The following objects are available in JavaScript:
NOTE: Each object topic indicates whether the object is part of the client (in Navigator), server (in LiveWire), or is common (built-in to JavaScript). Server objects are not included in this version of the documentation.
anchor object (client)
An anchor is a piece of text identified as the target of a hypertext link.
Syntax
To define an anchor, use standard HTML syntax :
<A NAME="anchorName" anchorText </A>
NAME specifies a tag that becomes an available hypertext target within the current document.
anchorText specifies the text to display at the anchor.
Description
You can reference the anchor objects in your code by using the anchors property of the document object. The anchors property is an array that contains an entry for each anchor in a document.
xxx to be supplied
Properties
- xxx to be supplied
Methods
- xxx to be supplied
Event handlers
None.
Examples
&amp;lt;A NAME=&amp;quot;javascript_intro&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;H2&amp;gt;Welcome to JavaScript&amp;lt;/H2&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/A&amp;gt;
See also
- link object
- anchors property
applet object (client)
Represents a Java applet. xxx NYI.
Syntax
xxx to be supplied
Description
The applet object executes applets written in Java, not JavaScript. Java applets execute only on Netscape 2.0 and HotJava, and only on 32-bit platforms, such as Windows 95, Windows NT, and Unix. They do not execute on the 16-bit Windows platforms, such as Windows 3.1.
Properties
- length
Methods
- xxx to be supplied
Event handlers
- xxx to be supplied
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- xxx to be supplied
button object (client)
A button object is a pushbutton on an HTML form.
Syntax
<INPUT TYPE="button" NAME="objectName" VALUE="buttonText" [onClick="handlerText"]>
NAME specifies the name of the button object as a property of the enclosing form object and can be accessed using the name property. VALUE specifies the label to display on the button face and can be accessed using the value property.Description
The button object is a custom button that you can use to perform an action you define.
Properties
- name
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onClick
Examples
A custom button does not necessarily load a new page into the client; it merely executes the script specified by the onClick event handler. In the following example, myfunction() is a JavaScript function.
&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;button&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;Calculate&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;calc_button&amp;quot; onClick=&amp;quot;myfunction(this.form)&amp;quot;&amp;gt;
See also
- reset and submit objects
checkbox object (client)
A checkbox object is a checkbox on an HTML form. A checkbox is a toggle switch that lets the user set a value on or off.
Syntax
To define a checkbox, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onClick event handler:
<INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="objectName" [CHECKED] [onClick="handlerText"]> textToDisplay
Description
Use the checked property to specify whether the checkbox is currently checked. Use the defaultChecked property to specify whether the checkbox is checked when the form is loaded.
Properties
- checked
- defaultChecked
- name
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onClick
Examples
&amp;lt;B&amp;gt;Specify your music preferences (check all that apply):&amp;lt;/B&amp;gt; &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;checkbox&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;musicpref_rnb&amp;quot; CHECKED&amp;gt; R&amp;amp;B &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;checkbox&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;musicpref_jazz&amp;quot; CHECKED&amp;gt; Jazz &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;checkbox&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;musicpref_blues&amp;quot; CHECKED&amp;gt; Blues &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;checkbox&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;musicpref_newage&amp;quot; CHECKED&amp;gt; New Age
See also
- xxx to be supplied
Date object (common)
JavaScript has a date object that enables you to work with dates and times. JavaScript handles dates very similar to the way Java handles dates: They have many of the same date methods, and both languages store dates internally as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00.
Syntax
To create a date object:
varName = new Date(parameters)
where varName is a JavaScript variable name for the date object being created; it can be a new object or a property of an existing object.The parameters for the Date constructor can be any of the following:
- Nothing: creates today's date and time. For example,
today = new Date()
- A string representing a date in the following form: "Month day, year hours:minutes:seconds". For example,
Xmas95= new Date("December 25, 1995 13:30:00")
If you omit hours, minutes, or seconds, the value will be set to zero. - A set of integer values for year, month, and day. For example,
Xmas95 = new Date(95,11,25)
- A set of values for year, month, day, hour, minute, and seconds For example,
Xmas95 = new Date(95,11,25,9,30,0)
To use date methods:
dateObj.methodName(parameters)
Exceptions: The UTC and parse methods of date are static methods that you use as follows:
Date.UTC(params) Date.parse(params)
Description
JavaScript does not have a date data type. However, the date object and its methods enable you to work with dates and times in your applications.
