Annotation of html5/postmsg/Overview.html, revision 1.9

1.1       ihickson    1: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"><!-- when publishing, change bits marked ZZZ --><html lang="en-US-x-Hixie"><title>HTML5 Communications</title><style type="text/css">
                      2:    pre { margin-left: 2em; white-space: pre-wrap; }
                      3:    h2 { margin: 3em 0 1em 0; }
                      4:    h3 { margin: 2.5em 0 1em 0; }
                      5:    h4 { margin: 2.5em 0 0.75em 0; }
                      6:    h5, h6 { margin: 2.5em 0 1em; }
                      7:    h1 + h2, h1 + h2 + h2 { margin: 0.75em 0 0.75em; }
                      8:    h2 + h3, h3 + h4, h4 + h5, h5 + h6 { margin-top: 0.5em; }
                      9:    p { margin: 1em 0; }
                     10:    hr:not(.top) { display: block; background: none; border: none; padding: 0; margin: 2em 0; height: auto; }
                     11:    dl, dd { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; }
                     12:    dt { margin-top: 0.75em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; clear: left; }
                     13:    dt + dt { margin-top: 0; }
                     14:    dd dt { margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0; }
                     15:    dd p { margin-top: 0; }
                     16:    dd dl + p { margin-top: 1em; }
                     17:    dd table + p { margin-top: 1em; }
                     18:    p + * > li, dd li { margin: 1em 0; }
                     19:    dt, dfn { font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; }
                     20:    dt dfn { font-style: italic; }
                     21:    pre, code { font-size: inherit; font-family: monospace; font-variant: normal; }
                     22:    pre strong { color: black; font: inherit; font-weight: bold; background: yellow; }
                     23:    pre em { font-weight: bolder; font-style: normal; }
                     24:    @media screen { code { color: orangered; } code :link, code :visited { color: inherit; } }
                     25:    var sub { vertical-align: bottom; font-size: smaller; position: relative; top: 0.1em; }
                     26:    table { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: hidden hidden none hidden; }
                     27:    table thead { border-bottom: solid; }
                     28:    table tbody th:first-child { border-left: solid; }
                     29:    table tbody th { text-align: left; }
                     30:    table td, table th { border-left: solid; border-right: solid; border-bottom: solid thin; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.2em; }
                     31:    blockquote { margin: 0 0 0 2em; border: 0; padding: 0; font-style: italic; }
                     32: 
                     33:    .bad, .bad *:not(.XXX) { color: gray; border-color: gray; background: transparent; }
                     34:    .matrix, .matrix td { border: none; text-align: right; }
                     35:    .matrix { margin-left: 2em; }
                     36:    .dice-example { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: hidden solid solid hidden; border-width: thin; margin-left: 3em; }
                     37:    .dice-example caption { width: 30em; font-size: smaller; font-style: italic; padding: 0.75em 0; text-align: left; }
                     38:    .dice-example td, .dice-example th { border: solid thin; width: 1.35em; height: 1.05em; text-align: center; padding: 0; }
                     39: 
                     40:    .toc dfn, h1 dfn, h2 dfn, h3 dfn, h4 dfn, h5 dfn, h6 dfn { font: inherit; }
                     41:    img.extra { float: right; }
                     42:    pre.idl { border: solid thin; background: #EEEEEE; color: black; padding: 0.5em 1em; }
                     43:    pre.idl :link, pre.idl :visited { color: inherit; background: transparent; }
                     44:    pre.css { border: solid thin; background: #FFFFEE; color: black; padding: 0.5em 1em; }
                     45:    pre.css:first-line { color: #AAAA50; }
                     46:    dl.domintro { color: green; margin: 2em 0 2em 2em; padding: 0.5em 1em; border: none; background: #EEFFEE; }
                     47:    hr + dl.domintro, div.impl + dl.domintro { margin-top: 2.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; }
                     48:    dl.domintro dt, dl.domintro dt * { color: black; text-decoration: none; }
                     49:    dl.domintro dd { margin: 0.5em 0 1em 2em; padding: 0; }
                     50:    dl.domintro dd p { margin: 0.5em 0; }
                     51:    dl.switch { padding-left: 2em; }
                     52:    dl.switch > dt { text-indent: -1.5em; }
                     53:    dl.switch > dt:before { content: '\21AA'; padding: 0 0.5em 0 0; display: inline-block; width: 1em; text-align: right; line-height: 0.5em; }
                     54:    dl.triple { padding: 0 0 0 1em; }
                     55:    dl.triple dt, dl.triple dd { margin: 0; display: inline }
                     56:    dl.triple dt:after { content: ':'; }
                     57:    dl.triple dd:after { content: '\A'; white-space: pre; }
                     58:    .diff-old { text-decoration: line-through; color: silver; background: transparent; }
                     59:    .diff-chg, .diff-new { text-decoration: underline; color: green; background: transparent; }
                     60:    a .diff-new { border-bottom: 1px blue solid; }
