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How to invoke javascript function when # is present in URL

I am trying to call JavaScript function when # is present in URL. I know normal behavior is to navigate / scroll to the specific tag. But could not find how to invoke a JavaScript function.
The below example is close but not solving my problem.
What is the meaning of # in URL and how can I use that?

You might be able to leverage the hashchange event to trigger the function, assuming you don't just want to keep polling the location to see if it changes.
DOCS: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/hashchange_event
This code snippet will add the listener to the current page, then manipulate the hash and fire the function, displaying the new hash value. You could call any function here.
window.addEventListener('hashchange', function() {
alert(location.hash);
});
window.location += "#test";

var hash = window.location.hash;
if(hash){
// do something
}

<script>
if (window.location.href.includes('#')) {
// run your code here
}
</script>

use a location.hash function will solve your problem
var hash = window.location.hash.replace(/#/g, '');
if(hash){
// found a hash
console.log("heyy I found a hash")'
}
else{
// did not find a hash
console.log("Uh oh")
/*
try using :
window.location = window.location + '#' + "some random variable"
to create a new URL and every time the page loads find the hash and
display the wanted data.
*/
}
PS: this only works if your URL is like example.com/#xyz
then it will give you xyz as a console output. This may sound
vague but if you do this you may get a Idea

How can I detect back button in the browser?

I have a function named back() which will be used for ajax calls. Actually I have an array stack contains last 5 search results and that back function will switch to the previous result set (according to that array stack) and it even changes the URL using window.history.pushState() when you click on the back button.
That back button I was talking about, is an element inside the browser which revokes back() function. Now I want to revoke back() function also when user click on the back button of the browser. Something like this:
window.onhashchange = function() {
back(); // this function also changes the url
}
But sadly window.onhashchange will be revokes twice when I click on the back of the browser. Because window.onhashchange will be revoked when you change the URL using window.history.pushState().
Anyway, how can I detect what things changes the URL? Either my JS code or the back button of the browser?

You can use performance.navigation.type
At any given point, for example on document.onload, you can read the value of type and, if it's:
0 The page was accessed by following a link, a bookmark, a form submission, a script, or typing the URL in the address bar.
1 The page was accessed by clicking the Reload button or via the Location.reload() method.
2 The page was accessed by navigating into the history.
255 any other way.
Just beware that support is limited according to the compatibilty table.
However, from the looks of it, it seems the table is outdated. It says it is not supported on chrome and I just tested it and works as expected on my chrome version (67.0)

One of solution is to implement onunload event with localstorage option.
This is from my head maybe you will need correction but this is base !
var history = [];
window.onload = function(){
var handler;
if ( localStorage.getItem('history') == null ) {
// FIRST TIME
history[0] = window.location.href;
localStorage.setItem("history", JSON.stringify(history));
}
else {
handler = localStorage.getItem('history');
handler = JSON.parse(handler);
history = handler;
// Just compare now
if (history[history.length-1] == window.location.href) {
// no change
} else {
history.push(window.location.href);
}
}
}
window.onunload = function(){
localStorage.setItem('history', JSON.stringify(history));
}
Note :
Since 25 May 2011, the HTML5 specification states that calls to
window.alert(), window.confirm(), and window.prompt() methods may be
ignored during this event. See the HTML5 specification for more
details.

How to handle back button while changing the browser-URL with HTML5 pushState

I’ve made a one page site. When user clicks on the menu buttons, content is loaded with ajax.
It works fine.
In order to improve SEO and to allow user to copy / past URL of different content, i use
function show_content() {
// change URL in browser bar)
window.history.pushState("", "Content", "/content.php");
// ajax
$content.load("ajax/content.php?id="+id);
}
It works fine. URL changes and the browser doesn’t reload the page
However, when user clicks on back button in browser, the url changes and the content have to be loaded.
I've done this and it works :
window.onpopstate = function(event) {
if (document.location.pathname == '/4-content.php') {
show_content_1();
}
else if (document.location.pathname == '/1-content.php') {
show_content_2();
}
else if (document.location.pathname == '/6-content.php') {
show_content_();
}
};
Do you know if there is a way to improve this code ?

