Links take over browser window.

[Simon Wigzell]

Is there any way to create and open a window in javascript so that links in
other websites won't "steal" it?

I've written a web page with a form for people to enter headlines and URLs
from newspapers. They will want my window to stay there as they surf through
various online newspapers. We don't want their popup links to take over my
form window!

This is a real problem - it renders my web page useless and wastes peoples
time.

It ought to be illegal for a web page to steal other web page windows!

Thanks for any help.

 

[Lasse Reichstein Nielsen]

Is there any way to create and open a window in javascript so that links in
other websites won't "steal" it?

I don't understand what you mean by "steal".

You create/open windows using window.open (unless the user is using a
popup blocker)

I've written a web page with a form for people to enter headlines and URLs
from newspapers. They will want my window to stay there

Stay where?

as they surf through various online newspapers. We don't want their
popup links to take over my form window!

What is a popup link? Is it a link that opens a popup? In that case,
they will only take over your form window if they request a popup with
the same window name as oyur window.

This is a real problem - it renders my web page useless and wastes peoples
time.

It ought to be illegal for a web page to steal other web page windows!

I still don't understand what the problem is. Could you try explining
it more precisely: what windows do you have, what does the user do,
and what is the effect?

When you click on a link in a window, the page the link refers to is
opened in the same window. That is how the web normally work, and how
it is supposed to work. If the user wants to open the link in a different
window, he'll use his right click menu and chose "open in new window".

/L

 

[Simon Wigzell]

I don't understand the confusion! If a web page has a link that uses
javascript to pop up a web page in a new browser window, and there are other
browser windows around, the new web page will appear in one of the other
open browser windows. In this case one of the other open browser windows is
my online form webpage. I have no control or even knowledge of the webpage
that is opening other web pages in my window. So my question is, is there a
way in javascript that I can create my window such that it won't get taken
over? And it is a named window, and that makes no difference!

 

[Richard Formby]

I don't understand the confusion! If a web page has a link that uses
javascript to pop up a web page in a new browser window, and there are other
browser windows around, the new web page will appear in one of the other
open browser windows. In this case one of the other open browser windows is
my online form webpage. I have no control or even knowledge of the webpage
that is opening other web pages in my window. So my question is, is there a
way in javascript that I can create my window such that it won't get taken
over? And it is a named window, and that makes no difference!

It's nothing to do with the external web page.

It is you who has opened the new window so it is you who has given the
window a name.

When you open another new window it is up to you to give that window a
different name if you don't want the existing window to be used.

 

[Lasse Reichstein Nielsen]

If a web page has a link that uses javascript to pop up a web page
in a new browser window, and there are other browser windows around,
the new web page will appear in one of the other open browser
windows.

No. That *only* happens if the new window is given the *same* window
name as the existing window. The name is given as either the "target"
attribute on the link, or the second argument to "window.open".

So, don't reuse names, or don't use an often-used name for your window.

In this case one of the other open browser windows is my
online form webpage. I have no control or even knowledge of the
webpage that is opening other web pages in my window.

So, you must accidentally hav chosen the same window name. Change
yours. Perhaps to "_blank", which means a new page with no name,
so it will never be matched.

So my question is, is there a way in javascript that I can create my
window such that it won't get taken over?

Yes, give it a non-guessable name ("MyUltraSecretWindowNameTM") or
a non-matchable name ("_blank").

And it is a named window, and that makes no difference!

It makes *all* the difference.

/L

 

[Lee]

Lasse Reichstein Nielsen said:

No. That *only* happens if the new window is given the *same* window
name as the existing window. The name is given as either the "target"
attribute on the link, or the second argument to "window.open".

No, you've misunderstood what he's asking about.

He's asking about links on *other* sites opening pages in
the window in which his site is currently open.

As an example, Friday I was filling out a web form at work.
Before I finished, an important email message arrived,
containing an URL that I had to look at immediately.

