book

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Name: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition
Author: David Flanagan
ISBN: 9780596101992

by David Flanagan

August 2006

Intermediate to advanced

1018 pages

34h 13m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
Dedication
Preface
What’s New in the Fifth EditionUsing This BookConventions Used in This BookUsing Code ExamplesSafari® EnabledHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
1. Introduction to JavaScript
1.1. What Is JavaScript?1.1.1. JavaScript Is Not Java1.1.2. JavaScript Is Not Simple1.2. Versions of JavaScript1.3. Client-Side JavaScript1.3.1. Client-Side JavaScript Examples1.4. JavaScript in Other Contexts1.5. Exploring JavaScript
I. Core JavaScript
2. Lexical Structure
2.1. Character Set2.2. Case Sensitivity2.3. Whitespace and Line Breaks2.4. Optional Semicolons2.5. Comments2.6. Literals2.7. Identifiers2.8. Reserved Words
3. Datatypes and Values
3.1. Numbers3.1.1. Integer Literals3.1.2. Hexadecimal and Octal Literals3.1.3. Floating-Point Literals3.1.4. Working with Numbers3.1.5. Numeric Conversions3.1.6. Special Numeric Values3.2. Strings3.2.1. String Literals3.2.2. Escape Sequences in String Literals3.2.3. Working with Strings3.2.4. Converting Numbers to Strings3.2.5. Converting Strings to Numbers3.3. Boolean Values3.3.1. Boolean Type Conversions3.4. Functions3.4.1. Function Literals3.5. Objects3.5.1. Creating Objects3.5.2. Object Literals3.5.3. Object Conversions3.6. Arrays3.6.1. Creating Arrays3.6.2. Array Literals3.7. null3.8. undefined3.9. The Date Object3.10. Regular Expressions3.11. Error Objects3.12. Type Conversion Summary3.13. Primitive Datatype Wrapper Objects3.14. Object-to-Primitive Conversion3.15. By Value Versus by Reference3.15.1. Primitive Types and Reference Types3.15.2. Copying and Passing Strings3.15.3. Comparing Strings3.15.4. By Value Versus by Reference: Summary
4. Variables
4.1. Variable Typing4.2. Variable Declaration4.2.1. Repeated and Omitted Declarations4.3. Variable Scope4.3.1. No Block Scope4.3.2. Undefined Versus Unassigned4.4. Primitive Types and Reference Types4.5. Garbage Collection4.6. Variables as Properties4.6.1. The Global Object4.6.2. Local Variables: The Call Object4.6.3. JavaScript Execution Contexts4.7. Variable Scope Revisited
5. Expressions and Operators
5.1. Expressions5.2. Operator Overview5.2.1. Number of Operands5.2.2. Type of Operands5.2.3. Operator Precedence5.2.4. Operator Associativity5.3. Arithmetic Operators5.4. Equality Operators5.4.1. Equality (==) and Identity (===)5.4.2. Inequality (!=) and Nonidentity (!==)5.5. Relational Operators5.5.1. Comparison Operators5.5.2. The in Operator5.5.3. The instanceof Operator5.6. String Operators5.7. Logical Operators5.7.1. Logical AND (&&)5.7.2. Logical OR (||)5.7.3. Logical NOT (!)5.8. Bitwise Operators5.9. Assignment Operators5.9.1. Assignment with Operation5.10. Miscellaneous Operators5.10.1. The Conditional Operator (?:)5.10.2. The typeof Operator5.10.3. The Object-Creation Operator (new)5.10.4. The delete Operator5.10.5. The void Operator5.10.6. The Comma Operator (,)5.10.7. Array and Object Access Operators5.10.8. The Function Call Operator
6. Statements
6.1. Expression Statements6.2. Compound Statements6.3. if6.4. else if6.5. switch6.6. while6.7. do/while6.8. for6.9. for/in6.10. Labels6.11. break6.12. continue6.13. var6.14. function6.15. return6.16. throw6.17. try/catch/finally6.18. with6.19. The Empty Statement6.20. Summary of JavaScript Statements

