JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Name

History: the URL history of the browser — JavaScript 1.0: Object → History

Synopsis

window.history
history

Properties

length

This numeric property specifies the number of URLs in the browser’s history list. Since there is no way to determine the index of the currently displayed document within this list, knowing the size of this list is not particularly helpful.

Methods

back( )

Goes backward to a previously visited URL.

forward( )

Goes forward to a previously visited URL.

go( )

Goes to a previously visited URL.

Description

The History object was originally designed to represent the browsing history of a window. For privacy reasons, however, the History object no longer allows scripted access to the actual URLs that have been visited. The only functionality that remains is in the use of the back( ), forward( ), and go( ) methods.

Example

The following line performs the same action as clicking a browser’s Back button:

history.back( );

The following line performs the same action as clicking the Back button twice:

history.go(-2);

See Also

The history property of the Window object, Location