                     61: 
                     62:    h2 { page-break-before: always; }
                     63:    h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 { page-break-after: avoid; }
                     64:    h1 + h2, hr + h2.no-toc { page-break-before: auto; }
                     65: 
                     66:    p > span:not([title=""]):not([class="XXX"]):not([class="impl"]), li > span:not([title=""]):not([class="XXX"]):not([class="impl"]) { border-bottom: solid #9999CC; }
                     67: 
                     68:    div.head { margin: 0 0 1em; padding: 1em 0 0 0; }
                     69:    div.head p { margin: 0; }
                     70:    div.head h1 { margin: 0; }
                     71:    div.head .logo { float: right; margin: 0 1em; }
                     72:    div.head .logo img { border: none } /* remove border from top image */
                     73:    div.head dl { margin: 1em 0; }
                     74:    div.head p.copyright, div.head p.alt { font-size: x-small; font-style: oblique; margin: 0; }
                     75: 
                     76:    body > .toc > li { margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; }
                     77:    body > .toc.brief > li { margin-top: 0.35em; margin-bottom: 0.35em; }
                     78:    body > .toc > li > * { margin-bottom: 0.5em; }
                     79:    body > .toc > li > * > li > * { margin-bottom: 0.25em; }
                     80:    .toc, .toc li { list-style: none; }
                     81: 
                     82:    .brief { margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; line-height: 1.1; }
                     83:    .brief li { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
                     84:    .brief li p { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
                     85: 
                     86:    .category-list { margin-top: -0.75em; margin-bottom: 1em; line-height: 1.5; }
                     87:    .category-list::before { content: '\21D2\A0'; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: 900; }
                     88:    .category-list li { display: inline; }
                     89:    .category-list li:not(:last-child)::after { content: ', '; }
                     90:    .category-list li > span, .category-list li > a { text-transform: lowercase; }
                     91:    .category-list li * { text-transform: none; } /* don't affect <code> nested in <a> */
                     92: 
                     93:    .XXX { color: #E50000; background: white; border: solid red; padding: 0.5em; margin: 1em 0; }
                     94:    .XXX > :first-child { margin-top: 0; }
                     95:    p .XXX { line-height: 3em; }
                     96:    .annotation { border: solid thin black; background: #0C479D; color: white; position: relative; margin: 8px 0 20px 0; }
                     97:    .annotation:before { position: absolute; left: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 6px -6px -6px 6px; background: #333333; z-index: -1; content: ''; }
                     98:    .annotation :link, .annotation :visited { color: inherit; }
                     99:    .annotation :link:hover, .annotation :visited:hover { background: transparent; }
                    100:    .annotation span { border: none ! important; }
                    101:    .note { color: green; background: transparent; font-family: sans-serif; }
                    102:    .warning { color: red; background: transparent; }
                    103:    .note, .warning { font-weight: bolder; font-style: italic; }
                    104:    p.note, div.note { padding: 0.5em 2em; }
                    105:    span.note { padding: 0 2em; }
                    106:    .note p:first-child, .warning p:first-child { margin-top: 0; }
                    107:    .note p:last-child, .warning p:last-child { margin-bottom: 0; }
                    108:    .warning:before { font-style: normal; }
                    109:    p.note:before { content: 'Note: '; }
                    110:    p.warning:before { content: '\26A0 Warning! '; }
                    111: 
                    112:    .bookkeeping:before { display: block; content: 'Bookkeeping details'; font-weight: bolder; font-style: italic; }
                    113:    .bookkeeping { font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2em 0; }
                    114:    .bookkeeping p { margin: 0.5em 2em; display: list-item; list-style: square; }
                    115: 
                    116:    h4 { position: relative; z-index: 3; }
                    117:    h4 + .element, h4 + div + .element { margin-top: -2.5em; padding-top: 2em; }
                    118:    .element {
                    119:      background: #EEEEFF;
                    120:      color: black;
                    121:      margin: 0 0 1em 0.15em;
                    122:      padding: 0 1em 0.25em 0.75em;
                    123:      border-left: solid #9999FF 0.25em;
                    124:      position: relative;
                    125:      z-index: 1;
                    126:    }
                    127:    .element:before {
                    128:      position: absolute;
                    129:      z-index: 2;
                    130:      top: 0;
                    131:      left: -1.15em;
                    132:      height: 2em;
                    133:      width: 0.9em;
                    134:      background: #EEEEFF;
                    135:      content: ' ';