7. Objects and Arrays
7.1. Creating Objects7.2. Object Properties7.2.1. Enumerating Properties7.2.2. Checking Property Existence7.2.3. Deleting Properties7.3. Objects as Associative Arrays7.4. Universal Object Properties and Methods7.4.1. The constructor Property7.4.2. The toString() Method7.4.3. The toLocaleString() Method7.4.4. The valueOf() Method7.4.5. The hasOwnProperty() Method7.4.6. The propertyIsEnumerable() Method7.4.7. The isPrototypeOf() Method7.5. Arrays7.6. Reading and Writing Array Elements7.6.1. Adding New Elements to an Array7.6.2. Deleting Array Elements7.6.3. Array Length7.6.4. Iterating Through Arrays7.6.5. Truncating and Enlarging Arrays7.6.6. Multidimensional Arrays7.7. Array Methods7.7.1. join()7.7.2. reverse()7.7.3. sort()7.7.4. concat()7.7.5. slice()7.7.6.. splice()7.7.7. push() and pop()7.7.8. unshift() and shift()7.7.9. toString() and toLocaleString()7.7.10. Array Extras7.8. Array-Like Objects
8. Functions
8.1. Defining and Invoking Functions8.1.1. Nested Functions8.1.2. Function Literals8.1.3. Naming Functions8.2. Function Arguments8.2.1. Optional Arguments8.2.2. Variable-Length Argument Lists: The Arguments Object8.2.2.1. The callee Property8.2.3. Using Object Properties as Arguments8.2.4. Argument Types8.3. Functions as Data8.4. Functions as Methods8.5. Constructor Functions8.6. Function Properties and Methods8.6.1. The length Property8.6.2. The prototype Property8.6.3. Defining Your Own Function Properties8.6.4. The apply() and call() Methods8.7. Utility Function Examples8.8. Function Scope and Closures8.8.1. Lexical Scoping8.8.2. The Call Object8.8.3. The Call Object as a Namespace8.8.4. Nested Functions as Closures8.8.4.1. Closure examples8.8.4.2. Closures and memory leaks in Internet Explorer8.9. The Function() Constructor
9. Classes, Constructors, and Prototypes
9.1. Constructors9.2. Prototypes and Inheritance9.2.1. Reading and Writing Inherited Properties9.2.2. Extending Built-in Types9.3. Simulating Classes in JavaScript9.3.1. Instance Properties9.3.2. Instance Methods9.3.2.1. Instance methods and this9.3.3. Class Properties9.3.4. Class Methods9.3.5. Example: A Circle Class9.3.6. Example: Complex Numbers9.3.7. Private Members9.4. Common Object Methods9.4.1. The toString( ) Method9.4.2. The valueOf( ) Method9.4.3. Comparison Methods9.5. Superclasses and Subclasses9.5.1. Constructor Chaining9.5.2. Invoking Overridden Methods9.6. Extending Without Inheriting9.7. Determining Object Type9.7.1. instanceof and constructor9.7.2. Object.toString( ) for Object Typing9.7.3. Duck Typing9.8. Example: A defineClass( ) Utility Method
10. Modules and Namespaces
10.1. Creating Modules and Namespaces10.1.1. Testing the Availability of a Module10.1.2. Classes as Modules10.1.3. Module Initialization Code10.2. Importing Symbols from Namespaces10.2.1. Public and Private Symbols10.2.2. Closures as Private Namespace and Scope10.3. Module Utilities
11. Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
11.1. Defining Regular Expressions11.1.1. Literal Characters11.1.2. Character Classes11.1.3. Repetition11.1.3.1. Nongreedy repetition11.1.4. Alternation, Grouping, and References11.1.5. Specifying Match Position11.1.6. Flags11.1.7. Perl RegExp Features Not Supported in JavaScript11.2. String Methods for Pattern Matching11.3. The RegExp Object11.3.1. RegExp Methods for Pattern Matching11.3.2. RegExp Instance Properties
12. Scripting Java
12.1. Embedding JavaScript12.1.1. Type Conversion with javax.script12.1.2. Compiling Scripts12.1.3. Invoking JavaScript Functions12.1.4. Implementing Interfaces in JavaScript12.2. Scripting Java12.2.1. The JavaPackage Class12.2.2. The JavaClass Class12.2.3. Importing Packages and Classes12.2.4. The JavaObject Class12.2.5. Java Methods12.2.5.1. Property accessor methods12.2.5.2. Overloaded methods12.2.6. The JavaArray Class12.2.6.1. Creating Java arrays12.2.7. Implementing Interfaces with LiveConnect12.2.8. LiveConnect Data Conversion12.2.8.1. JavaScript conversion of JavaObjects
II. Client-Side JavaScript
13. JavaScript in Web Browsers
13.1. The Web Browser Environment13.1.1. The Window as Global Execution Context13.1.2. The Client-Side Object Hierarchy and the DOM13.1.3. The Event-Driven Programming Model13.1.4. The Role of JavaScript on the Web13.1.5. Unobtrusive JavaScript13.2. Embedding Scripts in HTML13.2.1. The <script> Tag13.2.2. Scripts in External Files13.2.3. Specifying the Scripting Language13.2.4. The defer Attribute13.2.5. The <noscript> Tag13.2.6. The </script> Tag13.2.7. Hiding Scripts from Old Browsers13.2.8. Nonstandard Script Attributes13.3. Event Handlers in HTML13.4. JavaScript in URLs13.4.1. Bookmarklets13.5. Execution of JavaScript Programs13.5.1. Executing Scripts13.5.2. The onload Event Handler13.5.3. Event Handlers and JavaScript URLs13.5.4. The onunload Event Handler13.5.5. The Window Object as Execution Context13.5.6. Client-Side JavaScript Threading Model13.5.7. Manipulating the Document During Loading13.6. Client-Side Compatibility13.6.1. The History of Incompatibility13.6.2. A Word about “Modern Browsers”13.6.3. Feature Testing13.6.4. Browser Testing13.6.5. Conditional Comments in Internet Explorer13.7. Accessibility13.8. JavaScript Security13.8.1. What JavaScript Can’t Do13.8.2. The Same-Origin Policy13.8.3. Scripting Plug-ins and ActiveX Controls13.8.4. Cross-Site Scripting13.8.5. Denial-of-Service Attacks13.9. Other Web-Related JavaScript Embeddings
14. Scripting Browser Windows
14.1. Timers14.2. Browser Location and History14.2.1. Parsing URLs14.2.2. Loading New Documents14.2.3. The History Object14.3. Obtaining Window, Screen, and Browser Information14.3.1. Window Geometry14.3.2. The Screen Object14.3.3. The Navigator Object14.4. Opening and Manipulating Windows14.4.1. Opening Windows14.4.2. Closing Windows14.4.3. Window Geometry14.4.4. Keyboard Focus and Visibility14.4.5. Scrolling14.4.6. Window Methods Example14.5. Simple Dialog Boxes14.6. Scripting the Status Line14.7. Error Handling14.8. Multiple Windows and Frames14.8.1. Relationships Between Frames14.8.2. Window and Frame Names14.8.3. JavaScript in Interacting Windows14.9. Example: A Navigation Bar in a Frame
15. Scripting Documents
15.1. Dynamic Document Content15.2. Document Properties15.3. Legacy DOM: Document Object Collections15.3.1. Naming Document Objects15.3.2. Event Handlers on Document Objects15.3.3. Legacy DOM Example15.4. Overview of the W3C DOM15.4.1. Representing Documents as Trees15.4.2. Nodes15.4.2.1. Types of nodes15.4.2.2. Attributes15.4.3. The DOM HTML API15.4.3.1. HTML naming conventions15.4.4. DOM Levels and Features15.4.5. DOM Conformance15.4.5.1. DOM conformance in Internet Explorer15.4.6. Language-Independent DOM Interfaces15.5. Traversing a Document15.6. Finding Elements in a Document15.7. Modifying a Document15.7.1. Modifying Attributes15.7.2. Working with Document Fragments15.8. Adding Content to a Document15.8.1. Convenience Methods for Creating Nodes15.8.2. The innerHTML Property15.9. Example: A Dynamically Created Table of Contents15.10. Querying Selected Text15.11. The IE 4 DOM15.11.1. Traversing a Document15.11.2. Finding Document Elements15.11.3. Modifying Documents
16. Cascading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML
16.1. Overview of CSS16.1.1. Applying Style Rules to Document Elements16.1.2. Associating Stylesheets with Documents16.1.3. The Cascade16.1.4. Versions of CSS16.1.5. CSS Example16.2. CSS for DHTML16.2.1. The Key to DHTML: Absolute Positioning16.2.2. CSS Positioning Example: Shadowed Text16.2.3. Querying Element Position and Size16.2.4. The Third Dimension: z-index16.2.5. Element Display and Visibility16.2.6. The CSS Box Model and Positioning Details16.2.6.1. Internet Explorer quirks16.2.7. Color, Transparency, and Translucency16.2.8. Partial Visibility: overflow and clip16.2.9. Example: Overlapping Translucent Windows16.3. Scripting Inline Styles16.3.1. Naming Conventions: CSS Attributes in JavaScript16.3.2. Working with Style Properties16.3.3. Example: CSS Tool Tips16.3.4. DHTML Animations16.4. Scripting Computed Styles16.5. Scripting CSS Classes16.6. Scripting Stylesheets16.6.1. Enabling and Disabling Stylesheets16.6.2. Stylesheet Objects and Stylesheet Rules
17. Events and Event Handling
