I am debugging someone else's web page. There is a link on it which tries to open itself in a popup window, the reason for this is unclear -- there is nothing obvious in the HTML (onclick=foo) to cause this.
Disabling JavaScript means the link opens normally. I have Firefox/Firebug/Dom Inspector and would like to trap whatever JavaScript event is leading to the popup. Since I can't find the code, I'm stuck.
Can Firebug create a sort of global breakpoint to trap all code? Is there some other way to hook into this behaviour and inspect it?
The page in question is http://hijinxmusic.co.uk/ and the problem link is "Green Policy" near the bottom.
Thanks for your time.
The green policy document opens a popup with itself on load:
<body onload="MM_openBrWindow('green%20policy.htm','green','width=900,height=600')">
This is inside green policy.htm
Just to add to David's answer, the function that gets executed on body load in the page at http://hijinxmusic.co.uk/green%20policy.htm essentially calls window.open()
function MM_openBrWindow(theURL,winName,features) { //v2.0
window.open(theURL,winName,features);
}
The bigger problem is that the page that you are trying to open in a new window is the same window that the user is already looking at, which doesn't make any sense. What's more is that if the popup blocker wasn't blocking window creation, you would have an infinite loop of popups (load green policy.html, open a new green policy.html, load green policy.html, etc). Where did you want the popup to happen?
Also, to add to Russ Cam's answer, you can detect when the popup fails to open by checking the return value of window.open. I have used this successfully in Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari (haven't needed to test in Chrome). Using the provided function, this is how I handle blocked popups:
function MM_openBrWindow(theURL,winName,features) { //v2.0
if ( !window.open(theURL, winName, features) ) {
// Window failed to open:
// show a HTML dialog/popover that prompts the user to allow
// popups from this site, along with a `cancel` and `try again`
// button. The `try again` button will attempt to open the
// window again with the provided parameters
dialog.popupBlockedNotice.open(arguments);
}
// Window opened successfully.
}
Related
I want to create a link on a webpage that would close the currently active tab in a browser without closing other tabs in the browser. When the user clicks the close link, an alert message should appear asking the user to confirm with two buttons, "YES" and "NO". If the user clicks "YES", close that page and If "NO", do nothing.
How can it be done? Any suggestions?
You will need Javascript to do this. Use window.close():
close();
Note: the current tab is implied. This is equivalent:
window.close();
or you can specify a different window.
So:
function close_window() {
if (confirm("Close Window?")) {
close();
}
}
with HTML:
close
or:
close
You return false here to prevent the default behavior for the event. Otherwise the browser will attempt to go to that URL (which it obviously isn't).
Now the options on the window.confirm() dialog box will be OK and Cancel (not Yes and No). If you really want Yes and No you'll need to create some kind of modal Javascript dialog box.
Note: there is browser-specific differences with the above. If you opened the window with Javascript (via window.open()) then you are allowed to close the window with javascript. Firefox disallows you from closing other windows. I believe IE will ask the user for confirmation. Other browsers may vary.
Try this
close
This method works in Chrome and IE:
<a href="blablabla" onclick="setTimeout(function(){var ww = window.open(window.location, '_self'); ww.close(); }, 1000);">
If you click on this the window will be closed after 1000ms
</a>
As far as I can tell, it no longer is possible in Chrome or FireFox. It may still be possible in IE (at least pre-Edge).
Sorry for necroposting this, but I recently implemented a locally hosted site that had needed the ability to close the current browser tab and found some interesting workarounds that are not well documented anywhere I could find, so took it on myself to do so.
Note: These workarounds were done with a locally hosted site in mind, and (with the exception of Edge) require the browser to be specifically configured, so would not be ideal for publicly hosted sites.
Context:
In the past, the jQuery script window.close() was able to close the current tab without a problem on most browsers. However, most modern browsers no longer support this script, potentially for security reasons.
Current Functionality:
window.close() will work on tabs opened by a script, or by an anchor with target="_blank" (opened in a new tab)
See #killstreet's comment on #calios's answer
Browser Specific work-arounds:
Google Chrome:
Chrome does not allow the window.close() script to be to be run and nothing happens if you try to use it. By using the Chrome plugin TamperMonkey however we can use the window.close() method if you include the // #grant window.close in the UserScript header of TamperMonkey.
For example, my script (which is triggered when a button with id = 'close_page' is clicked and if 'yes' is pressed on the browser popup) looks like:
// ==UserScript==
// #name Close Tab Script
// #namespace http://tampermonkey.net/
// #version 1.0
// #description Closes current tab when triggered
// #author Mackey Johnstone
// #match http://localhost/index.php
// #grant window.close
// #require http://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
'use strict';
$("#close_page").click(function() {
var confirm_result = confirm("Are you sure you want to quit?");
if (confirm_result == true) {
window.close();
}
});
})();
Note: This solution can only close the tab if it is NOT the last tab open however. So effectively, it cannot close the tab if it would cause window to closes by being the last tab open.
