uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property "top" of null

Question

I got a pretty annoying javascript error. The world famous:

uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property "top" of null

Here is the code:

$(function() {

var setTitle = function(title, href) {
        title = 'Derp: ' + title;
        href = href || '';

        history.pushState({id: href}, title, href.replace('#', '/'));
        document.title = title;
    },
    scroll = function(url, speed) {

        var href = typeof url == 'string' ? url : $(this).attr('href'),
            target = $(href),
            offset = target.offset(),
            title = target.find('h1').text();

        if(typeof url == 'number') {
            target = [{id:''}];
            offset = {top: url};
        }

        //  And move the element
        if(offset.top) {
            //  Set the new URL and title
            setTitle(title, href);

            //  Make sure we're not moving the contact panel
            if(target[0].id != 'contact') {
                $('html, body').animate({scrollTop: offset.top}, speed);
            }
        }

        return false;
    };

//  Handle existing URL fragments on load
if(location.pathname.length > 1) {
    scroll(location.pathname.replace('/', '#'), 0);
}

$('a#logo').click(function() {
    $('html,body').animate({scrollTop: 0});
    return false;
});

//  Handle internal link clicks
$('a[href^=#]:not(#logo)').click(scroll);


//  Close the "Get In Touch" box
var box = $('#contact'),
    moveBox = function() {
        var closing = $(this).attr('class') == 'close',
            amount = closing ? -(box.height() + 20) : 0,
            cb = closing ? '' : function() { box.animate({marginTop: -10}, 150); };

        box.animate({marginTop: amount}, cb);
    };

box.css('margin-top', -(box.height() + 20));
$('#contact a.close, #get-in-touch').click(moveBox);


//  Nasty little fix for vertical centering
$('.vertical').each(function() {
    $(this).css('margin-top', -($(this).height() / 2));
});


//  Work panels
var parent = $('#work'),
    panels = parent.children('div');

panels.each(function() {
    $(this).css('width', 100 / panels.length + '%');
})

parent.css('width', (panels.length * 100) + '%');


//  Bind the keyboards
$(document).keyup(function(e) {
    var actions = {
        //  Left
        37: function() {
            var prev = panels.filter('.active').prev().not('small');

            if(prev.length > 0) {
                prev.siblings().removeClass('active');

                setTitle(prev.find('h1').text(), prev[0].id);

                setTimeout(function() {
                    prev.addClass('active');
                }, 250);

                parent.animate({left: '+=100%'}).css('background-color', '#' + prev.attr('data-background'));
            }
        },

        //  Right
        39: function() {
            var next = panels.filter('.active').next();

            if(next.length > 0) {
                next.siblings().removeClass('active');

                setTitle(next.find('h1').text(), next[0].id);

                setTimeout(function() {
                    next.addClass('active');
                }, 250);

                parent.animate({left: '-=100%'}).css('background-color', '#' + next.attr('data-background'));
            }
        },

        //  Down
        40: function() {
            var w = $(window),
                height = w.height() * panels.children('div').length,
                h = w.height() + w.scrollTop();

            if(h < height) {
                scroll(h);
            }
        },

        //  Up
        38: function() {
            var w = $(window);
            $('html,body').animate({scrollTop: w.scrollTop() - w.height()});
        }
    };

    //  Call a function based on keycode
    if(actions[e.which]) {
        actions[e.which]();
    }

    e.preventDefault();
    return false;
});


//  Fix crazy resize bugs
$(window).resize(function() {

    var m = $(this),
        h = m.height(),
        s = m.scrollTop();

    if((h - s) < (h / 2)) {
        m.scrollTop(h);
    }

    //$('html,body').animate({scrollTop: s});
});


//  slideshow
var woof = function() {
        var slides = $('#molly li'),
            active = slides.filter('.active');

        if(!active.length) {
            active = slides.last();
        }

        active.addClass('active');

        var next = active.next().length ? active.next() : slides.first();

        next.css('opacity', 0).addClass('active').animate({opacity: 1}, function() {
            active.removeClass('active last-active');
        });
    };

setInterval(woof, 3000);


//  easing
$.easing.swing = function(v,i,s,u,a,l) {
    if((i /= a / 2) < 1) {
        return u / 2 * (Math.pow(i, 3)) + s;
    }

    return u / 2 * ((i -= 2) * i * i + 2) + s;
};

//  Change the default .animate() time: http://forr.st/~PG0
$.fx.speeds._default = 600;
});

try{Typekit.load()}catch(e){}

Sorry for this long monster but I thought it could be useful for you to see the whole thing. The Error warning shows up in this part:

//  And move the element
        if(offset.top) {

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'top' of null

It's line 23 in the code.

That's it. Could you give me a hint on how to solve this problem? Thank you!

Answer 1

var href = typeof url == 'string' ? url : $(this).attr('href'),
target = $(href), //line 2
offset = target.offset(), //line 3

I believe this must have something to do with line 2, target should be null when error occurs