[Javascript] problem with swfobject.js

[Schalk Neethling]

Thank you very much Nick for the information.

Nick Fitzsimons wrote:
> Schalk wrote:
>> I am using swfobject.js to include flash on a website. Both IE and 
>> Firefox complains about the following snippet of code:
>>
>> if(this.skipDetect||this.getAttribute("doExpressInstall")||this.installedVer.versionIsValid(this.getAttribute("version"))){ 
>>
>> var n=(typeof _20=="string")?document.getElementById(_20):_20;
>> n.innerHTML=this.getSWFHTML();
>> return true;
>> }else{
>> if(this.getAttribute("redirectUrl")!=""){document.location.replace(this.getAttribute("redirectUrl"));}} 
>>
>> return false;}};
>>
>> In particular, it complains about the 'n' variable stating that it 
>> has no properties in FF and IE says Object expected. Has anyone else 
>> come across this problem? Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks!
>>
>
> Well, I don't know the code you're using, but I know those errors. 
> They turn up because the variable named n (in this case) is being 
> assigned a reference to something that isn't there - which of course 
> means that it's referring to nothing at all. As whatever it's 
> referring to is non-existent (null, in this case), that thing has no 
> properties; when you try to access the properties of a non-existent 
> object via the property access operator ".", Firefox tells you the 
> thing before the property access operator "has no properties" (because 
> it's null), and IE tells you that it "expected" an "object" (rather 
> than null) whose properties it might access.
>
> The usual cause of something like this is that you have assigned a 
> reference to the variable named "n" but what you've assigned is 
> something that doesn't actually exist in the page. In this case the 
> code is assigning the value to the variable "n" that is the result of 
> the ternary expression:
>
> (typeof _20=="string")?document.getElementById(_20):_20
>
> This appears to be an unholy mess of code, but that's not the point; 
> let's just say that code written with an IE4 (1997) mindset, and then 
> patched to try to make it work properly on later and better browsers, 
> is often written very badly. It doesn't work in your document because 
> the document contains no element (by which I mean the DOM Level 1 
> definition of an Element) which has its "id" attribute set to the 
> value "_20". I can say this with absolute certainty even though I 
> haven't seen the document, because if the document contained an 
> element with the id "_20" then that element would be assigned to the 
> variable "n" and would have a (non-standard) innerHTML property, and 
> the code would work. If you had several elements which (incorrectly) 
> all had the id "_20" then the assignment would have produced a NodeSet 
> rather than null, and the error would be all about "does not support 
> this property or method" rather than "has no properties". It's worth 
> knowing about these differences in the kinds of errors produced in the 
> different cases as, although to a cursory glance they appear as opaque 
> as each other, there actually is useful information in those messages.
>
> As an aside, I would suggest that you be cautious about using code 
> that has abysmal naming conventions; it often causes more problems 
> than it solves. Good naming is a crucial part of good coding, and I 
> can't think of anything at all for which "_20" would be a good name. 
> (Well, apart from the newborn child of a Hollywood celebrity who's 
> trying to get some headlines.)
>
> Check your document and ensure that it has a relevant element with the 
> id attribute set to "_20" and it may well work - although it's a 
> wipeout for anybody with JS disabled or no Flash plugin. But you knew 
> that :-)
>
> HTH,
>
> Nick.

-- 
Kind Regards
Schalk Neethling
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