The date object has a large number of methods for setting, getting, and manipulating dates.
Properties
None.
Methods
- Nothing: creates today's date and time. For example,
- getDate
- getDay
- getHours
- getMinutes
- getMonth
- getSeconds
- getTime
- getTimeZoneoffset
- getYear
- parse
- setDate
- setHours
- setMinutes
- setMonth
- setSeconds
- setYear
- toString
- toGMTString
- toLocaleString
- UTC
Event handlers
None. Built-in objects do not have event handlers.
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- xxx to be supplied
document object (client)
The document object contains information on the current document.
Syntax
To define a document object, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onLoad and onUnLoad event handlers:
<BODY BACKGROUND="backgroundImage" BGCOLOR="#backgroundColor" FGCOLOR="#foregroundColor" LINK="#unfollowedLinkColor" ALINK="#activatedLinkColor" VLINK="#followedLinkColor" [onLoad="handlerText"] [onUnLoad="handlerText"]> </BODY>
BGCOLOR, FGCOLOR, LINK, ALINK, and VLINK are color names or color specifications in the format "#rrggbb".
Description
The <BODY>...</BODY> tag encloses an entire document, which is defined by the current URL. The entire body of the document (all other HTML elements for the document) goes within the <BODY>...</BODY> tag.
You can reference the anchors, forms, and links of a document by using the anchors, forms, and links properties. These properties are arrays that contain an entry for each anchor, form, or link in a document.
The document object's title property reflects the contents of <TITLE>...</TITLE>. Other properties reflect the contents of the document; for example, bgColor reflects the background color, and lastModified reflects the time last modified. Some of the properties are reflections from HTML attributes; for example, the links property is a reflection of all the links in the document, and the forms property is a reflection of all the forms in the document.
Properties
- alinkColor
- anchors
- bgColor
- fgColor
- forms
- lastModified
- linkColor
- links
- loadedDate
- location
- referrer
- title
- vlinkColor
Methods
- clear
- close
- open
- write
- writeln
Event handlers
- onLoad
- onUnLoad
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- window object
form object (client)
A form lets users input text and make choices from form objects such as checkboxes, radio buttons, and selection lists. You can also use a form to post data to or retrieve data from a server.
Syntax
To define a form, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onSubmit event handler:
<FORM NAME="objectName TARGET="windowName" ACTION="serverURL" METHOD=GET | POST [onSubmit="handlerText"]> </FORM>
TARGET specifies the window that form responses go to. When you submit a form with a TARGET attribute, instead of seeing the server's responses in the same window that contained the form, you see them in a (possibly new) window.
ACTION specifies the URL of the server to which form field input information is sent. METHOD specifies how information is sent to the server specified by ACTION. GET (the default) appends the input information to the URL which on most receiving systems becomes the value of the environment variable QUERY_STRING. POST sends the input information in a data body which is available on stdin with the data length set in the environment variable CONTENT_LENGTH.Description
Each form in a document corresponds to a distinct object.
You can reference the form objects in your code by using the forms property of the document object. The forms property is an array that contains an entry for each form in a document.
You can reference a form's elements in your code by using the elements property. The elements property is an array that contains an entry for each element (such as a checkbox, radioButton, or text object) in a form.
Properties
- action
- elements
- method
- name
- target
Methods
- submit
Event handlers
- onSubmit
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- elements, forms properties
history object (client)
The history object contains information on the URLs that the client has visited. This information is stored in a history list, and is accessible through the Navigator's Go menu.
Syntax
history.go(delta)
delta is an integer representing the offset of the destination URL in the history list.Description
The history object is a linked list of URLs the user has visited, as shown in the Navigator's Go menu.
Properties
- current
- length
Methods
- back
- forward
- go
Event handlers
None.