                    136:      border-style: none none solid solid;
                    137:      border-color: #9999FF;
                    138:      border-width: 0.25em;
                    139:    }
                    140: 
                    141:    .example { display: block; color: #222222; background: #FCFCFC; border-left: double; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 1em; }
                    142:    td > .example:only-child { margin: 0 0 0 0.1em; }
                    143: 
                    144:    .tall-and-narrow {
                    145:      font-size: 0.6em;
                    146:      column-width: 25em;
                    147:      column-gap: 1em;
                    148:      -moz-column-width: 25em;
                    149:      -moz-column-gap: 1em;
                    150:      -webkit-column-width: 25em;
                    151:      -webkit-column-gap: 1em;
                    152:    }
                    153: 
                    154:    ul.domTree, ul.domTree ul { padding: 0 0 0 1em; margin: 0; }
                    155:    ul.domTree li { padding: 0; margin: 0; list-style: none; position: relative; }
                    156:    ul.domTree li li { list-style: none; }
                    157:    ul.domTree li:first-child::before { position: absolute; top: 0; height: 0.6em; left: -0.75em; width: 0.5em; border-style: none none solid solid; content: ''; border-width: 0.1em; }
                    158:    ul.domTree li:not(:last-child)::after { position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: -0.6em; left: -0.75em; width: 0.5em; border-style: none none solid solid; content: ''; border-width: 0.1em; }
                    159:    ul.domTree span { font-style: italic; font-family: serif; }
                    160:    ul.domTree .t1 code { color: purple; font-weight: bold; }
                    161:    ul.domTree .t2 { font-style: normal; font-family: monospace; }
                    162:    ul.domTree .t2 .name { color: black; font-weight: bold; }
                    163:    ul.domTree .t2 .value { color: blue; font-weight: normal; }
                    164:    ul.domTree .t3 code, .domTree .t4 code, .domTree .t5 code { color: gray; }
                    165:    ul.domTree .t7 code, .domTree .t8 code { color: green; }
                    166:    ul.domTree .t10 code { color: teal; }
                    167: 
1.7       ihickson  168:    body.dfnEnabled dfn { cursor: pointer; }
                    169:    .dfnPanel {
                    170:      display: inline;
                    171:      position: absolute;
                    172:      z-index: 10;
                    173:      height: auto;
                    174:      width: auto;
                    175:      padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
                    176:      font: small sans-serif, Droid Sans Fallback;
                    177:      background: #DDDDDD;
                    178:      color: black;
                    179:      border: outset 0.2em;
                    180:    }
                    181:    .dfnPanel * { margin: 0; padding: 0; font: inherit; text-indent: 0; }
                    182:    .dfnPanel :link, .dfnPanel :visited { color: black; }
                    183:    .dfnPanel p { font-weight: bolder; }
                    184:    .dfnPanel * + p { margin-top: 0.25em; }
                    185:    .dfnPanel li { list-style-position: inside; }
                    186: 
1.1       ihickson  187:    #configUI { position: absolute; z-index: 20; top: 10em; right: 1em; width: 11em; font-size: small; }
                    188:    #configUI p { margin: 0.5em 0; padding: 0.3em; background: #EEEEEE; color: black; border: inset thin; }
                    189:    #configUI p label { display: block; }
                    190:    #configUI #updateUI, #configUI .loginUI { text-align: center; }
                    191:    #configUI input[type=button] { display: block; margin: auto; }
                    192:   </style><style type="text/css">
                    193: 
                    194:    .applies thead th > * { display: block; }
                    195:    .applies thead code { display: block; }
                    196:    .applies tbody th { whitespace: nowrap; }
                    197:    .applies td { text-align: center; }
                    198:    .applies .yes { background: yellow; }
                    199: 
                    200:    .matrix, .matrix td { border: none; text-align: right; }
                    201:    .matrix { margin-left: 2em; }
                    202: 
                    203:    .dice-example { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: hidden solid solid hidden; border-width: thin; margin-left: 3em; }
                    204:    .dice-example caption { width: 30em; font-size: smaller; font-style: italic; padding: 0.75em 0; text-align: left; }
                    205:    .dice-example td, .dice-example th { border: solid thin; width: 1.35em; height: 1.05em; text-align: center; padding: 0; }
                    206: 
                    207:    #table-example-1 { border: solid thin; border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 3em; }
                    208:    #table-example-1 * { font-family: "Essays1743", serif; line-height: 1.01em; }
                    209:    #table-example-1 caption { padding-bottom: 0.5em; }
                    210:    #table-example-1 thead, #table-example-1 tbody { border: none; }
                    211:    #table-example-1 th, #table-example-1 td { border: solid thin; }
