Element.prototype in IE

[Jesse]

Hi,

I've defined some functions for HTML elements in my script using:

Element.prototype.somefunction= function(){function_body}
etc.

It works brilliant in firefox but of course internet explorer has issues with it. I get the error: 'Element is not defined'.

I read on some blog that this can be fixed with adding a 'HTC file' but I didn't really understand the explanation of how to do it.

Is there someone who can explain this to me or, better, who has an easier solution for this problem?

tnx

[astupidname]

You have not provided enough info about your code to tell you explicitly where you are going wrong, so please in the future.. post some more code so people can help tell you more accurately where you are going wrong. I don't know why it does not work for you, but it does work. Do you have a constructor function defined in your script with the name Element? Try the following out, and welcome to webmasterworld!

<script type="text/javascript">
window.onload = function () {stinky.weirdnoise(); stinky.strangenoise();};

function Element(){
this.betterGetThatChecked = "prhraaappp bbloooop splaupp";
var badsound = "phhoooootttt";
this.weirdnoise = function () {
alert(badsound);
};
}

Element.prototype.strangenoise = function () {
alert(this.betterGetThatChecked);
};

stinky = new Element();

</script>

[daveVk]

Prototyping on DOM elements does not work in IE.

I think you can manually add functions to each element you need it on

function fred( ) { ... }
...
element.somefunction = fred; // after createElement or loop thru existing elements

HTC is a non standard oddity I would avoid.

[Jesse]

Thanks for your response. I'll post some more code. My function is:

Element.prototype.getParentBy=function(prop, val){

a=this.parentNode
while(a.tagName!="BODY"){
if(a[prop]==val){ return a;}
a=a.parentNode;
}
return false;
}

it searches for the first parent of an element with the specified property and value, i.e.
someHTMLelement.getParentBy("className", "container")

I really don't want to define this function for every specific element I might want to use it on so that's no solution.

I hope this is enough information. It works fine in firefox and I'd really like to get it to work in IE also, so any solution, even one with a 'HTC' file (allthough I have no idea whatthose are) would be greatly appreciated.

[daveVk]

I would cop out and rewrite it as a function

function getParent( Element, prop, val){ ... }

Not great but better than this ? [msdn.microsoft.com...]

[Jesse]

Yeah, I thought about rewriting it but this is not the only such function I have in my script. They make my code very neat and tidy the way they are. I think I'll look into the HTC. It certainly looks like a 'nonstandard oddity', as you said, but hey, so is internet explorer. Thanks for the resource link.

[daveVk]

It may be worth looking inside one of framework libraries that provide getElementByClassName for tricks.