Examples
The following example goes to the URL the user visited three clicks ago.
history.go(-3)
See also
- xxx to be supplied
link object (client)
A link is a piece of text identified as a hypertext link. When the user clicks the link text, the link hypertext reference is loaded into its target window.
Syntax
To define a link, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onClick and onMouseOver event handlers:
<A HREF=locationOrURL TARGET="windowName" [onClick="handlerText"] [onMouseOver="handlerText"]> linkText </A>
HREF identifies a destination anchor or URL.
TARGET specifies the window that the link is loaded into.
linkText is rendered as a hypertext link to the URL.Description
Each link object is a location object.
You can reference the link objects in your code by using the links property of the document object. The links property is an array that contains an entry for each link in a document.
Properties
- target
Methods
- xxx to be supplied
Event handlers
- onClick
- onMouseOver
Examples
The following example creates a hypertext link to an anchor named javascript_intro.
&amp;lt;A HREF=&amp;quot;#javascript_intro&amp;quot; _fcksavedurl=&amp;quot;#javascript_intro&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Introduction to JavaScript&amp;lt;/A&amp;gt;
The following example creates a hypertext link to a URL.
&amp;lt;A HREF=&amp;quot;http://www.netscape.com&amp;quot; _fcksavedurl=&amp;quot;http://www.netscape.com&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Netscape Home Page&amp;lt;/A&amp;gt;
See also
- anchor object
- links property
location object (client)
The location object contains information on the current URL.
Syntax
location.property
property is one of the properties listed below.Description
xxx to be supplied
Properties
- hash
- host
- hostname
- href
- pathname
- port
- protocol
- search
Methods
- assign
- toString
Event handlers
None.
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- xxx to be supplied
Math object (common)
The built-in Math object has properties and methods for mathematical constants and functions. For example, the Math object's PI property has the value of pi.
Syntax
Math.propertyName or Math.methodName(parameters)
Description
You reference the constant PI as Math.PI. Constants are defined with the full precision of real numbers in JavaScript.
Similarly, you reference Math functions as methods. For example, the sine function is Math.sin(argument), where argument is the argument.
It is often convenient to use the with statement when a section of code uses several Math constants and methods, so you don't have to type "Math" repeatedly. For example,
with Math { a = PI * r*r; y = r*sin(theta) x = r*cos(theta) }
Properties
- E
- LN10
- LN2
- PI
- SQRT1_2
- SQRT2
Methods
- abs
- acos
- asin
- atan
- ceil
- cos
- exp
- floor
- log
- max
- min
- pow
- random
- round
- sin
- sqrt
- tan
Event handlers
None. Built-in objects do not have event handlers.
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- xxx to be supplied
password object (client)
A password object is a text field on an HTML form. When the user enters text into the field, asterisks (*) hide anything entered from view.
Syntax
To define a password object, use standard HTML syntax:
<INPUT TYPE="password" NAME="objectName" [VALUE="textValue"] SIZE=integer
Description
xxx to be supplied
Properties
- defaultValue
- name
- value
Methods
- focus
- blur
- select
Event handlers
None.
Examples
&amp;lt;B&amp;gt;Password:&amp;lt;/B&amp;gt; &amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;password&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;password&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;&amp;quot; SIZE=25&amp;gt;
See also
- xxx to be supplied
radioButton object (client)
A radioButton object is a set of radio buttons on an HTML form. A set of radio buttons lets the user choose one item from a list.
Syntax
To define a set of radio buttons, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onClick event handler:
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="objectName" VALUE="buttonValue" [CHECKED] [onClick="handlerText"]> textToDisplay
NAME should contain the same value for all radio buttons in a group.
Description
All radio buttons in a radio button group use the same name property. To access the individual radio buttons in your code, follow the object name with an index starting from zero, one for each button the same way you would for an array such as forms: document.forms[0].objectName[0] is the first, document.forms[0].objectName[1] is the second, etc.
Properties
- checked
- defaultChecked
- index
- length
- name
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onClick
Examples
The following example defines a radio button group to choose among three catalogs. Each radio button is given the same name, NAME="choice", forming a group of buttons for which only one choice can be selected. The example also defines a text field that defaults to what was chosen via the radio buttons but that allows the user to type a nonstandard catalog name as well. JavaScript automatically sets the catalog name input field based on the radio buttons.