17.1. Basic Event Handling17.1.1. Events and Event Types17.1.1.1. Device-dependent and device-independent events17.1.2. Event Handlers as Attributes17.1.3. Event Handlers as Properties17.1.3.1. Explicitly invoking event handlers17.1.4. Event Handler Return Values17.1.5. Event Handlers and the this Keyword17.1.6. Scope of Event Handlers17.2. Advanced Event Handling with DOM Level 217.2.1. Event Propagation17.2.2. Event Handler Registration17.2.3. addEventListener( ) and the this Keyword17.2.4. Registering Objects as Event Handlers17.2.5. Event Modules and Event Types17.2.6. Event Interfaces and Event Details17.2.6.1. Event17.2.6.2. UIEvent17.2.6.3. MouseEvent17.2.7. Mixing Event Models17.3. The Internet Explorer Event Model17.3.1. The IE Event Object17.3.2. The IE Event Object as a Global Variable17.3.3. IE Event-Handler Registration17.3.4. Event Bubbling in IE17.3.5. Capturing Mouse Events17.3.6. attachEvent( ) and the this Keyword17.3.7. Event Handlers and Memory Leaks17.3.8. Example: Event Model Compatibility for IE17.4. Mouse Events17.4.1. Converting Mouse Coordinates17.4.2. Example: Dragging Document Elements17.5. Key Events17.5.1. Types of Key Events17.5.2. Key Event Details17.5.3. Filtering Keyboard Input17.5.4. Keyboard Shortcuts with a Keymap17.6. The onload Event17.7. Synthetic Events
18. Forms and Form Elements
18.1. The Form Object18.2. Defining Form Elements18.3. Scripting Form Elements18.3.1. Naming Forms and Form Elements18.3.2. Form Element Properties18.3.3. Form Element Event Handlers18.3.4. Push Buttons18.3.5. Toggle Buttons18.3.6. Text Fields18.3.7. Select and Option Elements18.3.8. Hidden Elements18.3.9. Fieldset Elements18.4. Form Verification Example
19. Cookies and Client-Side Persistence
19.1. An Overview of Cookies19.2. Storing Cookies19.2.1. Cookie Limitations19.3. Reading Cookies19.4. Cookie Example19.5. Cookie Alternatives19.5.1. IE userData Persistence19.5.1.1. Storing hierarchical data19.5.1.2. Storage limits19.5.1.3. Sharing persistent data19.5.2. Flash SharedObject Persistence19.5.2.1. Storage limits19.5.2.2. Persistent data sharing19.5.3. Example: Persistent Objects19.5.3.1. ActionScript code for Flash persistence19.6. Persistent Data and Security
20. Scripting HTTP
20.1. Using XMLHttpRequest20.1.1. Obtaining a Request Object20.1.2. Submitting a Request20.1.3. Obtaining a Synchronous Response20.1.4. Handling an Asynchronous Response20.1.4.1. Notes on readyState 320.1.5. XMLHttpRequest Security20.2. XMLHttpRequest Examples and Utilities20.1.6. Basic GET Utilities20.1.7. Getting Headers Only20.1.8. HTTP POST20.1.9. HTML, XML, and JSON-Encoded Responses20.1.10. Timing Out a Request20.3. Ajax and Dynamic Scripting20.1.11. Ajax Example20.1.12. Single-Page Applications20.1.13. Remote Scripting20.1.14. Ajax Cautions20.4. Scripting HTTP with <script> Tags
21. JavaScript and XML
21.1. Obtaining XML Documents21.1.1. Creating a New Document21.1.2. Loading a Document from the Network21.1.3. Parsing XML Text21.1.4. XML Documents from Data Islands21.2. Manipulating XML with the DOM API21.2.1. XML Versus HTML DOM21.2.2. Example: Creating an HTML Table from XML Data21.3. Transforming XML with XSLT21.4. Querying XML with XPath21.4.1. XPath Examples21.4.2. Evaluating XPath Expressions21.4.3. More on the W3C XPath API21.5. Serializing XML21.6. Expanding HTML Templates with XML Data21.7. XML and Web Services21.8. E4X: ECMAScript for XML
22. Scripted Client-Side Graphics
22.1. Scripting Images22.1.1. Images and the Level 0 DOM22.1.2. Traditional Image Rollovers22.1.3. Offscreen Images and Caching22.1.4. Unobtrusive Image Rollovers22.1.5. Image Animations22.1.6. Other Image Properties22.2. Graphics with CSS22.2.1. Bar Charts with CSS22.2.2. A CSSDrawing Class22.3. SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics22.4. VML: Vector Markup Language22.5. Graphics in a <canvas>22.6. Graphics with Flash22.7. Graphics with Java22.7.1. Pie Charts with Java22.7.2. Client-Side Sparkline Images with Java
23. Scripting Java Applets and Flash Movies
23.1. Scripting Applets23.2. Scripting the Java Plug-in23.3. Scripting with Java23.3.1. Compiling and Deploying Applets That Use JSObject23.3.2. Java-to-JavaScript Data Conversion23.3.3. The Common DOM API23.4. Scripting Flash23.4.1. Embedding and Accessing Flash Movies23.4.2. Controlling the Flash Player23.4.3. Scripting Flash Movies23.4.4. Calling JavaScript from Flash23.4.5. Example: Flash to JavaScript, and Back to Flash23.5. Scripting Flash 8
III. Core JavaScript Reference
24. Core JavaScript Reference
Sample Entry: how to read these reference pages — Availability: Inherits from
arguments[ ]: an array of function arguments — ECMAScript v1
Arguments: arguments and other properties of a function — ECMAScript v1: Object → Arguments
Arguments.callee: the function that is currently running — ECMAScript v1
Arguments.length: the number of arguments passed to a function — ECMAScript v1
Array: built-in support for arrays — ECMAScript v1: Object → Array
Array.concat( ): concatenate arrays — ECMAScript v3
Array.join( ): concatenate array elements to form a string — ECMAScript v1
Array.length: the size of an array — ECMAScript v1
Array.pop( ): remove and return the last element of an array — ECMAScript v3
Array.push( ): append elements to an array — ECMAScript v3
Array.reverse( ): reverse the elements of an array — ECMAScript v1
Array.shift( ): shift array elements down — ECMAScript v3
Array.slice( ): return a portion of an array — ECMAScript v3
Array.sort( ): sort the elements of an array — ECMAScript v1
Array.splice( ): insert, remove, or replace array elements — ECMAScript v3
Array.toLocaleString( ): convert an array to a localized string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toLocaleString( )
Array.toString( ): convert an array to a string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toString( )
Array.unshift( ): insert elements at the beginning of an array — ECMAScript v3
Boolean: support for boolean values — ECMAScript v1: Object → Boolean
Boolean.toString( ): convert a boolean value to a string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toString( )
Boolean.valueOf( ): the boolean value of a Boolean object — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.valueOf( )
Date: manipulate dates and times — ECMAScript v1: Object → Date
Date.getDate( ): return the day-of-the-month field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getDay( ): return the day-of-the-week field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getFullYear( ): return the year field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getHours( ): return the hours field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getMilliseconds( ): return the milliseconds field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getMinutes( ): return the minutes field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getMonth( ): return the month field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getSeconds( ): return the seconds field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.getTime( ): return a Date in milliseconds — ECMAScript v1
Date.getTimezoneOffset( ): determine the offset from GMT — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCDate( ): return the day-of-the-month field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCDay( ): return the day-of-the-week field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCFullYear( ): return the year field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCHours( ): return the hours field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCMilliseconds( ): return the milliseconds field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCMinutes( ): return the minutes field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCMonth( ): return the month-of-the-year field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getUTCSeconds( ): return the seconds field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.getYear( ): return the year field of a Date — ECMAScript v1; deprecated by ECMAScript v3
Date.parse( ): parse a date/time string — ECMAScript v1
Date.setDate( ): set the day-of-the-month field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setFullYear( ): set the year and, optionally, the month and date fields of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setHours( ): set the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds fields of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setMilliseconds( ): set the milliseconds field of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setMinutes( ): set the minutes, seconds, and milliseconds fields of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setMonth( ): set the month and day fields of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setSeconds( ): set the seconds and milliseconds fields of a Date — ECMAScript v1