Firefox:
Firefox has an advanced setting that you can enable to allow scripts to close windows, effectively enabling the window.close() method. To enable this setting go to about:config then search and find the dom.allow_scripts_to_close_windows preference and switch it from false to true.
This allows you to use the window.close() method directly in your jQuery file as you would any other script.
For example, this script works perfectly with the preference set to true:
<script>
$("#close_page").click(function() {
var confirm_result = confirm("Are you sure you want to quit?");
if (confirm_result == true) {
window.close();
}
});
</script>
This works much better than the Chrome workaround as it allows the user to close the current tab even if it is the only tab open, and doesn't require a third party plugin. The one downside however is that it also enables this script to be run by different websites (not just the one you are intending it to use on) so could potentially be a security hazard, although I cant imagine closing the current tab being particularly dangerous.
Edge:
Disappointingly Edge actually performed the best out of all 3 browsers I tried, and worked with the window.close() method without requiring any configuration. When the window.close() script is run, an additional popup alerts you that the page is trying to close the current tab and asks if you want to continue.
Edit:
This was on the old version of Edge not based on chromium. I have not tested it, but imagine it will act similarly to Chrome on chromium based versions
Final Note: The solutions for both Chrome and Firefox are workarounds for something that the browsers intentionally disabled, potentially for security reasons. They also both require the user to configure their browsers up to be compatible before hand, so would likely not be viable for sites intended for public use, but are ideal for locally hosted solutions like mine.
It is possible. I searched the whole net for this, but once when i took one of microsoft's survey, I finally got the answer.
try this:
window.top.close();
this will close the current tab for you.
The following works for me in Chrome 41:
function leave() {
var myWindow = window.open("", "_self");
myWindow.document.write("");
setTimeout (function() {myWindow.close();},1000);
}
I've tried several ideas for FF including opening an actual web-page, but nothing seems to work. As far as I understand, any browser will close a tab or window with xxx.close() if it was really opened by JS, but FF, at least, cannot be duped into closing a tab by opening new content inside that tab.
That makes sense when you think about it - a user may well not want JS closing a tab or window that has useful history.
Try this as well. Working for me on all three major browsers.
<!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->
<a href="#" onclick="javascript:window.close();opener.window.focus();" >Close Window</a>
window.close() doesn't work in 2k21 because Scripts may close only the windows that were opened by them.
BUT if the tab is opened in the browser not manually, but automatically - then window.close() works.
Automatically (when close() works):
<a href="/close" target="_blank"> the browser will open address in the new tab and this tab can be closed with close()
when new browser tab is opened from another application (when you click a link in Telegram/Whatsup/Outlook etc) - OS will open new tab and it can be closed with close()
when you open the with window.open('ya.ru') - for sure it can be closed with close()
Manually (when it doesn't work):
when you open fresh browser and type in the address.
when you click (+) to open new tab and type in the address
Tested successfully in FF 18 and Chrome 24:
Insert in head:
<script>
function closeWindow() {
window.open('','_parent','');
window.close();
}
</script>
HTML:
Close Window
Credits go to Marcos J. Drake.
As for the people who are still visiting this page, you are only allowed to close a tab that is opened by a script OR by using the anchor tag of HTML with target _blank. Both those can be closed using the
<script>
window.close();
</script>
<button class="closeButton" style="cursor: pointer" onclick="window.close();">Close Window</button>
this did the work for me
a bit late but this is what i found out...
window.close() will only work (IE is an exception) if the window that you are trying to close() was opened by a script using window.open() method.
!(please see the comment of #killstreet below about anchor tag with target _blank)
TLDR: chrome & firefox allow to close them.
you will get console error:
Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script.
as an error and nothing else.
you could add a unique parameter in the URL to know if the page was opened from a script (like time) - but its just a hack and not a native functionality and will fail in some cases.
i couldn't find any way to know if the page was opened from a open() or not,
and close will not throw and errors.
this will NOT print "test":
try{
window.close();
}
catch (e){
console.log("text");
}
you can read in MDN more about the close() function
It is guaranteed that the closing of tabs will not be tolerated in any future browsers. Using scripts like mentioned above will not work.
My solution was to use a Chrome Extension. A Chrome Extension can require tab manipulation permissions so it will be easy to handle the closing of any tab from the domain in which the extension's content script is active.
