I want to call a parent window JavaScript function from an iframe.
&
You can use
window.top
see the following.
<head>
<script>
function abc() {
alert("sss");
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<iframe id="myFrame">
<a onclick="window.top.abc();" href="#">Click Me</a>
</iframe>
</body>
This method safely enables cross-origin
communication.
And if you have access to parent page code then any parent method can be called as well as any data can be passed directly from Iframe
. Here is a small example:
Parent page:
if (window.addEventListener) {
window.addEventListener("message", onMessage, false);
}
else if (window.attachEvent) {
window.attachEvent("onmessage", onMessage, false);
}
function onMessage(event) {
// Check sender origin to be trusted
if (event.origin !== "http://example.com") return;
var data = event.data;
if (typeof(window[data.func]) == "function") {
window[data.func].call(null, data.message);
}
}
// Function to be called from iframe
function parentFunc(message) {
alert(message);
}
Iframe code:
window.parent.postMessage({
'func': 'parentFunc',
'message': 'Message text from iframe.'
}, "*");
// Use target origin instead of *
UPDATES:
Security note:
Always provide a specific targetOrigin, NOT *
, if you know where the other window's document should be located. Failing to provide a specific target discloses the data you send to any interested malicious site (comment by ZalemCitizen).
References:
I recently had to find out why this didn't work too.
The javascript you want to call from the child iframe needs to be in the head of the parent. If it is in the body, the script is not available in the global scope.
<head>
<script>
function abc() {
alert("sss");
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<iframe id="myFrame">
<a onclick="parent.abc();" href="#">Click Me</a>
</iframe>
</body>
Hope this helps anyone that stumbles upon this issue again.
<a onclick="parent.abc();" href="#" >Call Me </a>
See window.parent
Returns a reference to the parent of the current window or subframe.
If a window does not have a parent, its parent property is a reference to itself.
When a window is loaded in an <iframe>
, <object>
, or <frame>
, its parent is the window with the element embedding the window.
Another addition for those who need it. Ash Clarke's solution does not work if they are using different protocols so be sure that if you are using SSL, your iframe is using SSL as well or it will break the function. His solution did work for the domains itself though, so thanks for that.
While some of these solutions may work, none of them follow best practices. Many assign global variables and you may find yourself making calls to multiple parent variables or functions, leading to a cluttered, vulnerable namespace.
To avoid this, use a module pattern. In the parent window:
var myThing = {
var i = 0;
myFunction : function () {
// do something
}
};
var newThing = Object.create(myThing);
Then, in the iframe:
function myIframeFunction () {
parent.myThing.myFunction();
alert(parent.myThing.i);
};
This is similar to patterns described in the Inheritance chapter of Crockford's seminal text, "Javascript: The Good Parts." You can also learn more at w3's page for Javascript's best practices. https://www.w3.org/wiki/JavaScript_best_practices#Avoid_globals