Date.setTime( ): set a Date in milliseconds — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCDate( ): set the day-of-the-month field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCFullYear( ): set the year, month, and day fields of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCHours( ): set the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds fields of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCMilliseconds( ): set the milliseconds field of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCMinutes( ): set the minutes, seconds, and milliseconds fields of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCMonth( ): set the month and day fields of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setUTCSeconds( ): set the seconds and milliseconds fields of a Date (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.setYear( ): set the year field of a Date — ECMAScript v1; deprecated by ECMAScript v3
Date.toDateString( ): return the date portion of a Date as a string — ECMAScript v3
Date.toGMTString( ): convert a Date to a universal time string — ECMAScript v1; deprecated by ECMAScript v3
Date.toLocaleDateString( ): return the date portion of a Date as a locally formatted string — ECMAScript v3
Date.toLocaleString( ): convert a Date to a locally formatted string — ECMAScript v1
Date.toLocaleTimeString( ): return the time portion of a Date as a locally formatted string — ECMAScript v3
Date.toString( ): convert a Date to a string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toString( )
Date.toTimeString( ): return the time portion of a Date as a string — ECMAScript v3
Date.toUTCString( ): convert a Date to a string (universal time) — ECMAScript v1
Date.UTC( ): convert a Date specification to milliseconds — ECMAScript v1
Date.valueOf( ): convert a Date to millisecond representation — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.valueOf( )
decodeURI( ): unescape characters in a URI — ECMAScript v3
decodeURIComponent( ): unescape characters in a URI component — ECMAScript v3
encodeURI( ): escape characters in a URI — ECMAScript v3
encodeURIComponent( ): escape characters in a URI component — ECMAScript v3
Error: a generic exception — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error
Error.message: a human-readable error message — ECMAScript v3
Error.name: the type of an error — ECMAScript v3
Error.toString( ): convert an Error object to a string — ECMAScript v3: Overrides Object.toString( )
escape( ): encode a string — ECMAScript v1; deprecated in ECMAScript v3
eval( ): execute JavaScript code from a string — ECMAScript v1
EvalError: thrown when eval( ) is used improperly — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → EvalError
Function: a JavaScript function — ECMAScript v1: Object → Function
Function.apply( ): invoke a function as a method of an object — ECMAScript v3
Function.arguments[]: arguments passed to a function — ECMAScript v1; deprecated by ECMAScript v3
Function.call( ): invoke a function as a method of an object — ECMAScript v3
Function.caller: the function that called this one — JavaScript 1.0; deprecated by ECMAScript
Function.length: the number of declared arguments — ECMAScript v1
Function.prototype: the prototype for a class of objects — ECMAScript v1
Function.toString( ): convert a function to a string — ECMAScript v1
getClass( ): return the JavaClass of a JavaObject — LiveConnect
Global: the global object — ECMAScript v1: Object → Global
Infinity: a numeric property that represents infinity — ECMAScript v1
isFinite( ): determine whether a number is finite — ECMAScript v1
isNaN( ): check for not-a-number — ECMAScript v1
java: the JavaPackage for the java.* package hierarchy — LiveConnect
JavaArray: JavaScript representation of a Java array — LiveConnect
JavaClass: JavaScript representation of a Java class — LiveConnect
JavaObject: JavaScript representation of a Java object — LiveConnect
JavaPackage: JavaScript representation of a Java package — LiveConnect
JSObject: see JSObject in Part IV
Math: mathematical functions and constants — ECMAScript v1
Math.abs( ): compute an absolute value — ECMAScript v1
Math.acos( ): compute an arccosine — ECMAScript v1
Math.asin( ): compute an arcsine — ECMAScript v1
Math.atan( ): compute an arctangent — ECMAScript v1
Math.atan2( ): compute the angle from the X axis to a point — ECMAScript v1
Math.ceil( ): round a number up — ECMAScript v1
Math.cos( ): compute a cosine — ECMAScript v1
Math.E: the mathematical constant ‘e’ — ECMAScript v1
Math.exp( ): compute ‘e’x — ECMAScript v1
Math.floor( ): round a number down — ECMAScript v1
Math.LN10: the mathematical constant loge2 — ECMAScript v1
Math.LN2: the mathematical constant loge10 — ECMAScript v1
Math.log( ): compute a natural logarithm — ECMAScript v1
Math.LOG10E: the mathematical constant log2 e — ECMAScript v1
Math.LOG2E: the mathematical constant log10 e — ECMAScript v1
Math.max( ): return the largest argument — ECMAScript v1; enhanced in ECMAScript v3
Math.min( ): return the smallest argument — ECMAScript v1; enhanced in ECMAScript v3
Math.PI: the mathematical constant π — ECMAScript v1
Math.pow( ): compute ‘x’y — ECMAScript v1
Math.random( ): return a pseudorandom number — ECMAScript v1
Math.round( ): round to the nearest integer — ECMAScript v1
Math.sin( ): compute a sine — ECMAScript v1
Math.sqrt( ): compute a square root — ECMAScript v1
Math.SQRT1_2: the mathematical constant 1/␁ — ECMAScript v1
Math.SQRT2: the mathematical constant ␁ — ECMAScript v1
Math.tan( ): compute a tangent — ECMAScript v1
NaN: the not-a-number property — ECMAScript v1
Number: support for numbers — ECMAScript v1: Object → Number
Number.MAX_VALUE: the maximum numeric value — ECMAScript v1
Number.MIN_VALUE: the minimum numeric value — ECMAScript v1
Number.NaN: the special not-a-number value — ECMAScript v1
Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY: negative infinity — ECMAScript v1
Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY: infinity — ECMAScript v1
Number.toExponential( ): format a number using exponential notation — ECMAScript v3
Number.toFixed( ): format a number using fixed-point notation — ECMAScript v3
Number.toLocaleString( ): convert a number to a locally formatted string — ECMAScript v3
Number.toPrecision( ): format the significant digits of a number — ECMAScript v3
Number.toString( ): convert a number to a string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toString( )
Number.valueOf( ): return the primitive number value — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.valueOf( )
Object: a superclass that contains features of all JavaScript objects — ECMAScript v1
Object.constructor: an object’s constructor function — ECMAScript v1
Object.hasOwnProperty( ): check whether a property is inherited — ECMAScript v3
Object.isPrototypeOf( ): is one object the prototype of another? — ECMAScript v3
Object.propertyIsEnumerable( ): will property be seen by a for/in loop? — ECMAScript v3
Object.toLocaleString( ): return an object’s localized string representation — ECMAScript v3
Object.toString( ): define an object’s string representation — ECMAScript v1
Object.valueOf( ): the primitive value of the specified object — ECMAScript v1
Packages: the root JavaPackage — LiveConnect
parseFloat( ): convert a string to a number — ECMAScript v1
parseInt( ): convert a string to an integer — ECMAScript v1
RangeError: thrown when a number is out of its legal range — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → RangeError
ReferenceError: thrown when reading a variable that does not exist — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → ReferenceError
RegExp: regular expressions for pattern matching — ECMAScript v3: Object → RegExp
RegExp.exec( ): general-purpose pattern matching — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.global: whether a regular expression matches globally — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.ignoreCase: whether a regular expression is case-insensitive — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.lastIndex: the starting position of the next match — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.source: the text of the regular expression — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.test( ): test whether a string matches a pattern — ECMAScript v3
RegExp.toString( ): convert a regular expression to a string — ECMAScript v3: Overrides Object.toString( )
String: support for strings — ECMAScript v1: Object → String
