jQuery/JavaScript: accessing contents of an iframe

825
votes

I would like to manipulate the HTML inside an iframe using jQuery.

I thought I'd be able to do this by setting the context of the jQuery function to be the document of the iframe, something like:

$(function(){ //document ready
    $('some selector', frames['nameOfMyIframe'].document).doStuff()
});

However this doesn't seem to work. A bit of inspection shows me that the variables in frames['nameOfMyIframe'] are undefined unless I wait a while for the iframe to load. However, when the iframe loads the variables are not accessible (I get permission denied-type errors).

Does anyone know of a work-around to this?

14
javascriptjqueryiframesame-origin-policy
What does the iFrame contain - is its src set to another domain? – James
if it is a other domain,is there still a way to access its content or register an event – adardesign
No, because that would be cross-site scripting, which is prohibited for security reasons. My solution was to use a proxy: feed the HTML in the IFRAME verbatim through my own site so it's no longer cross-site fro mthe browser's perspective. – reinierpost
It’s more cross-browser to use .contentWindow.document than .document on the iframe element. I’ll suggest the change above. – Alan H.
one way is chrome extensions – Muhammad Umer

14 Answers

396
votes

I think what you are doing is subject to the same origin policy. This should be the reason why you are getting permission denied type errors.

1008
votes

If the <iframe> is from the same domain, the elements are easily accessible as

$("#iFrame").contents().find("#someDiv").removeClass("hidden");

Reference

94
votes

You could use .contents() method of jQuery.

The .contents() method can also be used to get the content document of an iframe, if the iframe is on the same domain as the main page.

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('#frameID').load(function(){
        $('#frameID').contents().find('body').html('Hey, i`ve changed content of <body>! Yay!!!');
    });
});
46
votes

If the iframe src is from another domain you can still do it. You need to read the external page into PHP and echo it from your domain. Like this:

iframe_page.php

<?php
    $URL = "http://external.com";

    $domain = file_get_contents($URL);

    echo $domain;
?>

Then something like this:

display_page.html

<html>
<head>
  <title>Test</title>
 </head>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

<script>

$(document).ready(function(){   
    cleanit = setInterval ( "cleaning()", 500 );
});

function cleaning(){
    if($('#frametest').contents().find('.selector').html() == "somthing"){
        clearInterval(cleanit);
        $('#selector').contents().find('.Link').html('ideate tech');
    }
}

</script>

<body>
<iframe name="frametest" id="frametest" src="http://yourdomain.com/iframe_page.php" ></iframe>
</body>
</html>

The above is an example of how to edit an external page through an iframe without the access denied etc...

33
votes

Use

iframe.contentWindow.document

instead of

iframe.contentDocument
32
votes

I find this way cleaner:

var $iframe = $("#iframeID").contents();
$iframe.find('selector');
27
votes

You need to attach an event to an iframe's onload handler, and execute the js in there, so that you make sure the iframe has finished loading before accessing it. 

$().ready(function () {
    $("#iframeID").ready(function () { //The function below executes once the iframe has finished loading
        $('some selector', frames['nameOfMyIframe'].document).doStuff();
    });
};

The above will solve the 'not-yet-loaded' problem, but as regards the permissions, if you are loading a page in the iframe that is from a different domain, you won't be able to access it due to security restrictions.

21
votes

You can use window.postMessage to call a function between page and his iframe (cross domain or not).

Documentation

page.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Page with an iframe</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
    <script>
    var Page = {
        id:'page',
        variable:'This is the page.'
    };

    $(window).on('message', function(e) {
        var event = e.originalEvent;
        if(window.console) {
            console.log(event);
        }
        alert(event.origin + '\n' + event.data);
    });
    function iframeReady(iframe) {
        if(iframe.contentWindow.postMessage) {
            iframe.contentWindow.postMessage('Hello ' + Page.id, '*');
        }
    }
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Page with an iframe</h1>
    <iframe src="iframe.html" onload="iframeReady(this);"></iframe>
</body>
</html>

iframe.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>iframe</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
    <script>
    var Page = {
        id:'iframe',
        variable:'The iframe.'
    };

    $(window).on('message', function(e) {
        var event = e.originalEvent;
        if(window.console) {
            console.log(event);
        }
        alert(event.origin + '\n' + event.data);
    });
    $(window).on('load', function() {
        if(window.parent.postMessage) {
            window.parent.postMessage('Hello ' + Page.id, '*');
        }
    });
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>iframe</h1>
    <p>It's the iframe.</p>
</body>
</html>
4
votes

I prefer to use other variant for accessing. From parent you can have a access to variable in child iframe. $ is a variable too and you can receive access to its just call window.iframe_id.$

For example, window.view.$('div').hide() - hide all divs in iframe with id 'view'

But, it doesn't work in FF. For better compatibility you should use

$('#iframe_id')[0].contentWindow.$

2
votes

Have you tried the classic, waiting for the load to complete using jQuery's builtin ready function?

