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JAVA SCRIPT
Communicating
between windows
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it doesn't make sense to blur or focus the window you're on, you
might well want to move another window to the fore. In order to
communicate with a window using JavaScript, you need a reference
to that window. Look at this example and then come back here for
an explanation.
Getting and using a window reference
There are a few key lines in this JavaScript. First, we open a
new window and get a reference to it:
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var new_window = window.open("hello.html","html_name","width=200,height=200");
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This opens a little window and assigns the variable new_window
to refer to it. Just as variables can contain numbers and strings,
variables can also contain references to objects - in this
example, a Window object. Now the variable new_window
will behave just like the default Window object. You can call
methods on new_window just like you could on window.
The next line shows you an example of calling a method on new_window:
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new_window.blur();
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too tricky, it's just like window.blur() from the last
page. These two lines appear in the head of the HTML page. View
Source on the page if you want to see the whole thing. As I've
mentioned, I tend to put my JavaScript code in the head of HTML
pages. That way I can find it when I'm looking for it. These lines
of JavaScript could just as easily have gone in the body.
Now, moving to the body we see two links that will move the new
window forward or backward:
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<a href="#" onMouseOver="new_window.focus();return true;">Bring it forward</a>
<a href="#" onMouseOver="new_window.blur();return true;">Put it backward</a>
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Get it? Let's see ... it's time for an exercise. Try writing
this extension to the previous window-reference example. This
exercise is pretty tricky; to get it working, you'll have to
figure some things out. But give it a try before you View Source
to check the answer.
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