Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, 3rd Edition

Chapter 7. DOM Property Index

Entries in the following index are arranged alphabetically by scriptable object properties. Look up a property to find out which objects support it. You need to be aware, however, of what support means within the context of the way that browser makers and the W3C DOM specify the inner workings of their models using object-oriented approaches. For example, the list of objects that “support” the style property includes several nonrendered HTML element objects, such as head and meta. Inside the browsers, many properties are defined for a generic HTML element, and all elements, regardless of their purpose, inherit those properties. Clearly, reading or writing style-related properties of nonrendered elements is a waste of time in actual development; but because these element objects expose the style property, they appear in that property’s list. Omitting this information here could cause equally serious problems for scripters who write object- and property-detection scripts. It’s better to know that a property is defined (that is, its value type isn’t undefined) for a particular object than to be misled into thinking that its omission means that the property is undefined for the object.

The listing below is a union of properties defined for document and browser objects in Internet Explorer, pre-Mozilla Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, Safari, Opera, Web Forms 2.0, and implemented objects from the W3C DOM Levels 2 and 3. (The exception to this rule is that event ...