String.charAt( ): get the ‘n’th character from a string — ECMAScript v1
String.charCodeAt( ): get the ‘n’th character code from a string — ECMAScript v1
String.concat( ): concatenate strings — ECMAScript v3
String.fromCharCode( ): create a string from character encodings — ECMAScript v1
String.indexOf( ): search a string — ECMAScript v1
String.lastIndexOf( ): search a string backward — ECMAScript v1
String.length: the length of a string — ECMAScript v1
String.localeCompare( ): compare one string to another, using locale-specific ordering — ECMAScript v3
String.match( ): find one or more regular-expression matches — ECMAScript v3
String.replace( ): replace substring(s) matching a regular expression — ECMAScript v3
String.search( ): search for a regular expression — ECMAScript v3
String.slice( ): extract a substring — ECMAScript v3
String.split( ): break a string into an array of strings — ECMAScript v3
String.substr( ): extract a substring — JavaScript 1.2; deprecated
String.substring( ): return a substring of a string — ECMAScript v1
String.toLocaleLowerCase( ): convert a string to lowercase — ECMAScript v3
String.toLocaleUpperCase( ): convert a string to uppercase — ECMAScript v3
String.toLowerCase( ): convert a string to lowercase — ECMAScript v1
String.toString( ): return the string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.toString( )
String.toUpperCase( ): convert a string to uppercase — ECMAScript v1
String.valueOf( ): return the string — ECMAScript v1: Overrides Object.valueOf( )
SyntaxError: thrown to signal a syntax error — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → SyntaxError
TypeError: thrown when a value is of the wrong type — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → TypeError
undefined: the undefined value — ECMAScript v3
unescape( ): decode an escaped string — ECMAScript v1; deprecated in ECMAScript v3
URIError: thrown by URI encoding and decoding methods — ECMAScript v3: Object → Error → URIError
IV. Client-Side JavaScript Reference
25. Client-Side JavaScript Reference
Anchor: the target of a hypertext link — DOM Level 0: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Anchor
Anchor.focus( ): scroll to make the anchor location visible — DOM Level 0:
Applet: an applet embedded in a web page — DOM Level 0:
Attr: an attribute of a document element — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → Attr
Button: see Input
Canvas: an HTML element for scripted drawing — Firefox 1.5, Safari 1.3, Opera 9: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Canvas
Canvas.getContext( ): return a context for drawing on the canvas
CanvasGradient: a color gradient for use in a canvas — Firefox 1.5, Safari 1.3, Opera 9: Object → CanvasGradient
CanvasGradient.addColorStop( ): add a change of color at some point in the gradient
CanvasPattern: an image-based pattern for use in a Canvas — Firefox 1.5, Safari 1.3, Opera 9: Object → CanvasPattern
CanvasRenderingContext2D: the object used for drawing on a canvas — Firefox 1.5, Safari 1.3, Opera 9: Object → CanvasRenderingContext2D
CanvasRenderingContext2D.arc( ): add an arc to the current subpath of a canvas, using a center point and radius
CanvasRenderingContext2D.arcTo( ): add an arc of a circle to the current subpath, using tangent points and a radius
CanvasRenderingContext2D.beginPath( ): start a new collection of subpaths in a canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.bezierCurveTo( ): add a cubic Bézier curve to the current subpath
CanvasRenderingContext2D.clearRect( ): erase a rectangular area of a canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.clip( ): set the clipping path of a canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.closePath( ): closes an open subpath
CanvasRenderingContext2D.createLinearGradient( ): create a linear color gradient
CanvasRenderingContext2D.createPattern( ): create a pattern of tiled images
CanvasRenderingContext2D.createRadialGradient( ): create a radial color gradient
CanvasRenderingContext2D.drawImage( ): draw an image
CanvasRenderingContext2D.fill( ): fill the path
CanvasRenderingContext2D.fillRect( ): fill a rectangle
CanvasRenderingContext2D.globalCompositeOperation: specifies how colors are combined on the canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.lineCap: specifies how the ends of lines are rendered
CanvasRenderingContext2D.lineJoin: specifies how vertices are rendered
CanvasRenderingContext2D.lineTo( ): add a straight line to the current subpath
CanvasRenderingContext2D.miterLimit: maximum-miter-length-to-line-width ratio
CanvasRenderingContext2D.moveTo( ): sets the current position and begins a new subpath
CanvasRenderingContext2D.quadraticCurveTo( ): add a quadratic Bezier curve to the current subpath
CanvasRenderingContext2D.rect( ): add a rectangle subpath to the path
CanvasRenderingContext2D.restore( ): reset drawing state to saved values
CanvasRenderingContext2D.rotate( ): rotate the coordinate system of the canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.save( ): save a copy of the current graphics state
CanvasRenderingContext2D.scale( ): scale the user coordinate system of the canvas
CanvasRenderingContext2D.stroke( ): draw the current path
CanvasRenderingContext2D.strokeRect( ): draw a rectangle
CanvasRenderingContext2D.translate( ): translate the user coordinate system of the canvas
CDATASection: a CDATA node in an XML document — DOM Level 1 XML: Node → CharacterData → Text → CDATASection
CharacterData: common functionality for Text and Comment nodes — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → CharacterData
CharacterData.appendData( ): append a string to a Text or Comment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
CharacterData.deleteData( ): delete characters from a Text or Comment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
CharacterData.insertData( ): insert a string into a Text or Comment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
CharacterData.replaceData( ): replace characters of a Text or Comment node with a string — DOM Level 1 Core:
CharacterData.substringData( ): extract a substring from a Text or Comment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Checkbox: see Input
Comment: an HTML or XML comment — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → CharacterData → Comment
CSS2Properties: a set of CSS attributes and their values — DOM Level 2 CSS2: Object → CSS2Properties
CSSRule: a rule in a CSS stylesheet — DOM Level 2 CSS, IE 5: Object → CSSRule
CSSStyleSheet: a CSS stylesheet — DOM Level 2 CSS, IE 4: Object → CSSStyleSheet
CSSStyleSheet.addRule( ): IE-specific method to insert a rule into a stylesheet — IE 4:
CSSStyleSheet.deleteRule( ): delete a rule from a stylesheet — DOM Level 2 CSS:
CSSStyleSheet.insertRule( ): insert a rule into a stylesheet — DOM Level 2 CSS:
CSSStyleSheet.removeRule( ): IE-specific method to remove a rule from a stylesheet — IE 4:
Document: an HTML or XML document — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → Document
Document.addEventListener( ): see Element.addEventListener( )
Document.attachEvent( ): see Element.attachEvent( )
Document.createAttribute( ): create a new Attr node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createAttributeNS( ): create an Attr with a name and namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Document.createCDATASection( ): create a new CDATASection node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createComment( ): create a new Comment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createDocumentFragment( ): create a new, empty DocumentFragment node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createElement( ): create a new Element node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createElementNS( ): create a new Element node using a namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Document.createEvent( ): create an Event object — DOM Level 2 Events:
Document.createExpression( ): create an XPath expression for later evaluation — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 9:
Document.createProcessingInstruction( ): create a ProcessingInstruction node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.createRange( ): create a Range object — DOM Level 2 Range:
Document.createTextNode( ): create a new Text node — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.detachEvent( ): see Element.detachEvent( )
Document.dispatchEvent( ): see Element.dispatchEvent( )
Document.evaluate( ): evaluate an XPath expression — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 9:
