Dropdown Javascript error: object doesn't support property or method 'matches'

Question

I'm using the following JavaScript dropdown, which works perfect in all browers except the new Windows Edge.

It displays this error:

SCRIPT438: Object doesn't support property or method 'matches'

Script:

/* When the user clicks on the button, 
toggle between hiding and showing the dropdown content */
function myFunction() {
    document.getElementById("myDropdown").classList.toggle("show");
}

// Close the dropdown menu if the user clicks outside of it
window.onclick = function(event) {
  if (!event.target.matches('.dropbtn')) {

    var dropdowns = document.getElementsByClassName("dropdown-content");
    var i;
    for (i = 0; i < dropdowns.length; i++) {
      var openDropdown = dropdowns[i];
      if (openDropdown.classList.contains('show')) {
        openDropdown.classList.remove('show');
      }
    }
  }
}

Got the script from: http://www.w3schools.com/howto/howto_js_dropdown.asp which I assumed would be compatible with all platforms. Now I've already implemented it, and ran into problems in Edge.

Marc Compte · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-27T09:52:03.183

It looks like you try to check if the click event was triggered by an object with the class dropbtn.

If you use jQuery you can do the same like this:

function myFunction() {
    document.getElementById("myDropdown").classList.toggle("show");
}

// Close the dropdown menu if the user clicks outside of it
window.onclick = function(event) {
  if (!$(event.target).hasClass('dropbtn')) {
    var dropdowns = document.getElementsByClassName("dropdown-content");
    var i;
    for (i = 0; i < dropdowns.length; i++) {
      var openDropdown = dropdowns[i];
      if (openDropdown.classList.contains('show')) {
        openDropdown.classList.remove('show');
      }
    }
  }
}

If you don't use jQuery you can get the className and then check if dropbtn is one of them.

function myFunction() {
    document.getElementById("myDropdown").classList.toggle("show");
}

// Close the dropdown menu if the user clicks outside of it
window.onclick = function(event) {
  var classes = event.target.className.split(' ');
  var found = false; var i = 0;
  while (i < classes.length && !found) {
      if (classes[i]=='dropbtn') found = true;
      else ++i;
  }
  if (!found) {
    var dropdowns = document.getElementsByClassName("dropdown-content");
    var i;
    for (i = 0; i < dropdowns.length; i++) {
      var openDropdown = dropdowns[i];
      if (openDropdown.classList.contains('show')) {
        openDropdown.classList.remove('show');
      }
    }
  }
}

Thank you so much @Marc Compte That was a big help :-) – Jones Apr 27 '16 at 11:28 — Jones, Apr 27 '16 at 11:28

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 16 '18 at 12:57

5

As it was mentioned before IE11 has partial support for it. Try this

if (!Element.prototype.matches) {

    Element.prototype.matches = Element.prototype.msMatchesSelector;

}

answered Aug 16 '18 at 12:57

Dzmitry Vasilevsky

1,295
2
14
25

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 23 '16 at 17:19

For a cross-browser solution, look at http://youmightnotneedjquery.com/#matches_selector

var matches = function(el, selector) {
  return (el.matches || el.matchesSelector || el.msMatchesSelector || el.mozMatchesSelector || el.webkitMatchesSelector || el.oMatchesSelector).call(el, selector);
};

matches(el, '.my-class');

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 26 '16 at 09:36

2

According to http://caniuse.com/#search=matches EDGE has partial support with the prefix 'ms'.

answered Apr 26 '16 at 09:36

Lee Kowalkowski

11,591
3
40
46

Dropdown Javascript error: object doesn't support property or method 'matches'

4 Answers4