                    212:    #table-example-1 th { font-weight: normal; }
                    213:    #table-example-1 td { border-style: none solid; vertical-align: top; }
                    214:    #table-example-1 th { padding: 0.5em; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; }
                    215:    #table-example-1 tbody tr:first-child td { padding-top: 0.5em; }
                    216:    #table-example-1 tbody tr:last-child td { padding-bottom: 1.5em; }
                    217:    #table-example-1 tbody td:first-child { padding-left: 2.5em; padding-right: 0; width: 9em; }
                    218:    #table-example-1 tbody td:first-child::after { content: leader(". "); }
                    219:    #table-example-1 tbody td { padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 2em; }
                    220:    #table-example-1 tbody td:first-child + td { width: 10em; }
                    221:    #table-example-1 tbody td:first-child + td ~ td { width: 2.5em; }
                    222:    #table-example-1 tbody td:first-child + td + td + td ~ td { width: 1.25em; }
                    223: 
                    224:    .apple-table-examples { border: none; border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1.5em 0em; width: 40em; margin-left: 3em; }
                    225:    .apple-table-examples * { font-family: "Times", serif; }
                    226:    .apple-table-examples td, .apple-table-examples th { border: none; white-space: nowrap; padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; }
                    227:    .apple-table-examples tbody th:first-child { border-left: none; width: 100%; }
                    228:    .apple-table-examples thead th:first-child ~ th { font-size: smaller; font-weight: bolder; border-bottom: solid 2px; text-align: center; }
                    229:    .apple-table-examples tbody th::after, .apple-table-examples tfoot th::after { content: leader(". ") }
                    230:    .apple-table-examples tbody th, .apple-table-examples tfoot th { font: inherit; text-align: left; }
                    231:    .apple-table-examples td { text-align: right; vertical-align: top; }
                    232:    .apple-table-examples.e1 tbody tr:last-child td { border-bottom: solid 1px; }
                    233:    .apple-table-examples.e1 tbody + tbody tr:last-child td { border-bottom: double 3px; }
                    234:    .apple-table-examples.e2 th[scope=row] { padding-left: 1em; }
                    235:    .apple-table-examples sup { line-height: 0; }
                    236: 
                    237:    .details-example img { vertical-align: top; }
                    238: 
1.6       ihickson  239:   </style><link href="data:text/css," id="complete" rel="stylesheet" title="Complete specification"><link href="data:text/css,.impl%20{%20display:%20none;%20}" id="author" rel="alternate stylesheet" title="Author documentation only"><link href="data:text/css,.impl%20{%20background:%20%23FFEEEE;%20}" id="highlight" rel="alternate stylesheet" title="Highlight implementation requirements"><script type="text/javascript">
1.1       ihickson  240:    function getCookie(name) {
                    241:      var params = location.search.substr(1).split("&");
                    242:      for (var index = 0; index < params.length; index++) {
                    243:        if (params[index] == name)
                    244:          return "1";
                    245:        var data = params[index].split("=");
                    246:        if (data[0] == name)
                    247:          return unescape(data[1]);
                    248:      }
                    249:      var cookies = document.cookie.split("; ");
                    250:      for (var index = 0; index < cookies.length; index++) {
                    251:        var data = cookies[index].split("=");
                    252:        if (data[0] == name)
                    253:          return unescape(data[1]);
                    254:      }
                    255:      return null;
                    256:    }
                    257:    function load(script) {
                    258:      var e = document.createElement('script');
                    259:      e.setAttribute('src', 'http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/' + script + '?' + encodeURIComponent(location) + '&' + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer));
                    260:      document.body.appendChild(e);
                    261:    }
                    262:    function init() {
                    263:      if (location.search == '?slow-browser')
                    264:        return;
                    265:      var configUI = document.createElement('div');
                    266:      configUI.id = 'configUI';
                    267:      document.body.appendChild(configUI);
                    268:      // load('reviewer.js'); // would need cross-site XHR
                    269:      if (document.getElementById('head'))
                    270:        load('toc.js');
                    271:      load('styler.js');
                    272:      // load('updater.js'); // would need cross-site XHR
                    273:      load('dfn.js'); // doesn't support split-out specs, but, oh well.
                    274:      // load('status.js'); // would need cross-site XHR
                    275:      if (getCookie('profile') == '1')
                    276:        document.getElementsByTagName('h2')[0].textContent += '; load: ' + (new Date() - loadTimer) + 'ms';