Document.getElementById( ): find an element with the specified unique ID — DOM Level 2 Core:
Document.getElementsByTagName( ): return all Element nodes with the specified name — DOM Level 1 Core:
Document.getElementsByTagNameNS( ): return all Element nodes with a specified name and namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Document.importNode( ): copy a node from another document for use in this document — DOM Level 2 Core:
Document.loadXML( ): populate this Document by parsing a string of XML markup — Internet Explorer:
Document.removeEventListener( ): see Element.removeEventListener( )
DocumentFragment: adjacent nodes and their subtrees — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → DocumentFragment
DocumentType: the DTD of an XML document — DOM Level 1 XML: Node → DocumentType
DOMException: signal exceptions or errors for core DOM objects — DOM Level 1 Core: Object → DOMException
DOMImplementation: methods independent of any particular document — DOM Level 1 Core: Object → DOMImplementation
DOMImplementation.createDocument( ): create a new Document and the specified root element — DOM Level 2 Core:
DOMImplementation.createDocumentType( ): create a DocumentType node — DOM Level 2 Core:
DOMImplementation.hasFeature( ): determine whether the implementation supports a feature — DOM Level 1 Core:
DOMParser: parses XML markup to create a Document — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 7.60: Object → DOMParser
DOMParser.parseFromString( ): parse XML markup
Element: an HTML or XML element — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → Element
Element.addEventListener( ): register an event handler — DOM Level 2 Events:
Element.attachEvent( ): register an event handler — IE 4:
Element.detachEvent( ): delete an event listener — IE 4:
Element.dispatchEvent( ): dispatch a synthetic event to this node — DOM Level 2 Events:
Element.getAttribute( ): return the string value of a named attribute — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.getAttributeNode( ): return the Attr node for the named attribute — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.getAttributeNodeNS( ): return the Attr node for an attribute with a namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.getAttributeNS( ): get the value of an attribute that uses namespaces — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.getElementsByTagName( ): find descendant elements with a specified tag name — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.getElementsByTagNameNS( ): return descendant elements with the specified name and namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.hasAttribute( ): determine whether this element has a specified attribute — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.hasAttributeNS( ): determine whether this element has a specified attribute — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.removeAttribute( ): delete a named attribute of an element — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.removeAttributeNode( ): remove an Attr node from an element — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.removeAttributeNS( ): delete an attribute specified by name and namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.removeEventListener( ): delete an event listener — DOM Level 2 Events:
Element.setAttribute( ): create or change an attribute of an element — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.setAttributeNode( ): add a new Attr node to an Element — DOM Level 1 Core:
Element.setAttributeNodeNS( ): add a namespace Attr node to an Element — DOM Level 2 Core:
Element.setAttributeNS( ): create or change an attribute with a namespace — DOM Level 2 Core:
Event: information about an event — DOM Level 2 Events, IE: Object → Event
Event.initEvent( ): initialize the properties of a new event — DOM Level 2 Events
Event.preventDefault( ): cancel default action of an event — DOM Level 2 Events
Event.stopPropagation( ): do not dispatch an event any further — DOM Level 2 Events
ExternalInterface: a bidirectional interface to Flash — ActionScript Object in Flash 8
ExternalInterface.addCallback( ): expose an ActionScript method for execution from JavaScript — ActionScript function in Flash 8
ExternalInterface.call( ): call a JavaScript function from ActionScript — ActionScript function in Flash 8
FileUpload: see Input
FlashPlayer: plug-in for Flash movies — Flash 2.0
FlashPlayer.GetVariable( ): return a value defined in a Flash movie — Flash 4
FlashPlayer.GotoFrame( ): skip to the specified frame of a movie — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.IsPlaying( ): check whether a movie is playing — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.LoadMovie( ): load an auxiliary movie — Flash 3
FlashPlayer.Pan( ): move the viewport of the movie — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.PercentLoaded( ): determine how much of the movie has loaded — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.Play( ): play a movie — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.Rewind( ): rewind the movie to its first frame — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.SetVariable( ): set a variable defined by a Flash movie — Flash 4
FlashPlayer.SetZoomRect( ): set the viewport of a movie — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.StopPlay( ): stop the movie — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.TotalFrames( ): return the length of the movie, in frames — Flash 2
FlashPlayer.Zoom( ): zoom in or out — Flash 2
Form: a <form> in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Form
Form.elements[]: the input elements of a form — DOM Level 2 HTML
Form.onreset: event handler invoked when a form is reset — DOM Level 0
Form.onsubmit: event handler invoked when a form is submitted — DOM Level 0
Form.reset( ): reset the elements of a form to their default values — DOM Level 2 HTML
Form.submit( ): submit form data to a web server — DOM Level 2 HTML
Frame: a <frame> in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Frame
Hidden: see Input
History: the URL history of the browser — JavaScript 1.0: Object → History
History.back( ): return to the previous URL — JavaScript 1.0
History.forward( ): visit the next URL — JavaScript 1.0
History.go( ): revisit a URL — JavaScript 1.0
HTMLCollection: array of HTML elements accessible by position or name — DOM Level 2 HTML: Object → HTMLCollection
HTMLCollection.item( ): get an element by position — DOM Level 2 HTML
HTMLCollection.namedItem( ): get an element by name — DOM Level 2 HTML
HTMLDocument: the root of an HTML document tree — DOM Level 0: Node → Document → HTMLDocument
HTMLDocument.all[]: all HTML elements in a document — IE 4
HTMLDocument.close( ): close an open document and display it — DOM Level 0
HTMLDocument.cookie: the cookie(s) of the document — DOM Level 0
HTMLDocument.domain: the security domain of a document — DOM Level 0
HTMLDocument.getElementsByName( ): find elements with the specified name attribute — DOM Level 2 HTML
HTMLDocument.open( ): begin a new document, erasing the current one — DOM Level 0
HTMLDocument.write( ): append HTML text to an open document — DOM Level 0
HTMLDocument.writeln( ): append HTML text and a newline to an open document — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement: an element in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement
HTMLElement.onclick: event handler invoked when the user clicks on an element — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.ondblclick: event handler invoked when the user double-clicks on an element — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onkeydown: event handler invoked when the user presses a key — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onkeypress: event handler invoked when the user presses a key — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onkeyup: event handler invoked when the user releases a key — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onmousedown: event handler invoked when the user presses a mouse button — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onmousemove: event handler invoked when the mouse moves within an element — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onmouseout: event handler invoked when mouse moves out of an element — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onmouseover: event handler invoked when the mouse moves over an element — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.onmouseup: event handler invoked when the user releases a mouse button — DOM Level 0
