Question

Sysadmin and coding ignoramus tries to make a simple job page. It has a simple javascript function:

function run(job){
    var ok = confirm("Are you sure?");
    if(ok == true){
        location = 'job.php?op=' + job;
        window.location.href = location;
    } else {
        window.location.reload();
    }
}

Called by a simple button:

<button style="color: red" onclick="run('test1');">Test1</button>

Keyword here being simple, like my understanding.

This worked in Chrome, but the button does nothing in Firefox (current versions of both browsers).

In trying to debug the script I added a simple alert line before the .href so the script reads like so:

function run(job){
    var ok = confirm("Are you sure?");
    if(ok == true){
        location = 'job.php?op=' + job;
        alert(location);
        window.location.href = location;
    } else {
        window.location.reload();
    }
}

… and then the script also worked in Firefox. I could see the alert appear briefly but it redirected instantly and disappeared in a fraction of a second. But in Chrome the popup persists so it’s not a good workaround, and the behaviour in Firefox is weird which tells me I’m doing-it-wrong.

My question is, why does the script behave inconsistently, and how can I avoid this behaviour so it is consistent in both browsers, and doesn’t require an additional alert()?

Answer 1

I think the issue might be that location is equivalent to window.location in that context. As you’ve not made location a local variable it will be an implied global.

Rename your location variable to something else or change it to a local variable by using ‘var location’:

    var location = 'job.php?op=' + job;
    alert(location);
    window.location.href = location;