This is how the background script should look like:
chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(function(message, sender, sendResponse) {
console.log(sender)
console.log(message)
if(message.closeThis) {
closeTab(sender.tab.id)
}
});
const closeTab = id => {
console.log("Closing tab");
chrome.tabs.remove(id);
}
The content script should look like this:
window.addEventListener("message", (event) => {
// Only accept messages from ourselves
if (event.source !== window)
return;
if (event.data.type && (event.data.type === "APPLICATION/CLOSE")) {
console.log("Content script received APPLICATION/CLOSE event");
chrome.runtime.sendMessage({closeThis: true});
}
}, false);
Close the tab by calling this in your application (make sure the content scripts are enabled in your domain by specifying that in the manifest):
window.postMessage({ type: "APPLICATION/CLOSE" }, "*");
Be cautious when using this because Chrome Extensions' deployment can be a pain.
I just wanted to add that window.close() works in 2021, chrome 91, but not always. One of the cases when it works if there is no history in tab (you can't go back).
In my case I wanted to create self-destructing tab which closes after few seconds, but I was struggling with how to go to development server avoiding new tab, because apparently New tab is also tab and it is being saved in tab history :D I created link in about:blank tab with target=_blank attribute and it was leading to new tab where window.close() method finally worked!
This is one way of solving the same, declare a JavaScript function like this
<script>
function Exit() {
var x=confirm('Are You sure want to exit:');
if(x) window.close();
}
</script>
Add the following line to the HTML to call the function using a <button>
<button name='closeIt' onClick="Exit()" >Click to exit </Button>
You can try this solution to trick the browser to close the current window using JavaScript + HTML:
JS:
function closeWindow() {
if(window.confirm('Are you sure?')) {
window.alert('Closing window')
window.open('', '_self')
window.close()
}
else {
alert('Cancelled!')
}
}
HTML:
Some content
<button onclick='closeWindow()'>Close Current Window!</button>
More content
Due to strict browser behaviors, window.close() will only work if it's opened by window.open(...)
But I made a solution for this!
Add an empty hashtag with window.open(...) when it is NOT included
When the perfect time for closing occurs, call window.close
If 2. has returned an error, replace any hashtag or HTTP parameters with an empty hashtag and finally close the window
<button onclick="myFunction()">Close</button>
<script>
if (location.href.indexOf("#") == -1) {
window.open(location.href + "#", "_self")
}
function myFunction() {
try {
window.close()
} catch (err) {
window.open(location.href.substring(0, location.href.indexOf("?")).substring(0, location.href.indexOf("#")) + "#", "_self")
window.close()
}
}
</script>
Type close in this live demo
#VityaSchel added the most important note for me:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/68035933/14678591
just wanted to add that window.close() works in 2021, chrome 91, but not always. One of the cases when it works if there is no history in tab (you can't go back).
In 2023 this behavior is also present in Firefox and Edge. New tabs without any page history that invoke window.close() indeed close themselves.
This could be a comment but my reputation is not high enough.
Here's how you would create such a link:
close
LIVE DEMO
Given a URI of a file, I'd like to open it in a new tab (not a new window).
It looks like it is not possible to use $window.open(uri, '_blank').
So, I tried the following trick:
var link = angular.element('');
angular.element(document.body).append(link);
link[0].click();
link.remove();
and it works.
But, if I put exactly the same code in a promise callback, it doesn't work anymore (it opens the file in a new window instead).
Any idea what's going on here?
PLAYGROUND HERE
From your code/content, you can't force the browser to open a new tab (rather than a new window, or vice-versa). It's up to the browser settings to force it one way or another.
Anything else would be a security risk.
Let us understand fundamental how pop up blocker work.
If user trigger the function to open a new url, then pop up blocker will allow it(it should applied to any modern browser - at least firefox, chrome)
If not from user (like javascript function in background, promise or any other function trigger not from user), browser will block unless user whitelist the site manually.
This is not working.
function openInNewTab() {
window.open('http://stackoverflow.com','_blank');
}
openInNewTab();//fail
This is working
<h1><button onclick="openInNewTab()">Open In New Tab - working</button></h1>
I created simple plunkr version - http://plnkr.co/edit/QqsEzMtG5oawZsQq0XBV?p=preview
So, to answer your question. It is impossible unless user authorize it (user trigger it or white listed the site).
Quote from firefox -
Pop-up windows, or pop-ups, are windows that appear automatically
without your permission.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pop-blocker-settings-exceptions-troubleshooting
*Open in new tab / new windows not make any difference. Pop up blocker will still always block. It doesn't means that browser will allow if open in new tab. It is just coincidentally for certain browser default the settings in that manner.