What I did was passing an object literal to pushState() on page load. This way you can always go back to your first created pushState. In my case I had to push twice before I could go back. Pushing a state on page load helped me out.
HTML5 allows you to use data-attributes so for your triggers you can use those to bind HTML data.
I use a try catch because I didn't had time to find a polyfill for older browsers. You might want to check Modernizr if this is needed in your case.
PAGELOAD
try {
window.history.pushState({
url: '',
id: this.content.data("id"), // html data-id
label: this.content.data("label") // html data-label
}, "just content or your label variable", window.location.href);
} catch (e) {
console.log(e);
}
EVENT HANDLERS
An object filled with default information
var obj = {
url: settings.assetsPath, // this came from php
lang: settings.language, // this came from php
historyData: {}
};
Bind the history.pushState() trigger. In my case a delegate since I have dynamic elements on the page.
// click a trigger -> push state
this.root.on("click", ".cssSelector", function (ev) {
var path = [],
urlChunk = document.location.pathname; // to follow your example
// some data-attributes you need? like id or label
// override obj.historyData
obj.historyData.id = $(ev.currentTarget).data("id");
// create a relative path for security reasons
path.push("..", obj.lang, label, urlChunk);
path = path.join("/");
// attempt to push a state
try {
window.history.pushState(obj.historyData, label, path);
this.back.fadeIn();
this.showContent(obj.historyData.id);
} catch (e) {
console.log(e);
}
});
Bind the history.back() event to a custom button, link or something.
I used .preventDefault() since my button is a link.
// click back arrow -> history
this.back.on("click", function (ev) {
ev.preventDefault();
window.history.back();
});
When history pops back -> check for a pushed state unless it was the first attempt
$(window).on("popstate", function (ev) {
var originalState = ev.originalEvent.state || obj.historyData;
if (!originalState) {
// no history, hide the back button or something
this.back.fadeOut();
return;
} else {
// do something
this.showContent(obj.historyData.id);
}
});
Using object literals as a parameter is handy to pass your id's. Then you can use one function showContent(id).
Wherever I've used this it's nothing more than a jQuery object/function, stored inside an IIFE.
Please note I put these scripts together from my implementation combined with some ideas from your initial request. So hopefully this gives you some new ideas ;)

How to run a javascript function using the # in the url?

hi this all started when i ran a function (lets call it loadround) that altered the innerHTML of an iframe. now once loadframe was loaded there were links in the iframe that once clicked would change the iframe page. the only problem is when i click the back button the loadround page was gone. i've thought about this numerous times to no avail. so i tried this code.
loadround
then
function loadround(a,b){
window.location.hash = "#loadround('"+a+"','"+b+"')";
var code = "<(h2)>"+a+"</(h2)><(h2)>"+b+"</(h2)>"
var iFrame = document.getElementById('iframe');
var iFrameBody;
iFrameBody = iFrame.contentDocument.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]
iFrameBody.innerHTML = code;
}
(the brackets in the h2 are intentional)
then i would try to reload the function by possibly an onload function but for now i was testing with a simple href as followed.
function check(){
var func = location.hash.replace(/#/, '')
void(func);
}
check
unfortunately the check code doesn't work and im almost certain there is an easier way of doing this. i tried changing the src of the iframe instead of the innerhtml and there was the same problem. thanks in advance

The modern browsers are starting to support the event window.onhashchange
In the meantime you can use the workaround proposed by Lekensteyn or maybe you can find something useful here: JavaScript/jQuery - onhashchange event workaround

You are misunderstanding the function void, which just make sure the return value is undefined. That prevents the browser from navigating away when you put it in a link. You can test that yourself by pasting the next addresses in your browser:
javascript:1 // note: return value 1, browser will print "1" on screen
javascript:void(1) // note: undefined return value, browser won't navigate away
It's strongly discouraged to execute the hash part as Javascript, as it's vulnerable to XSS without proper validating it. You should watch the hash part, and on modification, do something.
An example; watch every 50 milliseconds for modifications in the hash part, and insert in a element with ID targetElement an heading with the hash part. If the hash part is not valid, replace the current entry with home.
var oldHash = '';
function watchHash(){
// strip the first character (#) from location.hash
var newHash = location.hash.substr(1);
if (oldHash != newHash) {
// assume that the parameter are alphanumeric characters or digits
var validated = newHash.match(/^(\w+)$/);
// make sure the hash is valid
if (validated) {
// usually, you would do a HTTP request and use the parameter
var code = "<h1>" + validated[1] + "</h1>";
var element = document.getElementById("targetElement");
element.innerHTML = code;
} else {
// invalid hash, redirect to #home, without creating a new history entry
location.replace("#home");
}
// and set the new state
oldHash = newHash;
}
}
// periodically (every 50 ms) watch for modification in the hash part
setInterval(watchHash, 50);
HTML code:
Home
About Me
Contact
<div id="targetElement">
<!-- HTML will be inserted here -->
</div>

Prevent a webpage from navigating away using JavaScript

How to prevent a webpage from navigating away using JavaScript?

