of this bug: I had a function named 'continue' and since it's a reserved word it threw this error. I had to rename my function 'continueClick'
Maybe you've got an object having a method 'constructor' and try to invoke that one.
You may hit this problem while using Knockout JS. If you try setting class attribute like the example below it will fail:
<span data-bind="attr: { class: something() }"></span>
Escape the class string like this:
<span data-bind="attr: { 'class': something() }"></span>
My 2 cents.
I too had come across this issue. I found below two solutions.
1). Same as mentioned by others above, remove extra comma from JSON object.
2). Also, My JSP/HTML was having . Because of this it was triggering browser's old mode which was giving JS error for extra comma. When used it triggers browser's HTML5 mode(If supported) and it works fine even with Extra Comma just like any other browsers FF, Chrome etc.
Here is a easy technique to debug the problem:
echo out the script/code to the console.
Copy the code from the console into your IDE.
Most IDE's perform error checking on the code and highlight errors.
You should be able to see the error almost immediately in your JavaScript/HTML editor.
Had the same issue with a different configuration. This was in an angular factory definition, but I assume it could happen elsewhere as well:
angular.module("myModule").factory("myFactory", function(){
return
{
myMethod : function() // <--- error showing up here
{
// method definition
}
}
});
Fix is very exotic:
angular.module("myModule").factory("myFactory", function(){
return { // <--- notice the absence of the return line
myMethod : function()
{
// method definition
}
}
});
This can also happen in Typescript if you call a function in middle of nowhere inside a class. For example
class Dojo implements Sensei {
console.log('Hi'); // ERROR Identifier expected.
constructor(){}
}
Function calls, like console.log() must be inside functions. Not in the area where you should be declaring class fields.
Typescript for Windows issue
This works in IE, chrome, FF
export const OTP_CLOSE = { 'outcomeCode': 'OTP_CLOSE' };
This works in chrome, FF, Does not work in IE 11
export const OTP_CLOSE = { outcomeCode: 'OTP_CLOSE' };
I guess it somehow related to Windows reserved words
I have just received and bypassed a problem with LightWindow and IE7 where, on page load, it throws a JavaScript error on line 444 of lightwindow.js, claiming that the object does not support this property or method. Despite finding various postings on various forums, no Google result I could find had a solution, so I am posting this here in the hopes that it will help someone / myself later.
Many suggested a specific order of the script files but I was already using this order (prototype, scriptaculous, lightwindow).
These are the steps I took that seemed to finally work, I write them here only as a record as I do not know nor have time to test which ones specifically "fixed" the issue:
Moved the call to lightwindow.js to the bottom of the page.
Changed line 444 to: if (this._getGalleryInfo(link.rel)) {
Changed line 1157 to: if (this._getGalleryInfo(this.element.rel)) {
Finally, I enclosed (and this is dirty, my apologies) lines 1417 to 1474 with a try/catch block, swallowing the exception.
EDIT:
I realised that this broke Firefox. Adding the following as line 445 now makes it work - try { gallery = this._getGalleryInfo(link.rel); } catch (e) { }
It's not a very nice fix, but my page (which contains a lightwindow link with no "rel" tag, several lightwindow links which do have "rel" tags, and one "inline" link) works just fine in IE7 now. Please comment if you have anything to add about this issue or problems with / improvements to my given solution.
Instead of the try..catch maybe you could try using
if( this && this._getGalleryInfo )
{
//use the function
}
you could also check in the same way this.element.rel ( if(this && this.element && this.element.rel) ... ) before using it.
It looks like there's a case that the _getGalleryInfo or this.element.rel has not yet been initialized so it wouldn't exist yet. Check if it exists then if I does use it.
of course i could be completely wrong, the only way to know is by testing it out.
I fixed this by changing line 444 to:
var gallery = this._getGalleryInfo(link.rel)
Then changing the subsequent comparison statement to:
if(gallery.length > 0)
{
// Rest of code here...
...which seems to have sorted it in IE6+ and kept it working in Firefox etc.
I didn't change line 1157 at all, but I haven't read the code to see what I actually does so I can't comment on its relevance?
I suspect the ? used in the example rel attribute (Evoution?[man]) may be causing the problem with IE but without spending some time testing a few things, I can't be sure?
HTH.
I had the same problem with Lightwindow 2.0, IE6, IE7, IE8 (beta); I resolved in the following way for IE6, IE7, IE8 (beta).
Instead of:
if(gallery = this._getGalleryInfo(link.rel))
I put on lines 443 and 1157:
gallery = this._getGalleryInfo(link.rel)
if(gallery)
Hope this will help!