How To Access Parent Window Object Using Jquery

Being able to access the parent window object using jQuery can be really useful when you are developing web applications that involve interacting between different windows or iframes on the same webpage. This feature allows you to communicate and share information across these different components efficiently. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps on how to achieve this using jQuery.

Firstly, it's important to understand that when you are working with iframes or pop-up windows, each window has its own window object. The parent window object refers to the main window that contains these iframes or pop-up windows. By accessing the parent window object, you can manipulate elements and retrieve information from the parent window within your iframe or pop-up window.

To access the parent window object, you can use the following line of code in your jQuery script:

var parentWindow = window.parent;

In this line of code, the `window.parent` property refers to the parent window object. By assigning it to a variable like `parentWindow`, you can now use this variable to access properties or call functions from the parent window object.

Once you have the parent window object stored in a variable, you can interact with elements in the parent window. For example, if you want to access an element with a specific ID in the parent window, you can do so by using jQuery like this:

var parentElement = $(parentWindow.document).find('#parentElementID');

In this code snippet, `$(parentWindow.document)` selects the document object of the parent window, and `find('#parentElementID')` is used to find an element with the ID `parentElementID` within the parent window.

You can also communicate data between the parent window and the current iframe or pop-up window by setting values or triggering events. Let's say you want to send a message or data to the parent window from the iframe or pop-up window. You can achieve this by using the following code:

$(parentWindow).trigger('customEvent', ['Data to send to parent window']);

In this code, `$(parentWindow).trigger('customEvent', ['Data to send to parent window']);` triggers a custom event named `customEvent` in the parent window and sends data along with it.

On the other hand, if you want to listen for events or data sent from the parent window in your iframe or pop-up window, you can use the following code:

$(window).on('customEvent', function(event, data) {
  console.log(data); // Output: Data to send to parent window
});

In this code, `$(window).on('customEvent', function(event, data) { ... });` listens for the custom event `customEvent` triggered by the parent window and logs the data received.

By understanding how to access the parent window object using jQuery and implementing these techniques in your web applications, you can create more dynamic and interactive user experiences. Don't hesitate to experiment with these concepts and see how they can enhance your projects!