                    277:      fixBrokenLink();
                    278:    }
                    279:   </script><link href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-ED" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><body onload="init()"><div class="head" id="head">
                    280:    <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img alt="W3C" height="48" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home" width="72"></a></p>
                    281:    <h1>HTML5 Communications</h1>
                    282:    <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="generatedID"></h2>
                    283: 
1.9     ! ihickson  284:    <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="editor-s-draft-11-february-2010">Editor's Draft 11 February 2010</h2>
1.1       ihickson  285:    <dl><dt>Latest Published Version:</dt>
                    286:     <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/postmsg/">http://www.w3.org/TR/postmsg/</a></dd>
                    287:     <dt>Latest Editor's Draft:</dt>
                    288:     <dd><a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/postmsg/">http://dev.w3.org/html5/postmsg/</a></dd>
                    289: <!-- ZZZ: add the new version after it has shipped -->
                    290: <!--
                    291:     <dt>Previous Versions:</dt>
                    292: -->
                    293: <!-- :ZZZ -->
                    294:     <dt>Editors:</dt>
                    295:     <dd><a href="mailto:ian@hixie.ch">Ian Hickson</a>, Google, Inc.</dd>
1.3       ihickson  296:    </dl><p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.1       ihickson  297:    &copy; 2009 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><abbr title="World Wide
                    298:    Web Consortium">W3C</abbr></a><sup>&reg;</sup> (<a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><abbr title="Massachusetts
                    299:    Institute of Technology">MIT</abbr></a>, <a href="http://www.ercim.org/"><abbr title="European Research
                    300:    Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</abbr></a>, <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C
                    301:    <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
                    302:    <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
                    303:    and <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
                    304:    use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.6       ihickson  305: 
                    306:    <!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST -->
                    307:    <!-- temporarily removed after discussion with plh in October 2009 -->
                    308:    <!-- will be moved back to below W3C copyright in April 2009 -->
                    309:    <!--
                    310:    <p class="alt">The <a
                    311:    href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/">WHATWG
                    312:    version</a> of this specification is available under a license that
                    313:    permits reuse of the specification text.</p>
                    314:    -->
                    315:    <!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST -->
                    316: 
1.1       ihickson  317:   </div><hr class="top"><h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="abstract">Abstract</h2><p>This specification defines two mechanism for communicating
1.6       ihickson  318:   between browsing contexts in HTML documents.<h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="status-of-this-document">Status of This document</h2><!-- intro boilerplate (required) --><p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the
1.1       ihickson  319:   time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this
                    320:   document. A list of current W3C publications and the most recently
                    321:   formally published revision of this technical report can be found in
                    322:   the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports index</a>
                    323:   at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p><!-- where to send feedback (required) --><p>If you wish to make comments regarding this document, please send
                    324:   them to <a href="mailto:public-html-comments@w3.org">public-html-comments@w3.org</a>
                    325:   (<a href="mailto:public-html-comments-request@w3.org?subject=subscribe">subscribe</a>,
                    326:   <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-comments/">archives</a>)
                    327: 
                    328:   <!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST -->  
                    329:   or <a href="mailto:whatwg@whatwg.org">whatwg@whatwg.org</a> (<a href="http://lists.whatwg.org/listinfo.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org">subscribe</a>,
                    330:   <a href="http://lists.whatwg.org/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/">archives</a>),
                    331:   <!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING SENTENCE TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST -->
                    332: 
                    333:   or submit them using <a href="http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/enter_bug.cgi?product=HTML%20WG">our
                    334:   public bug database</a>.