Workaround
You can ask user explicitly to trigger the function to open in new tab after the background execution.
You can display message in UI to ask user to open the url.
Example - http://plnkr.co/edit/iyNzpg64DtsrijAGbHlT?p=preview
You can only open new windows inside click event handlers fired by the user.
The reason for this is usability.
I'm not sure if all browsers have this behavior but some browsers do not allow scripts to open windows without the user being noticed. Imagine when you visit a web page and suddenly, the web page opens several windows => it's annoying.
See this DEMO (tested with my Chrome and Firefox), even we trigger click event by script, the browser still blocks the popup.
$("#test").click(function(){
openInNewTab();
});
$("#test").click();
You cannot open a new window inside your ajax success callback because your ajax success is run in another cycle after the click event handler has finished its execution.
See this link for a workaround
if I put exactly the same code in a promise callback, it doesn't work
anymore (it opens the file in a new window instead).
I'm surprised that you're still able to open a new window. But this problem really has a lot of things to do with click events fired by the user.
Your problem is two-fold, and both folds tread on uncertain territory.
In the old days of browsers, window.open did exactly that – open a new window. That's because the concept of tabs hadn't been invented yet. When tabs were introduced, they were treated exactly like windows to improve compatibility, and that tradition continues to this day. That, and the fact that window.open was only standardized very recently, means that JavaScript cannot distinguish between windows and tabs.
There is no "normal" way to specify whether a link should open in a new tab or not. You can use the following hack, though: specify a custom window size to the open call (via the third argument), like so:
window.open('http://example.com', '', 'width=' + screen.width);
This will cause almost all browsers to open a separate window because tabs cannot have custom sizes.
In JavaScript, there are trusted events and untrusted events. Trusted events are, for example, legitimate clicks on a link by the user, whereas an untrusted event would be a manual click() call on a link.
Only trusted event handlers may open new windows/tabs. This is to prevent client-side attacks that crash the browser or confuse a user by rapidly opening a hundred tabs on mouseover or something similar.
Your second example doesn't work because the popup blocker blocks the untrusted event that you triggered via the click(). Although it was caused by a real click, the asynchronous call in-between severs the link to trustedness.
working version
$http.get('https://api.github.com/users/angular').then(openInNewTab());
EDIT----------------
Do not know why but a click() method called from a callback function acts differently than calling it straight.
You can see it here with a set interval example.
That is why I had call the function directly rather than going through a callback.
see it with timer callback
or you can use $window service please see here : http://plnkr.co/edit/8egebfFj4T3LwM0Kd64s?p=preview
angular.module("Demo", []).controller("DemoCtrl", function($scope, $http, $window) {
$scope.uri = 'http://martinfowler.com/ieeeSoftware/whenType.pdf';
function openInNewTab() {
var link = angular.element('');
angular.element(document.body).append(link);
link[0].click();
link.remove();
}
$scope.works = openInNewTab;
$scope.doesntWork = function() {
$http.get('https://api.github.com/users/angular').then($window.open($scope.uri));
};
});
For us the following worked well: http://blog-it.hypoport.de/2014/08/19/how-to-open-async-calls-in-a-new-tab-instead-of-new-window-within-an-angularjs-app/
In short: We remember the reference to the new window and changing the location afterwards.
I want to open new window if "F2" pressed. Below code gives me newWindow is null error message in firefox. If I don't use pop-up blocker it works. The same in IE. It work in chrome even with pop-up blocker on.
using jstree pre 1.0 stable
hotkeys: {
"f3" : function () {
url = "http://www.vse.cz";
var newWindow = window.open(url, '_blank');
newWindow.focus();
return false;
},
Q1: Can I make it work for all browsers so users don't have to change their settings when using hotkeys plugin?
Q2: How come Using JavaScript instead of target to open new windows works without any troubles in firefox? Is that because it's a link and not using hotkeys plugin?
My understanding is that the script from above page somehow
manipulates what happens
when user clicks a link. It changes the properties of the click so
browsers "don't know" that it's new window so pop-up blocker is
bypassed.
In my case I use pure js function triggered by something else, not by
a user click. And that 'my function' doesn't changes properties of any html objects. I think this is the difference. I am not sure if I am
right here.
Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to open a new window on a keypress (other than disabling the popup blocker).
The way that the popup blockers in IE, Firefox and Chrome work (from a high level) is by the browser (upon encountering a call to window.open) walking up the JavaScript call stack to determine if the current function is—or was called by a function that is—an event handler. In other words, it finds out if the current function is executing because the user did something that triggered a DOM event.
