Alternative to check if the window is a popup

Question

Alternative to check if the window is a popup

Asked 10 years, 9 months ago

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I have a page that can be opened both by my own domain and externally, both as a "normal" window and as a popup.

In this window, I need to check whether it was opened as a popup or not, and perform some customizations programmatically. So far, was using the following approach (widely recommended):

if (window.opener)
    // É um popup
else
    // Não é um popup

Yet I have found compatibility problems with the Internet Explorer, which causes the attribute opener is not completed.

Could someone tell me some alternative to perform this check?

Obs:

In general, I cannot change the code that opens the window (e.g., to include querystring parameters)
When I say open as popup, I mean a call to window.open().

Have you considered using the header HTTP Referrer to verify the source of the request on the server and then, for example, redirect or include a script according to the source?

– utluiz

2014/01/31 at 11:25
@utluiz Unfortunately, it is not the referrer who defines the way the window is being opened (popup or not)... I included it in the explanation just to make the scenario better understood.

– everton

2014/02/03 at 12:51
Right. Were you able to test Erik’s response? It worked?

– utluiz

2014/02/03 at 13:15
@utluiz Yes, but anyway it will not be possible to follow with this approach, because this would imply in changing all the places that are opening this popup, and many of them are from other third systems.

– everton

2014/02/04 at 18:08
Maybe my answer to use window.opener work. =)

– Miguel Angelo

2014/02/06 at 20:49

3 answers

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by Erik • **717** points · Answer 1 · 2014-01-30T15:14:18+00:00

The method window.open returns the window object that was opened, so if it is on the same domain I believe you can add an attribute to the popup window object after opening and checking it.

Tab that opens the popup:

var pop = window.open("http://www.dominio.com");
pop.ePopup = true;

Popup:

if (typeof window.ePopup !== 'undefined' && window.ePopup)
    // É um popup
else
    // Não é um popup

I am not sure about the compatibility of this solution. And if you are in separate domains you will have problem of CORS which can be solved in server configuration most of the time.

by Leandro Amorim • **1,865** points · Answer 2 · 2014-01-30T15:18:12+00:00

I found this information on msdn is a matter of security even.

I would use the approach of when it is necessary to open the popup put in a Dialog using jqueryui or another framework.

Open popup is tricky, try to avoid as much as possible because you have the issue of popup blockers installed in browsers.

by Miguel Angelo • **28,526** points · Answer 3 · 2014-02-06T20:30:14+00:00

Direct from the MDN:

window.opener

Use:

var parentWindow = window.opener;

Check if the property window.opener is null, if it is, it is because it was not opened by another window, if it is not null, then it is because it was opened by another window.

It is worth noting that this is not part of any standard... as the MDN itself says.

Note: As explained in this post in English, some browsers may end up setting the property null if the mother window is closed. In this case, I recommend that the verification be done as soon as the popup page is opened, and the value stored in any variable.