                    335: 
                    336:   All feedback is welcome.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><p>The working groups maintains <a href="http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/buglist.cgi?component=Spec%20bugs&amp;component=Spec%20proposals&amp;product=HTML%20WG&amp;resolution=NEEDSINFO&amp;resolution=LATER&amp;resolution=REMIND&amp;resolution=---&amp;order=bugs.resolution%2Cbugs.priority%2C%20bugs.bug_severity">a
                    337:   list of all bug reports that the editor has not yet tried to
                    338:   address</a> and <a href="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/tracker/products/1">a list of issues
                    339:   for which the chairs have not yet declared a decision</a>. The
                    340:   editor also maintains <a href="http://www.whatwg.org/issues/">a list
                    341:   of all e-mails that he has not yet tried to address</a>. These bugs,
                    342:   issues, and e-mails apply to all HTML specifications, not just this
                    343:   one.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- stability (required) --><p>Implementors should be aware that this specification is not
                    344:   stable. <strong>Implementors who are not taking part in the
                    345:   discussions are likely to find the specification changing out from
                    346:   under them in incompatible ways.</strong> Vendors interested in
                    347:   implementing this specification before it eventually reaches the
                    348:   Candidate Recommendation stage should join the aforementioned
1.6       ihickson  349:   mailing lists and take part in the discussions.</p><!-- not everyone agrees with this (requested before html5 fpwd) --><p>The publication of this document by the W3C as a W3C Working
1.1       ihickson  350:   Draft does not imply that all of the participants in the W3C HTML
                    351:   working group endorse the contents of the specification. Indeed, for
                    352:   any section of the specification, one can usually find many members
                    353:   of the working group or of the W3C as a whole who object strongly to
                    354:   the current text, the existence of the section at all, or the idea
                    355:   that the working group should even spend time discussing the concept
                    356:   of that section.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- version history or list of changes (required) --><p>The latest stable version of the editor's draft of this
                    357:   specification is always available on <a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/">the W3C CVS server</a> and in the <a href="http://svn.whatwg.org/webapps/">WHATWG Subversion
                    358:   repository</a>. The <a href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/complete.html">latest
                    359:   editor's working copy</a> (which may contain unfinished text in the
                    360:   process of being prepared) contains the latest draft text of this
                    361:   specification (amongst others). For more details, please see the <a href="http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#What_are_the_various_versions_of_the_spec.3F">WHATWG
                    362:   FAQ</a>.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING LIST TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><p>There are various ways to follow the change history for the
                    363:   HTML specifications:<dl><dt>E-mail notifications of changes</dt>
                    364:    <dd>HTML-Diffs mailing list (diff-marked HTML versions for each change): <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-diffs/latest">http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-diffs/latest</a></dd>
                    365:    <dd>Commit-Watchers mailing list (complete source diffs): <a href="http://lists.whatwg.org/listinfo.cgi/commit-watchers-whatwg.org">http://lists.whatwg.org/listinfo.cgi/commit-watchers-whatwg.org</a></dd>
                    366:    <dt>Real-time notifications of changes:</dt>
                    367:    <dd>Generated diff-marked HTML versions for each change: <a href="http://twitter.com/HTML5">http://twitter.com/HTML5</a></dd>
                    368:    <dd>All (non-editorial) changes to the spec source: <a href="http://twitter.com/WHATWG">http://twitter.com/WHATWG</a></dd>
                    369:    <dt>Browsable version-control record of all changes:</dt>
                    370:    <dd>CVSWeb interface with side-by-side diffs: <a href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/html5/">http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/html5/</a></dd>
                    371:    <dd>Annotated summary with unified diffs: <a href="http://html5.org/tools/web-apps-tracker">http://html5.org/tools/web-apps-tracker</a></dd>
                    372:    <dd>Raw Subversion interface: <code>svn checkout http://svn.whatwg.org/webapps/</code></dd>
                    373:   </dl><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING LIST TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- status of document, group responsible (required) --><p>The W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/">HTML Working
                    374:   Group</a> is the W3C working group responsible for this
                    375:   specification's progress along the W3C Recommendation
                    376:   track.
