Use JS to open window in place of current browser window and then close it?

Question

Ok, I know that you cant close a window using JS unless your JS script also opened that window. So, is it possible to open a new window in place of the current window & then close it?

I have a button that onclick send some value to my DB once they hit ok on the popup, the window should close.

Any specific way this can be done?

Just don't use a popup window, many browsers block those by default and also the browser might choose how it's opened (it may also open a new tab instead of a real window). — xander, Nov 29 '17 at 13:08
so how do I get that behaviour of sending the user entry, have them press ok on an alert and then the page/tab close? or is that not doable? — Miah Thompson, Nov 29 '17 at 13:09
Show modal dialog (popular frameworks offer these) and populate it how you want to. The user interacts (changes things then presses a button) and you use Ajax to post the data to your server, then close the modal dialog - still in the same browser and on the original page. — Reinstate Monica Cellio, Nov 29 '17 at 13:10
Possible duplicate of [Open URL in new window with Javascript](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14132122/open-url-in-new-window-with-javascript) — Marcel, Nov 29 '17 at 13:15
I can open the window fine, it's just not closing. That question is about how to open, mine is more how to close. — Miah Thompson, Nov 29 '17 at 13:58
Maybe this [How can I close a browser window ...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57854/how-can-i-close-a-browser-window-without-receiving-the-do-you-want-to-close-thi) might help — Sorix, Nov 29 '17 at 14:12
@Sorix That question is about closing a window without the popup you get when you weren't the opener. It's not relevant here as the OP is opening the window from their own script. — Reinstate Monica Cellio, Nov 29 '17 at 14:19
@Archer window.close() should work in this case. I agree that it is not the same question but if the answer is the same, maybe there is no need to open a new question for every similar problem. On the other hand, if window.close() is not working, the question might need further detailing. — Sorix, Nov 29 '17 at 14:28
@Sorix yes, `window.close()` is exactly what the OP needs, but the question you linked covers a different topic. It's misleading if all that's needed is closing a window, and will just confuse the issue. — Reinstate Monica Cellio, Nov 29 '17 at 14:34

Reinstate Monica Cellio · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-13T15:29:55.923

As you say, you can close a window if it was opened by a script. If your 2nd window has a button in it like this...

<button id="closeWindow">click me to close this window</button>

Then you can attach this Javascript...

document.querySelector("#closeWindow").addEventListener("click", function() {
    window.close();
});

Add that script into the page that you show in the new window and it will close it when you click the button.

However, as I said in my comment above, I'd really recommend using a modal dialog instead, like you see with the likes of Bootstrap etc.. They're much nicer, very user friendly and easier to work with.

Use JS to open window in place of current browser window and then close it?

1 Answers1