load jQuery library after page has initially loaded

Question

I have a case where I need to check if jQuery exists on a page and if it doesn't, I need to load it. I create a script tag and reference the external jQuery library. How do I wait for the library to be loaded on the page before I continue with the rest of the script?

UPDATE:

Heres what it looks like after Gion's suggestion:

if (typeof jQuery === 'undefined') {
    var j = document.createElement('SCRIPT');
    j.type = 'text/javascript';
    j.src = '//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min.js';
    document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(j);
    j.onload = function () {
        var section = document.createElement('DIV');
        section.setAttribute('style', 'height:300px; width:250px; position: fixed; right: 0px; top: 100px;z-index: 9999; border-style:solid;border-width:1px;');
        section.innerHTML = '<p>steps</p><textarea name="steps"></textarea><p>expected results</p><textarea name="results"></textarea><p><input type="button" name="submit" value="add test case" /></p>';

        document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].appendChild(section);
    };  
}

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:13

6

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(typeof jQuery === 'undefined')
        document.write('<sc'+'ript type="text/javascript" src="jquery.js"></scrip'++'t>');
    window.onload = function(){
        // jquery should be present here
    });
</script>

answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:13

gion_13

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1

why its `' – Rami Alshareef Apr 19 '12 at 06:15
to prevent the dom parser from thinking that the string `' – gion_13 Apr 19 '12 at 06:16
1

Wont it create conflict if this script execute before jquery is loaded ? – Sethunath K M Apr 19 '12 at 06:23
Thanks this works. Just out of curiosity, does it work well with all modern browsers? – kenneth koontz Apr 19 '12 at 06:24
@Sethunath `window.onload` is being triggered only after all the dom elements have been loaded (scripts,imgs,css...) so, in the worst case you'll have 2 jQuery libs loaded, the last one loaded overwriting the first. A conflict may be present only if you try to load different jquery versions and you don't know which one is loaded when you run your script. – gion_13 Apr 19 '12 at 06:36

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:13

You can check if the jquery is loaded like this

window.onload = function(){
    if(typeof jQuery == "undefined"){
           // jquery is not available 
    }
}

And if jquery is not loaded I would recommend using a javascript loader like requirejs http://requirejs.org/

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:08

0

You may set it to window.onload

window.onload = function () { alert("It's loaded!") }

Execute Javascript When Page Has Fully Loaded

edited May 23 '17 at 10:08

Community

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1

answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:12

Rami Alshareef

7,015
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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:16

to inlcude jQuery file, ONLY if needed, you need to check it first

function afterLoad(){
  if(typeof(jQuery)!=='undefined')
    return;

  var element1 = document.createElement(“script”);
  element1.src = “pointToYourjQueryFile.js”;
  element1.type=”text/javascript”;
  document.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(element1);
}

call this function on window load this way...

<body onload="afterLoad()"?>

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:18

window.onload = function(){
    var script,head;
    if(!jQuery){
        script = document.createElement('script');
        document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);
        script.onload = function(){
           alert('jQuery loaded');
        }
        script.src = 'path_to_jquery';
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 19 '12 at 06:19

Modernizr uses this line:

<script>window.jQuery || document.write('<script src="./js/libs/jquery-1.6.2.min.js"><\/script>')</script>

But document.write is regarded as unsafe. Therefore I'd connect it with what have been posted:

if(!window.jQuery)
{
    var element1 = document.createElement(“script”);
    element1.src = “somefile.js”;
    element1.type=”text/javascript”;
    document.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(element1);
}

On the other hand Google uses:

(function() {
    if(window.jQuery) return;

    var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true;
    po.src = 'some.js';
    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
})();

Which appends the script to the first tag already existing on the website. If you have at least one <script> on you site, use this one. From what I know it's considered the best solution.

load jQuery library after page has initially loaded

6 Answers6