experimental

frame/hidden-frame

The hidden-frame module creates Firefox frames (i.e. XUL <iframe> elements) that are not displayed to the user. It is useful in the construction of APIs that load web content not intended to be directly seen or accessed by users, like page-worker. It is also useful in the construction of APIs that load web content for intermittent display, such as panel.

The module exports a constructor function, HiddenFrame, and two other functions, add and remove.

HiddenFrame constructs a new hidden frame. add registers a hidden frame, preparing it to load content. remove unregisters a frame, unloading any content that was loaded in it.

The following code creates a hidden frame, loads a web page into it, and then logs its title:

var hiddenFrames = require("sdk/frame/hidden-frame");
let hiddenFrame = hiddenFrames.add(hiddenFrames.HiddenFrame({
  onReady: function() {
    this.element.contentWindow.location = "http://www.mozilla.org/";
    let self = this;
    this.element.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
      console.log(self.element.contentDocument.title);
    }, true, true);
  }
}));

See the panel module for a real-world example of usage of this module.

API Reference

Classes

HiddenFrame

HiddenFrame objects represent hidden frames.

Constructors
HiddenFrame(options)

Creates a hidden frame.

options : object

Options for the frame, with the following keys:

onReady : function,array

Functions to call when the frame is ready to load content. You must specify an onReady callback and refrain from using the hidden frame until the callback gets called, because hidden frames are not always ready to load content the moment they are added.

Properties
element : DOMElement

The host application frame in which the page is loaded.

Events
ready

This event is emitted when the DOM for a hidden frame content is ready. It is equivalent to the DOMContentLoaded event for the content page in a hidden frame.

Functions

add(hiddenFrame)

Register a hidden frame, preparing it to load content.

hiddenFrame : HiddenFrame

the frame to add

remove(hiddenFrame)

Unregister a hidden frame, unloading any content that was loaded in it.

hiddenFrame : HiddenFrame

the frame to remove