Using onunload allows you to display messages, but will not interrupt the navigation (because it is too late). However, using onbeforeunload will interrupt navigation:
window.onbeforeunload = function() {
return "";
}
Note: An empty string is returned because newer browsers provide a message such as "Any unsaved changes will be lost" that cannot be overridden.
In older browsers you could specify the message to display in the prompt:
window.onbeforeunload = function() {
return "Are you sure you want to navigate away?";
}

Unlike other methods presented here, this bit of code will not cause the browser to display a warning asking the user if he wants to leave; instead, it exploits the evented nature of the DOM to redirect back to the current page (and thus cancel navigation) before the browser has a chance to unload it from memory.
Since it works by short-circuiting navigation directly, it cannot be used to prevent the page from being closed; however, it can be used to disable frame-busting.
(function () {
var location = window.document.location;
var preventNavigation = function () {
var originalHashValue = location.hash;
window.setTimeout(function () {
location.hash = 'preventNavigation' + ~~ (9999 * Math.random());
location.hash = originalHashValue;
}, 0);
};
window.addEventListener('beforeunload', preventNavigation, false);
window.addEventListener('unload', preventNavigation, false);
})();
Disclaimer: You should never do this. If a page has frame-busting code on it, please respect the wishes of the author.

The equivalent in a more modern and browser compatible way, using modern addEventListener APIs.
window.addEventListener('beforeunload', (event) => {
// Cancel the event as stated by the standard.
event.preventDefault();
// Chrome requires returnValue to be set.
event.returnValue = '';
});
Source: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Events/beforeunload

I ended up with this slightly different version:
var dirty = false;
window.onbeforeunload = function() {
return dirty ? "If you leave this page you will lose your unsaved changes." : null;
}
Elsewhere I set the dirty flag to true when the form gets dirtied (or I otherwise want to prevent navigating away). This allows me to easily control whether or not the user gets the Confirm Navigation prompt.
With the text in the selected answer you see redundant prompts:

In Ayman's example by returning false you prevent the browser window/tab from closing.
window.onunload = function () {
alert('You are trying to leave.');
return false;
}

The equivalent to the accepted answer in jQuery 1.11:
$(window).on("beforeunload", function () {
return "Please don't leave me!";
});
JSFiddle example
altCognito's answer used the unload event, which happens too late for JavaScript to abort the navigation.

That suggested error message may duplicate the error message the browser already displays. In chrome, the 2 similar error messages are displayed one after another in the same window.
In chrome, the text displayed after the custom message is: "Are you sure you want to leave this page?". In firefox, it does not display our custom error message at all (but still displays the dialog).
A more appropriate error message might be:
window.onbeforeunload = function() {
return "If you leave this page, you will lose any unsaved changes.";
}
Or stackoverflow style: "You have started writing or editing a post."

If you are catching a browser back/forward button and don't want to navigate away, you can use:
window.addEventListener('popstate', function() {
if (window.location.origin !== 'http://example.com') {
// Do something if not your domain
} else if (window.location.href === 'http://example.com/sign-in/step-1') {
window.history.go(2); // Skip the already-signed-in pages if the forward button was clicked
} else if (window.location.href === 'http://example.com/sign-in/step-2') {
window.history.go(-2); // Skip the already-signed-in pages if the back button was clicked
} else {
// Let it do its thing
}
});
Otherwise, you can use the beforeunload event, but the message may or may not work cross-browser, and requires returning something that forces a built-in prompt.

Use onunload.
For jQuery, I think this works like so:
$(window).unload(function() {
alert("Unloading");
return falseIfYouWantToButBeCareful();
});

If you need to toggle the state back to no notification on exit, use the following line:
window.onbeforeunload = null;