ie8 var w= window.open() - "Message: Invalid argument."

Question

This is an old posting but maybe still useful for someone.

I had the same error message. In the end the problem was an invalid name for the second argument, i.e., I had a line like:

   window.open('/somefile.html', 'a window title', 'width=300');

The problem was 'a window title' as it is not valid. It worked fine with the following line:

   window.open('/somefile.html', '', 'width=300');

In fact, reading carefully I realized that Microsoft does not support a name as second argument. When you look at the official documentation page, you see that Microsoft only allows the following arguments, If using that argument at all:

• _blank
• _media
• _parent
• _search
• _self
• _top

IE is picky about the window name argument. It doesn't like spaces, dashes, or other punctuation.

When you call window.open in IE, the second argument (window name) has to be either one of the predefined target strings or a string, which has a form of a valid identifier in JavaScript.

So what works in Firefox: "Job Directory 9463460", does not work in Internet Exploder, and has to be replaced by: "Job_Directory_9463460" for example (no spaces, no minus signs, no dots, it has to be a valid identifier).

the problem might be the wname, try using one of those shown in the link above, i quote:

Optional. String that specifies the name of the window. This name is used as the value for the TARGET attribute on a form or an anchor element.

• _blank The sURL is loaded into a new, unnamed window.
• _media The url is loaded in the Media Bar in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and later. This feature is no longer supported. By default the url is loaded into a new browser window or tab.
• _parent The sURL is loaded into the current frame's parent. If the frame has no parent, this value acts as the value _self.
• _search Disabled in Windows Internet Explorer 7, see Security and Compatibility in Internet Explorer 7 for details. Otherwise, the sURL is opened in the browser's search pane in Internet Explorer 5 or later.
• _self The current document is replaced with the specified sURL.
• _top sURL replaces any framesets that may be loaded. If there are no framesets defined, this value acts as the value _self.

if using another wname, window.open won't execute...

Actually a name can be used however it cannot have spaces so window.open("../myPage","MyWindows",...) should work with no problem (window.open).

I also meet this issue while I used the following code:

window.open('test.html','Window title','width=1200,height=800,scrollbars=yes');

but when I delete the blank space of the "Window title" the below code is working:

window.open('test.html','Windowtitle','width=1200,height=800,scrollbars=yes');