Cannot get instance of TinyMCE in XUL Firefox extension

Question

I am trying to get the instance of tinyMCE editor in JavaScript for Firefox extensions.

When I type window.tinyMCE in the console, it returns an object; however, when trying to get an instance of tinyMCE editor in JavaScript within my Firefox extension, I use window.content.tinyMCE and get undefined

For example, I am trying to see if a tinyMCE editor exists on a page with my Firefox extension. Here is my code:

if (window.content.tinyMCE) {
    alert('its there!');
}

The TinyMCE editor exists on the page, but does not alert the above code. When I do alert(window.content.tinyMCE), it alerts undefined.

In XUL, Window.content returns a Window object for the primary content window. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/content

The Window object is definitely there, since when I type window.tinyMCE in the console, it returns the tinyMCE object.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Without code, this question may be off-topic: Questions seeking debugging help ("**why isn't this code working the way I want?**") must include: A) the desired behavior; B) a specific problem or error *and* C) **the shortest code necessary to reproduce it** all ***in the question itself***. Questions without **a clear problem statement** are not useful to other readers. See: [How to create a Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example](http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve), [What topics can I ask about here?](http://stackoverflow.com/help/on-topic), and [ask]. — Makyen, May 10 '16 at 19:50
Better. However, quite a bit depends on which `window` you are using in your extension. Unless you have specifically defined `window` in your extension, it probably is not what you think it is. It almost certainly is not the same object as the `window` in the console. Is `window` even defined in the context in which you are running? — Makyen, May 10 '16 at 20:25
A large portion of what I was hoping to get from you including code was how you defined/obtained the `window` object in your extension, the context in which the code you are running (content script/main extension code), and the [kind of Firefox extension](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons) which you are writing. — Makyen, May 10 '16 at 20:36
From the fact that you tagged this as XUL, it is *probably* either a [Overlay/XUL](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/Overlay_Extensions), or [Restartless](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/Bootstrapped_extensions) extension. However, many people in other questions have been confused. So, it should be confirmed that it is *not* an [Add-on SDK](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/SDK), or a [WebExtensions](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/WebExtensions) add-on (particularly given that the latter two are more common at this point)? — Makyen, May 10 '16 at 20:38

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:59

The most likely issue is that the window in your extension is not the window object you are expecting.

Firefox add-ons generally run in a scope where the global window and document objects are not defined (if they are defined depends on how the portion of your code that is currently running was entered). Even if they are defined, they are often not defined as the window, or document which you are expecting (the window/document of the current tab). You will probably need to obtain a reference to both objects for the most recently accessed window/tab.

If a browser window exists (in some instances you could be running where no browser window exists, yet, e.g. at start-up), you can obtain a reference to the most recent browser window, document, and gBrowser with:

if (window === null || typeof window !== "object") {
    //If you do not already have a window reference, you need to obtain one:
    //  Add/remove a "/" to comment/un-comment the code appropriate for your add-on type.
    /* Add-on SDK:
    var window = require('sdk/window/utils').getMostRecentBrowserWindow();
    //*/
    //* Overlay and bootstrap (from almost any context/scope):
    var window=Components.classes["@mozilla.org/appshell/window-mediator;1"]
                         .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIWindowMediator)
                         .getMostRecentWindow("navigator:browser");        
    //*/
}
if (typeof document === "undefined") {
    //If there is no document defined, get it
    var document = window.content.document;
}
if (typeof gBrowser === "undefined") {
    //If there is no gBrowser defined, get it
    var gBrowser = window.gBrowser;
}

If you are running the code in response to an event (e.g. a button command event), you can obtain the current window with:

var window = event.view

The lack of having the global window an document objects available, or having them reference something other than what you are expecting, is something that many people encounter as a problem when writing Firefox add-ons.

Note: If you are wanting to be natively compatible with multi-process Firefox (Electrolysis, or e10s), then gaining access to the contents of the current document is more complex. There are shims in place which should make your code continue to work with multi-process Firefox for some time, but they may/will eventually go away.

References:

^{Large portions of this answer were copied from my earlier answers, including this link and here.}

Cannot get instance of TinyMCE in XUL Firefox extension

1 Answers1