I clicked on the URL, and it opened in the window that had
contained my form. Back when I was allowed to use a better
email client, I could have easily selected to open it in a
new browser instance. Instead, my options were to remember
to go BACK to what I was doing, or to open a new window so
the URL would open in it, instead of on top of my form.

 

[Lasse Reichstein Nielsen]

No, you've misunderstood what he's asking about.

Maybe

He's asking about links on *other* sites opening pages in
the window in which his site is currently open.

That is what I was talking about too.

As an example, Friday I was filling out a web form at work.
Before I finished, an important email message arrived,
containing an URL that I had to look at immediately.

I clicked on the URL, and it opened in the window that had
contained my form.

That is a different scenario: You are not opening the link from the
browser, but from a different application. That means that the linked
page cannot be opened in the same window as the link, because the link
is not in a browser window at all. Which window it is then opened in
depends on what the application does, and how the browser handles
requests for new pages opened by other applications.

I would not have that problem, because my browser always opens a new
requested page in a fresh window (I use Opera in MDI mode).

Your scenario doesn't match the explanation, as I read it, because it
is not another site opening the page. The word "site" makes me believe
that it is a page in a browser that contains the link. In that case
my explanation is (AFAIK) correct.

Ofcourse, it could also be because the explanation fails to describe
the problem in sufficient detail - like which browser (or even other
applications) is involved, example of pages that shows the problem,
etc.

/L

 

[Simon Wigzell]

Thanks for the heated discussion! Looks like at the end there you are
finally understanding my problem! Sorry I couldn't explain it more clearly
sooner.

Actually, it occurs 100% when someone clicks on a link in an email, then it
takes over even my named window that I have popped up with javascript.

And with one person who "logs in to ZNet" and then loses my window because
ZNet steals it. I'm trying to get more info from him.

I'm asking him for more information and just telling him to "log in to ZNet"
first and then start my web page in a new browser but that seems to be
beyond him.

I'm not sure of the extent or the exact reproducible causes of this problem.
Still investigating. But for sure, under certain circumstances, even a named
window, popped up with javascript can be stolen by some other program -
email links for sure (Outlook anyway) And my clients Znet thing.

It should be illegal! There should be a way of opening a window so that
nothing else can replace it's content!

Thanks though, I'll come back when I have more info on the ZNet thing.

 

[Alan P]

Im afraid to say, I use Outlook Express, and have a similar problem

Everyt8me open a link, it open's it in the same window; erasing the previous
contents

And there's no 'Open In new winsdow' iptipn option

 

[Michael Winter]

Thanks for the heated discussion! Looks like at the end there you are
finally understanding my problem! Sorry I couldn't explain it more
clearly sooner.

Actually, it occurs 100% when someone clicks on a link in an email, then
it takes over even my named window that I have popped up with
javascript.

While I was still using IE, this occurred frequently. IE appears to
implement a 'last window used' algorithm to decide where the content from
externally opened URLs (from Outlook, for example) will go. So, if you
were entering data into a form then went to another application that
executed something that IE should handle, the content would replace that
form. Sometimes, this didn't always happen, but it was the most consistent
behaviour I observed.

IE does have an option that determines whether associated files launched
externally would start a new process, or would open in an existing window.
In v5.5, the option is a checkbox in the advanced settings, called "Reuse
windows for launching shortcuts". It might have been renamed in v6. Opera
has a similar option (Windows > Reuse existing page), so I'd imagine that
other browsers do, too. Unfortunatly, I don't think it always worked with
IE.

It should be illegal!

That's just a little over-the-top, don't you think?

Mike

 

[Simon Wigzell]

snip

That's just a little over-the-top, don't you think?

I meant in the same sense that my computer is always telling me "You have
performed an illegal operation" e.g. nothing that pops up something in a
browser can have permission to use an existing window. Thanks for the tip on
the flag in advanced options, I'll have a look for that.