How can I detect the closing of an external window in JS?

Question

I have a piece of code that opens a window with:

  $("#authorization_link").click(function() {
    win = window.open($(this).attr("href"),'width=800,height=600');
  });

Now I want to run another block when window "win" is closed. What is the event and how do I run code on its detection?

you can add there `onbeforeunload` handler that will call to `opener` window — Ivan Chernykh, Jun 11 '13 at 18:44
Palash thanks for the pointer, but the spawned window in this case is to another website to which I have no control. — AKWF, Jun 11 '13 at 18:47
you can run with `setInterval` and check if `win` is `!=` null — Ivan Chernykh, Jun 11 '13 at 18:48
This is a good question, I don't think you can get this much access to a window you don't control for XSS/CSRF reasons, but I would be curious to see what people have to say. — OneChillDude, Jun 11 '13 at 18:50

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 05 '14 at 22:14

You must use intervals to check when/if the window was close Here is how you'll do it:

win = window.open($(this).attr("href"),'width=800,height=600');

function checkIfWinClosed(intervalID){
    if(win.closed){
        alert('windowsClosed');
        clearInterval(intervalID);
    }
}
var interval = setInterval(function(){
    checkIfWinClosed(interval);
},1000);

And here is a working example in fiddle

Hope that helps.

How can I detect the closing of an external window in JS?

1 Answers1