&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;text&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;catalog&amp;quot; SIZE=&amp;quot;20&amp;quot;&amp;gt; &amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;radio&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;choice&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;PRICEY&amp;quot; onClick=&amp;quot;form.catalog.value = 'top-of-the-line'&amp;quot;&amp;gt; It's really great! &amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;radio&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;choice&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;MODEST&amp;quot; onClick=&amp;quot;form.catalog.value = 'middle-of-the-road'&amp;quot;&amp;gt; It's pretty good. &amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;radio&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;choice&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;CHEAPO&amp;quot; onClick=&amp;quot;form.catalog.value = 'bargain-basement'&amp;quot;&amp;gt; It stinks!
See also
- selection object
reset object (client)
A reset object is a reset button on an HTML form.
Syntax
To define a reset button, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onClick event handler:
<INPUT [NAME="objectName"] TYPE="reset" VALUE="buttonText" [onClick="handlerText"]>
VALUE specifies the text to display on the button face and can be accessed using the value property.Description
A reset button resets all elements in a form to their defaults.
Properties
- name
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onClick
Examples
The following example displays a text object containing "CA". If the user types a different state abbreviation in the text object and then clicks the Clear Form button, the original value of "CA" is restored.
&amp;lt;B&amp;gt;State: &amp;lt;/B&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;text&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;state&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;CA&amp;quot; SIZE=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt; &amp;lt;P&amp;gt;&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;reset&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;Clear Form&amp;quot;&amp;gt;
See also
- button and submit objects
selection object (client)
A selection object is a selection list or scrolling list on an HTML form. A selection list lets the user choose one item from a list. A scrolling list lets the user choose one or more items from a list.
Syntax
To define a selection object, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onBlur, onChange, and onFocus event handlers:
<SELECT NAME="objectName" [SIZE="value"] [MULTIPLE] [onBlur="handlerText"] [onChange="handlerText"] [onFocus="handlerText"]> <OPTION [SELECTED]> textToDisplay [ ... <OPTION> textToDisplay] </SELECT>
SIZE specifies the number of options visible when the form is displayed.
Description
You can reference the options of a selection object in your code by using the options property. The options property is an array that contains an entry for each option in a selection object. Each option has the properties listed below.
The options on selection objects can be updated dynamically. xxx NYI.
Properties
The selection object has the following properties:
- options
- selectedIndex
The options property has the following properties:
- defaultSelected
- index
- selected
- text
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onBlur
- onChange
- onFocus
Examples
The following example displays a selection list.
Choose the music type for your free CD: &amp;lt;SELECT NAME=&amp;quot;music_type_single&amp;quot;&amp;gt; &amp;lt;OPTION SELECTED&amp;gt; R&amp;amp;B &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; Jazz &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; Blues &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; New Age&amp;lt;/SELECT&amp;gt; &amp;lt;P&amp;gt;Choose the music types for your free CDs: &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;SELECT NAME=&amp;quot;music_type_multi&amp;quot; MULTIPLE&amp;gt; &amp;lt;OPTION SELECTED&amp;gt; R&amp;amp;B &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; Jazz &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; Blues &amp;lt;OPTION&amp;gt; New Age&amp;lt;/SELECT&amp;gt;
See also
- radioButton object
- options property
string object (common)
A string object consists of a series of characters.
Syntax
stringName.property|method
stringName is the name of a string variable.
property is one of the properties listed below.
method is one of the methods listed below.Description
A string can be represented as a literal enclosed by single or double quotes; for example, "Netscape" or 'Netscape'.
Properties
- length
Methods
- anchor
- big
- blink
- bold
- charAt
- fixed
- fontcolor
- fontsize
- indexOf
- italics
- lastIndexOf
- link
- small
- strike
- sub
- substring
- sup
- toLowerCase
- toUpperCase
Event handlers
None. Built-in objects do not have event handlers.
