[WEB4LIB] Re: Netscape New Window size

Thomas Dowling tdowling at ohiolink.edu
Mon Jul 31 08:41:40 EDT 2000


[Insert standard caveats about why and when to open new windows at all.]
To answer the original question, 'target="_blank"' will not take any
sizes for the new window.

> ...this is the link that calls up the function
>
>         <a href="javascript:openinf('http://www.whatever.com', 'title
of new                 window')">
>
> for more information try one of the following sites, though there are
of course  others:
>
> http://webreference.com
> http://www.javascript.com
> http://www.webcoder.com
> http://www.webmonkey.com
>

Here's a rebuttal:

  http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/#gl-new-technologies

The problem with this approach is that it absolutely breaks the link for
anyone working without JavaScript.  It's less likely to cause
accessibility problems if client-side scripting is used to tweak
standard links.  You could try something like this:

=========
<script type="text/javascript"><!--

  function openWin() {
    newWin =
window.open("","MyNewWindow","menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes,res
izable=yes,width=300,height=300");
  }

</script>

<a href="http://www.yahoo.com"
  target="MyNewWindow"
  onClick="openWin()">Yahoo in an explicitly sized window.</a>

=========

With a little experimentation with screen.width and screen.height (see
<URL:http://www.javascripter.net/faq/screensi.htm> for example), you
could set the new window's dimensions to a percentage of the screen
size, which is probably more useful today than just picking pixel
dimensions.


Thomas ("When the only tool you have is a hammer,
  every problem looks like a thumb") Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu




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