If so, then the popup is allowed; otherwise it is blocked. However, the question of which events qualify as "popup-allowing" vary by browser. By default in Mozilla, only change, click, dblclick, mouseup, reset, and submit qualify. (I assume IE is similar.)
Functions that are event handlers for any other type of event – such as keydown/keyup/keypress in your case – do not qualify for special popup-allowing treatment, which means your popup is blocked and is why your call to window.open returns null.
Chrome, however, does consider the keydown event eligible for allowing popups to be opened, which is why your script works in that browser.
Here's a reduced example to demonstrate how this works. This demo:
Defines a function called spawn() which calls window.open to open a popup.
Calls spawn() immediately as the page is loaded. This is blocked by all browsers since the call is made from the global scope; it is not called from an event handler.
Attaches a function to window.onkeydown which calls spawn(). If you press any key in Chrome, the popup will open because it allows popups from keydown handlers. In IE and Firefox, the popup will be blocked becuase those browsers do not allow popups from keyboard events.
Attaches an event handler to the link which calls spawn(). When you click the link, the popup will be allowed in all browsers because the call to window.open can be traced back to an event handler for a click event.
As you can now see, nothing goes on to manipulate event properties or "trick" the browser in to not knowing that there's a new window. The behavior of popups being allowed to open from link clicks is by design, the theory being that if you've clicked on something, it's likely that you want to see whatever is in the popup. However, when a call is made to window.open from a place where you've not done anything (such as the global scope), it's likely you do not have any interest in whatever [ad] is in the automatically-launching popup.
In this way, popup blockers prevent annoyances (automatically launching ads) while still allowing pages to open popups at the user's request.
We have written a small javascript function which checks if a URL should open in same window or a popup. In cases when a url should open in a new window IE is giving some strange behaviour a window popup flashes and closes with a beep sound. Can anybody suggest whats going behind the scenes i do not think its my javascript which is wrong. Is it some browser weird behaviour.
I suspect you have a third party pop-up blocker installed.
Yep, this sounds like some third party stuff. By default IE will try to guess what it should do with popups (open in a popup window, open in a new tab, don't open at all) but it won't try to open a window and close it immediately (unless caused by some addons or code included in the page). JavaScript errors shouldn't cause the window to close either (unless they really call window.close()).
I've written a bookmarklet to look a word up in a Chinese dictionary:
javascript:Qr=document.getSelection();if(!Qr){void(Qr=prompt('%E8%AF%8D%E8%AF%AD',''))};if(Qr)(function(){window.open('http://nciku.com/search/all/'+Qr);})();
This opens a new tab with search results for your selected word or a word you type in at the prompt. Is there a way to load the new tab in the background? I'd like to keep the focus on the page I'm looking at, and look at the search results later.
There is an option "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately" in Firefox, this doesn't help.
Edit: Note that this is for my use, so an answer that tells me how to change Firefox (3.0.11) settings to do this would work as well. Also I've tried the following modification, but it's still focusing the new tab.
javascript:Qr=document.getSelection();if(!Qr){void(Qr=prompt('%E8%AF%8D%E8%AF%AD',''))};if(Qr)(function(){var%20oldWin=this;window.open('http://nciku.com/search/all/'+Qr);oldWin.focus()})();
Edit 2:
Looking around to see if I can find an answer I see this guy who's got the opposite problem (new tabs don't get focus, but he wants them to have it), but with no resolution:
Possible to set tab focus in IE7 from JavaScript
There's apparently talk about a _tab target in HTML 5, but that doesn't help me much.
http:/ /forums.whatwg.org/viewtopic.php?t=185&highlight=tab+focus
(apparently as a new user I can only post one link, so I've mauled it)
This seems pretty broken browser behaviour if this is impossible.
In FireFox type about:config and change browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground to true.
This has worked for me with browser bookmarklets.
source: http://lifehacker.com/263940/force-links-to-open-in-the-background
No, not programmatically through JavaScript. You don't have control over the user's browser preferences, only they have control over that.
Moreover, even if you did have control over that, you shouldn't do it, because it undermines the control that your script is given to you by the browser. If the user wants a page to open in the background, they should be able to control it, not you, as the developer.
Apparently this is only possible with previously opened windows, not the root window.
Calls to window.open with the same
window name as an already existing
window, loads the URL into that window
and gives a reference to the window
back. The window isn't given focus,
its opener property isn't changed, and
a third argument to window.open is
ignored. You can use the focus method
to give the window focus manually.
var oldWin = window.open("url.html","oldName");
oldWin.focus(); // give focus
Facing the same issue, I only noticed that if you alert() something just after opening the window, Firefox would not switch to the newly opening tab.