Examples
The following statement creates a string variable.
var last_name = &amp;quot;Schaefer&amp;quot;
last_name.length is 8.
last_name.toUpperCase() is "SCHAEFER".
last_name.toLowerCase() is "schaefer".See also
- text and textArea objects
submit object (client)
A submit object is a submit button on an HTML form.
Syntax
To define a submit button, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onClick event handler:
<INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="objectName" VALUE="buttonText" [onClick="handlerText"]>
VALUE specifies the text to display on the button face and can be accessed using the value property.Description
A submit button causes a form to be submitted.
Clicking a submit button submits a form to the program specified by the form's action property. This action always loads a new page into the client; it may be the same as the current page, if the action so specifies or is not specified.
Properties
- name
- value
Methods
- click
Event handlers
- onClick
Examples
&amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;submit&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;submit_button&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;Done&amp;quot;&amp;gt;
See also
- reset and button objects
text object (client)
A text object is a text input field on an HTML form. A text field lets the user enter a word, phrase, or series of numbers.
Syntax
To define a text object, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onBlur, on Change, onFocus, and onSelect event handlers:
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="objectName" VALUE="textValue" SIZE=integer [onBlur="handlerText"] [onChange="handlerText"] [onFocus="handlerText"] [onSelect="handlerText"]>
Description
text objects can be updated dynamically by setting this.value
xxx to be supplied
Properties
- defaultValue
- name
- value
Methods
- focus
- blur
- select
Event handlers
- onBlur
- onChange
- onFocus
- onSelect
Examples
&amp;lt;B&amp;gt;Last name:&amp;lt;/B&amp;gt; &amp;lt;INPUT TYPE=&amp;quot;text&amp;quot; NAME=&amp;quot;last_name&amp;quot; VALUE=&amp;quot;&amp;quot; SIZE=25&amp;gt;
See also
- textArea and string objects
textArea object (client)
A textArea object is a multiline input field on an HTML form. A textArea field lets the user enter words, phrases, or numbers.
Syntax
To define a text area, use standard HTML syntax with the addition of the onBlur, onChange, onFocus, and onSelect event handlers:
<TEXTAREA NAME="objectName" ROWS="integer" COLS="integer" [onBlur="handlerText"] [onChange="handlerText"] [onFocus="handlerText"] [onSelect="handlerText"]> textToDisplay </TEXTAREA>
textToDisplay allows only ASCII text, and new lines are respected.
ROWS and COLS define the physical size of the displayed input field in numbers of characters.Description
textArea objects can be updated dynamically. xxx need to explain how. (see text object)
Properties
- defaultValue
- name
- value
Methods
- focus
- blur
- select
Event handlers
- onBlur
- onChange
- onFocus
- onSelect
Examples
&amp;lt;B&amp;gt;Description:&amp;lt;/B&amp;gt; &amp;lt;BR&amp;gt;&amp;lt;TEXTAREA NAME=&amp;quot;item_description&amp;quot; ROWS=6 COLS=55&amp;gt; Our storage ottoman provides an attractive way to store lots of CDs and videos--and it's versatile enough to store other things as well. It can hold up to 72 CDs under the lid and 20 videos in the drawer below. &amp;lt;/TEXTAREA&amp;gt;
See also
- text and string objects
window object (client)
A window object is the top-level object for each document, location, and history object group.
Syntax
xxx to be suppliedDescription
The window object is the top-level object in the JavaScript client hierarchy. Because the existence of the current window is assumed, you don't have to reference the name of the window when you call its methods and assign its properties. For example, status="Jump to a new location" is a valid property assignment, and close() is a valid method call.
The self and window properties are synonyms for the current window, and you can optionally use them to refer to the current window. For example, you can close the current window by calling either window.close() or self.close(). You can use these properties to make your code more readable, or to disambiguate the property assignment self.status from a form called status.
See the methods and properties listed below for more examples.
You can reference a window's frame objects in your code by using the frames property. The frames property is an array that contains an entry for each frame in a window.
Properties
- frames
- parent
- self
- top
- status
- defaultStatus
Methods
- alert
- close
- confirm
- open
- prompt
- setTimeout
- clearTimeout
Event handlers
- onLoad
- onUnload
Examples
xxx to be supplied
See also
- document object
- frames property