Consider the following scenario. You call the window.open
method from a Web page to open an active document, such as a .doc file, an .xls file, or a .pdf file. You try to access the child window by using a script. In this scenario, you may receive the following error message in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or in Windows Internet Explorer 7:
When Internet Explorer uses an Active Document server, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Adobe Reader, to display a document in an Internet Explorer window, the page contains only the active document window and not the MSHTML. Therefore, the window object that is returned by the window.open
method is disconnected and is invalidated. Only the IWebBrowser2
browser frame and the active document remain in the new window. Because the methods of the IWebBrowser2
interface are not exposed to scripts, you cannot call the methods of the browser frame by using a script.
This behavior is by design.
Steps to reproduce the behavior
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- Create a text file that is named Test.html.
- Copy and paste the following code into the Test.html file.
subWin = window.open("test.doc");
subWin = null;
<INPUT type="button" value="Open doc window" onClick="openSubView()" ID="Button1" NAME="Button1">
<INPUT type="button" value="Close doc window" onClick="closeSubView()" ID="Button2" NAME="Button2">
- Create a Word document that is named Test.doc.
- Type Hello World in the Test.doc file.
- Open Test.html in Internet Explorer 6 or in Internet Explorer 7.
- Click Open doc window.
Notice that the Word document is loaded in the child window.
- Click Close doc window to close the child window.
Notice that you experience the problem that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section.