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('some selector', frames['nameOfMyIframe'].document).doStuff()
} );

K

2
votes

I create a sample code . Now you can easily understand from different domain you can't access content of iframe .. Same domain we can access iframe content

I share you my code , Please run this code check the console . I print image src at console. There are four iframe , two iframe coming from same domain & other two from other domain(third party) .You can see two image src( https://www.google.com/logos/doodles/2015/googles-new-logo-5078286822539264.3-hp2x.gif

and

https://www.google.com/logos/doodles/2015/arbor-day-2015-brazil-5154560611975168-hp2x.gif ) at console and also can see two permission error( 2 Error: Permission denied to access property 'document'

...irstChild)},contents:function(a){return m.nodeName(a,"iframe")?a.contentDocument...

) which is coming from third party iframe. 

<body id="page-top" data-spy="scroll" data-target=".navbar-fixed-top">
<p>iframe from same domain</p>
  <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="500" height="500"
   src="iframe.html" name="imgbox" class="iView">

</iframe>
<p>iframe from same domain</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="500" height="500"
   src="iframe2.html" name="imgbox" class="iView1">

</iframe>
<p>iframe from different  domain</p>
 <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="500" height="500"
   src="https://www.google.com/logos/doodles/2015/googles-new-logo-5078286822539264.3-hp2x.gif" name="imgbox" class="iView2">

</iframe>

<p>iframe from different  domain</p>
 <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="500" height="500"
   src="http://d1rmo5dfr7fx8e.cloudfront.net/" name="imgbox" class="iView3">

</iframe>

<script type='text/javascript'>


$(document).ready(function(){
    setTimeout(function(){


        var src = $('.iView').contents().find(".shrinkToFit").attr('src');
    console.log(src);
         }, 2000);


    setTimeout(function(){


        var src = $('.iView1').contents().find(".shrinkToFit").attr('src');
    console.log(src);
         }, 3000);


    setTimeout(function(){


        var src = $('.iView2').contents().find(".shrinkToFit").attr('src');
    console.log(src);
         }, 3000);

         setTimeout(function(){


        var src = $('.iView3').contents().find("img").attr('src');
    console.log(src);
         }, 3000);


    })


</script>
</body>
1
votes

For even more robustness:

function getIframeWindow(iframe_object) {
  var doc;

  if (iframe_object.contentWindow) {
    return iframe_object.contentWindow;
  }

  if (iframe_object.window) {
    return iframe_object.window;
  } 

  if (!doc && iframe_object.contentDocument) {
    doc = iframe_object.contentDocument;
  } 

  if (!doc && iframe_object.document) {
    doc = iframe_object.document;
  }

  if (doc && doc.defaultView) {
   return doc.defaultView;
  }

  if (doc && doc.parentWindow) {
    return doc.parentWindow;
  }

  return undefined;
}

and 

...
var frame_win = getIframeWindow( frames['nameOfMyIframe'] );

if (frame_win) {
  $(frame_win.contentDocument || frame_win.document).find('some selector').doStuff();
  ...
}
...
1
votes

I ended up here looking for getting the content of an iframe without jquery, so for anyone else looking for that, it is just this:

document.querySelector('iframe[name=iframename]').contentDocument
1
votes

This solution works same as iFrame. I have created a PHP script that can get all the contents from the other website, and most important part is you can easily apply your custom jQuery to that external content. Please refer to the following script that can get all the contents from the other website and then you can apply your cusom jQuery/JS as well. This content can be used anywhere, inside any element or any page.

<div id='myframe'>

  <?php 
   /* 
    Use below function to display final HTML inside this div
   */

   //Display Frame
   echo displayFrame(); 
  ?>

</div>

<?php

/* 
  Function to display frame from another domain 
*/

function displayFrame()
{
  $webUrl = 'http://[external-web-domain.com]/';

  //Get HTML from the URL
  $content = file_get_contents($webUrl);

  //Add custom JS to returned HTML content
  $customJS = "
  <script>

      /* Here I am writing a sample jQuery to hide the navigation menu
         You can write your own jQuery for this content
      */
    //Hide Navigation bar
    jQuery(\".navbar.navbar-default\").hide();

  </script>";

  //Append Custom JS with HTML
  $html = $content . $customJS;

  //Return customized HTML
  return $html;
}