HTMLElement.scrollIntoView( ): make an element visible — Firefox 1.0, IE 4, Safari 2.02, Opera 8.5
IFrame: an <iframe> in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → IFrame
Image: an image in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Image
Image.onabort: event handler invoked when the user aborts image loading — DOM Level 2 Events
Image.onerror: event handler invoked when an error occurs during image loading — DOM Level 2 Events
Image.onload: event handler invoked when an image finishes loading — DOM Level 2 Events
Input: an input element in an HTML form — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Input
Input.blur( ): remove keyboard focus from a form element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Input.click( ): simulate a mouse click on a form element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Input.focus( ): give keyboard focus to a form element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Input.onblur: the handler invoked when a form element loses focus — DOM Level 0
Input.onchange: event handler invoked when a form element’s value changes — DOM Level 2 Events
Input.onclick: event handler invoked when a form element is clicked — DOM Level 2 Events
Input.onfocus: event handler invoked when a form element gains focus — DOM Level 2 Events
Input.select( ): select the text in a form element — DOM Level 2 HTML
JavaArray, JavaClass, JavaObject, JavaPackage: see Part III
JSObject: Java representation of a JavaScript object — Java class in Java plug-in
JSObject.call( ): invoke a method of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.eval( ): evaluate a string of JavaScript code — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.getMember( ): read a property of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.getSlot( ): read an array element of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.getWindow( ): return initial JSObject for browser window — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.removeMember( ): delete a property of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.setMember( ): set a property of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.setSlot( ): set an array element of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
JSObject.toString( ): return the string value of a JavaScript object — Java method in Java plug-in
KeyEvent: details about a keyboard event — Firefox and compatible browsers: Event → UIEvent → KeyEvent
Layer: an obsolete Netscape API — Netscape 4 only; discontinued in Netscape 6
Link: a hyperlink or anchor in an HTML document — DOM Level 0: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Link
Link.blur( ): take keyboard focus away from a hyperlink — DOM Level 0
Link.focus( ): make a link visible and give it keyboard focus — DOM Level 0
Link.onclick: event handler invoked when a Link is clicked — DOM Level 0
Link.onmouseout: event handler invoked when the mouse leaves a link — DOM Level 0
Link.onmouseover: event handler invoked when the mouse goes over a link — DOM Level 0
Location: represents and controls browser location — JavaScript 1.0: Object → Location
Location.reload( ): reload the current document — JavaScript 1.1
Location.replace( ): replace one displayed document with another — JavaScript 1.1
MimeType: represents a MIME datatype — JavaScript 1.1; not supported by IE: Object → MimeType
MouseEvent: details about a mouse event — DOM Level 2 Events: Event → UIEvent → MouseEvent
MouseEvent.initMouseEvent( ): initialize the properties of a MouseEvent object — DOM Level 2 Events
Navigator: information about the browser in use — JavaScript 1.0: Object → Navigator
Navigator.javaEnabled( ): test whether Java is available — JavaScript 1.1
Node: a node in a document tree — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.appendChild( ): insert a node as the last child of this node — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.cloneNode( ): duplicate a node and, optionally, all of its descendants — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.hasAttributes( ): determine whether a node has attributes — DOM Level 2 Core
Node.hasChildNodes( ): determine whether a node has children — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.insertBefore( ): insert a node into the document tree before the specified node — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.isSupported( ): determine if a node supports a feature — DOM Level 2 Core
Node.normalize( ): merge adjacent Text nodes and remove empty ones — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.removeChild( ): remove (and return) the specified child of this node — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.replaceChild( ): replace a child node with a new node — DOM Level 1 Core
Node.selectNodes( ): select nodes with an XPath query — IE 6
Node.transformNode( ): transform a node to a string using XSLT — IE 6
Node.transformNodeToObject( ): transform a node to a document using XSLT — IE 6
NodeList: a read-only array of nodes — DOM Level 1 Core: Object → NodeList
NodeList.item(): get an element of a NodeList — DOM Level 1 Core
Option: an option in a Select element — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → HTMLOptionElement
Packages: see Packages in Part III
Password: see Input
Plugin: describes an installed plug-in — JavaScript 1.1; not supported by IE: Object → Plugin
ProcessingInstruction : a processing instruction in an XML document — DOM Level 1 XML: Node → ProcessingInstruction
Radio: see Input
Range: represents a contiguous range of a document — DOM Level 2 Range: Object → Range
Range.cloneContents(): copy range contents into a DocumentFragment — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.cloneRange(): make a copy of this range — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.collapse(): make one boundary point equal to the other — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.compareBoundaryPoints(): compare positions of two ranges — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.deleteContents(): delete a region of the document — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.detach(): free a Range object — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.extractContents( ): delete document content and return it in a DocumentFragment — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.insertNode( ): insert a node at the start of a range — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.selectNode(): set range boundaries to a node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.selectNodeContents( ): set range boundaries to the children of a node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setEnd( ): set the end point of a range — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setEndAfter( ): end a range after a specified node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setEndBefore( ): end a range before the specified node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setStart( ): set the start point of a range — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setStartAfter( ): start a range after the specified node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.setStartBefore( ): start a range before the specified node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.surroundContents( ): surround range contents with the specified node — DOM Level 2 Range
Range.toString( ): get range contents as a plain-text string — DOM Level 2 Range
RangeException: signals a range-specific exception — DOM Level 2 Range: Object → RangeException
Reset: see Input
Screen: provides information about the display — JavaScript 1.2: Object → Screen
Select: a graphical selection list — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Select
Select.add( ): insert an <option> element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Select.blur( ): take keyboard focus away from this element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Select.focus( ): give keyboard focus to this element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Select.onchange: event handler invoked when the selection changes — DOM Level 0
Select.options[]: the choices in a Select object — DOM Level 2 HTML
Select.remove( ): remove an <option> — DOM Level 2 HTML
Style: see CSS2Properties
Submit: see Input
Table: a <table> in an HTML document — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Table
