Javascript form submit: Object doesn't support this property or method (IE7)

Question

I'm trying to submit a form with javascript. Firefox works fine but IE complains that "Object doesn't support this property or method" on the submit line of this function:

function submitPGV(formName, action)
{
    var gvString = "";

    pgVisibilities.each(function(pair) {
        gvString += pair.key + ":" + pair.value + ",";
    });

    $('pgv_input').value = gvString;

    var form = $(formName);
    form.action = action;
    form.submit();
}

Called here:

<a href="javascript:submitPGV('ProductGroupVisibility','config/productgroupvis/save')">

Here's the form:

<form id="ProductGroupVisibility" action="save" method="post">
    <input type="hidden" name="ows_gv..PGV" id="pgv_input" value=""/>
</form>

Any ideas?

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 05 '08 at 22:10

15

What name does your <input type="submit"> have?

If you called it "submit", you have overridden the form.submit() function, much the same way an input called "foo" would generate a form.foo property. That would explain the behavior.

answered Nov 05 '08 at 22:10

Tomalak

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I don't have an input of type submit. It's just the one hidden field that's submitted with javascript. – Kenny Nov 05 '08 at 22:22
Good grace, I just tripped over exactly this problem, Tomalak. I owe you a beer ;-) – Simon Dec 21 '09 at 16:10
1

Same here. This is one of the little gems of SO. :) – Marius Or. Feb 02 '10 at 15:46
2

just add a little bit, don't set the id either, that will do the same damage setting the submit method to the dom element. – danny Nov 12 '11 at 17:15

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 07 '17 at 14:41

5

Try checking the type of the element IE is selecting:

// For getting element with id you must use # 
alert( typeof( $( '#ProductGroupVisibility' )));

It is possible there is something else on the page with that ID that IE selects before the form.

edited Oct 07 '17 at 14:41

Patrick Hund

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answered Nov 05 '08 at 21:53

Brian

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Yep. I'm a moron. There was a table with id="productGroupVisibility", Firefox got the form, IE got the table. I was sure I'd already tried changed the id on that table but I wasn't the one at the keyboard so who knows what happened. Thanks heaps mate. – Kenny Nov 05 '08 at 23:18
1

No problem. Done it myself more than once ;) – Brian Nov 07 '08 at 03:41
2

Just want to add something that I've just seen that does the same thing. Different case, but same symptoms. Might help someone who stumbles on this answer. "email = $('#UserEmail');" No duplicate id, but IE didn't like that email wasn't officially declared. Changing to: "var email = $('#UserEmail');" Fixes the problem. This is more correct and I guess that's what happens when you get used to programming in more permissive environments. :) – Erik Nedwidek Jun 17 '10 at 15:52
This tip is invaluable. Fixed an issue I was having as well. – egid May 11 '12 at 22:33

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 18 '12 at 15:25

3

beware of any inputs in the form with name='submit', they break the javascript .submit() functionality!

answered Apr 18 '12 at 15:25

Ben

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 05 '08 at 21:58

1

What javascript framework are you using? If it's jQuery I think you'll need to add # to your id:

$('#ProductGroupVisibility').submit();

answered Nov 05 '08 at 21:58

Lance McNearney

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Depends on the framework, and selected plugins. Out-of-the-box mootools selects (at least v1.11 did) based on id with the syntax Kenny described. – Brian Nov 05 '08 at 22:00
Yah, I realized that after posting and edited my answer to specify jQuery. :) – Lance McNearney Nov 05 '08 at 22:04
Oh it's Prototype. Sorry I forgot to mention. – Kenny Nov 05 '08 at 22:20

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 05 '08 at 21:43

0

Are you sure you have your JavaScript library loaded? (jQuery or Prototype)

It worked for me in IE7 with Prototype.

Try:

alert($('ProductGroupVisibility').id)

See if you get an error.

answered Nov 05 '08 at 21:43

Diodeus - James MacFarlane

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You're right actually, it works for me if I put it into a dummy page with only the code listed above. It must be something else about the page. I'll amend my question with more info. Thanks for your help. – Kenny Nov 05 '08 at 22:13

Javascript form submit: Object doesn't support this property or method (IE7)

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