Table.createCaption( ): get or create a <caption> — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.createTFoot( ): get or create a <tfoot> — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.createTHead( ): get or create a <thead> — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.deleteCaption( ): delete the <caption> of a table — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.deleteRow( ): delete a row of a table — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.deleteTFoot( ): delete the <tfoot> of a table — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.deleteTHead( ): delete the <thead> of a table — DOM Level 2 HTML
Table.insertRow( ): add a new, empty row to the table — DOM Level 2 HTML
TableCell: cell in an HTML table — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → TableCell
TableRow: a <tr> element in an HTML table — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → TableRow
TableRow.deleteCell( ): delete a cell in a table row — DOM Level 2 HTML
TableRow.insertCell( ): insert a new, empty <td> element into a table row — DOM Level 2 HTML
TableSection: a header, footer, or body section of a table — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → TableSection
TableSection.deleteRow( ): delete a row within a table section — DOM Level 2 HTML
TableSection.insertRow( ): insert a new, empty row into this table section — DOM Level 2 HTML
Text: a run of text in an HTML or XML document — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → CharacterData → Text
Text.splitText( ): split a Text node in two — DOM Level 1 Core
Textarea: a multiline text input area — DOM Level 2 HTML: Node → Element → HTMLElement → Textarea
Textarea.blur( ): take keyboard focus away from this element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Textarea.focus( ): give keyboard focus to this element — DOM Level 2 HTML
Textarea.onchange: event handler invoked when input value changes — DOM Level 0
Textarea.select( ): select the text in this element — DOM Level 2 HTML
TextField: see Input
UIEvent: details about user-interface events — DOM Level 2 Events: Event → UIEvent
UIEvent.initUIEvent( ): initialize the properties of a UIEvent object — DOM Level 2 Events
Window: a web browser window or frame — JavaScript 1.0: Object → Global → Window
Window.addEventListener( ): see Element.addEventListener( )
Window.alert( ): display a message in a dialog box — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.attachEvent( ): see Element.attachEvent( )
Window.blur( ): remove keyboard focus from a top-level window — JavaScript 1.1:
Window.clearInterval( ): stop periodically executing code — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.clearTimeout( ): cancel deferred execution — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.close( ): close a browser window — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.confirm( ): ask a yes-or-no question — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.defaultStatus: the default status line text — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.detachEvent( ): see Element.detachEvent( )
Window.focus( ): give keyboard focus to a window — JavaScript 1.1:
Window.getComputedStyle( ): retrieve the CSS styles used to render an element — DOM Level 2 CSS:
Window.moveBy( ): move a window to a relative position — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.moveTo( ): move a window to an absolute position — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.onblur: event handler invoked when the window loses keyboard focus — JavaScript 1.1:
Window.onerror: error handler invoked when a JavaScript error occurs — JavaScript 1.1:
Window.onfocus: event handler invoked when a window is given focus — JavaScript 1.1:
Window.onload: event handler invoked when a document finishes loading — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.onresize: event handler invoked when a window is resized — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.onunload: the handler invoked when the browser leaves a page — DOM Level 0:
Window.open( ): open a new browser window or locate a named window — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.print( ): print the document — JavaScript 1.5:
Window.prompt( ): get user input with a dialog box — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.removeEventListener( ): see Element.removeEventListener( )
Window.resizeBy( ): resize a window by a relative amount — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.resizeTo( ): resize a window — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.scrollBy( ): scroll the document by a relative amount — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.scrollTo( ): scroll the document — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.setInterval( ): periodically execute specified code — JavaScript 1.2:
Window.setTimeout( ): defer execution of code — JavaScript 1.0:
Window.status: specify a transient status-line message — JavaScript 1.0:
XMLHttpRequest: An HTTP request and response — Firefox 1.0, Internet Explorer 5.0, Safari 1.2, Opera 7.60: Object → XMLHttpRequest
XMLHttpRequest.abort( ): cancel an HTTP request
XMLHttpRequest.getAllResponseHeaders( ): return unparsed HTTP response headers
XMLHttpRequest.getResponseHeader( ): get the value of a named HTTP response header
XMLHttpRequest.onreadystatechange: event handler function invoked when readyState changes
XMLHttpRequest.open( ): initialize HTTP request parameters
XMLHttpRequest.send( ): send an HTTP request
XMLHttpRequest.setRequestHeader( ): add a HTTP request header to the request
XMLSerializer: serializes XML documents and nodes — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 7.60: Object → XMLSerializer
XMLSerializer.serializeToString( ): convert an XML document or node to a string
XPathExpression: a compiled XPath query — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 9: Object → XPathExpression
XPathExpression.evaluate( ): evaluate a compiled XPath query
XPathResult: the result of an XPath query — Firefox 1.0; Safari 2.01; Opera 9: Object → XPathResult
XPathResult.iterateNext( ): return the next node that matches an XPath query
XPathResult.snapshotItem( ): return a node that matches an XPath query
XSLTProcessor: transform XML with XSLT stylesheets — Firefox 1.0, Safari 2.01, Opera 9: Object → XSLTProcessor
XSLTProcessor.clearParameters( ): delete all stylesheet parameter values
XSLTProcessor.getParameter( ): return the value of a named parameter
XSLTProcessor.importStylesheet( ): specify an XSLT stylesheet for transformations
XSLTProcessor.removeParameter( ): delete a parameter value
XSLTProcessor.reset( ): restore an XSLTProcessor to its default state
XSLTProcessor.setParameter( ): set a stylesheet parameter
XSLTProcessor.transformToDocument( ): transform a node or document to a new document
XSLTProcessor.transformToFragment( ): transform a node or document to a DocumentFragment
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Content preview from JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Name

CharacterData: common functionality for Text and Comment nodes — DOM Level 1 Core: Node → CharacterData

Subinterfaces

Comment, Text

Properties

String data: The text contained by this node.
readonly unsigned long length: The number of characters contained by this node.

Methods

appendData( ): Appends the specified string to the text contained by this node.
deleteData( ): Deletes text from this node, starting with the character at the specified offset and continuing for the specified number of characters.
insertData( ): Inserts the specified string into the text of this node at the specified character offset.
replaceData( ): Replaces the characters starting at the specified character offset and continuing for the specified number of characters with the specified string.
substringData( ): Returns a copy of the text starting at the specified character offset and continuing for the specified number of characters.

Description

CharacterData is the superinterface for Text and Comment nodes. Documents never contain CharacterData nodes; they contain only Text and Comment nodes. Since both of these node types have similar functionality, however, that functionality has been defined here so that both Text and Comment can inherit it.

Note that it is not necessary to use the string-manipulation methods defined by this interface. The data property is an ordinary JavaScript string, and you can manipulate it with the + operator for string concatenation and with various String and RegExp methods.