                    377: 
1.9     ! ihickson  378:   This specification is the 11 February 2010 Editor's Draft.
1.1       ihickson  379:   </p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- relationship to other work (required) --><p>This specification is part of <a href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/">a
1.6       ihickson  380:   larger specification</a> being produced by the <a href="http://www.whatwg.org/">WHATWG</a>, which is available under a
                    381:   license that permits reuse of the specification text.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- context and rationale (required) --><!-- (this text is from the RDFa+HTML spec --><p>This specification is an extension to the HTML5 language. All
                    382:   normative content in the HTML5 specification, unless specifically
                    383:   overridden by this specification, is intended to be the basis for
                    384:   this specification.</p><!-- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH TO BE REMOVED OR EDITED WITHOUT TALKING TO IAN FIRST --><!-- required patent boilerplate --><p>This document was produced by a group operating under the <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5
1.1       ihickson  385:   February 2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a <a href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/40318/status" rel="disclosure">public list of
                    386:   any patent disclosures</a> made in connection with the deliverables
                    387:   of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a
                    388:   patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the
                    389:   individual believes contains <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
                    390:   Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
1.6       ihickson  391:   6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.<h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="contents">Table of Contents</h2>
1.1       ihickson  392: <!--begin-toc-->
                    393: <ol class="toc">
                    394:  <li><a href="#conformance-requirements"><span class="secno">1 </span>Conformance requirements</a></li>
                    395:  <li><a href="#idl"><span class="secno">2 </span>IDL</a></li>
                    396:  <li><a href="#event-definitions"><span class="secno">3 </span>Event definitions</a></li>
                    397:  <li><a href="#crossDocumentMessages"><span class="secno">4 </span>Cross-document messaging</a>
                    398:   <ol>
                    399:    <li><a href="#introduction"><span class="secno">4.1 </span>Introduction</a></li>
                    400:    <li><a href="#security"><span class="secno">4.2 </span>Security</a>
                    401:     <ol>
                    402:      <li><a href="#authors"><span class="secno">4.2.1 </span>Authors</a></li>
                    403:      <li><a href="#user-agents"><span class="secno">4.2.2 </span>User agents</a></ol></li>
                    404:    <li><a href="#posting-messages"><span class="secno">4.3 </span>Posting messages</a></li>
                    405:    <li><a href="#posting-messages-with-message-ports"><span class="secno">4.4 </span>Posting messages with message ports</a></ol></li>
                    406:  <li><a href="#channel-messaging"><span class="secno">5 </span>Channel messaging</a>
                    407:   <ol>
                    408:    <li><a href="#introduction-0"><span class="secno">5.1 </span>Introduction</a></li>
                    409:    <li><a href="#message-channels"><span class="secno">5.2 </span>Message channels</a></li>
                    410:    <li><a href="#message-ports"><span class="secno">5.3 </span>Message ports</a>
                    411:     <ol>
                    412:      <li><a href="#ports-and-garbage-collection"><span class="secno">5.3.1 </span>Ports and garbage collection</a></ol></ol></li>
                    413:  <li><a class="no-num" href="#references">References</a></li>
                    414:  <li><a class="no-num" href="#acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></ol>
                    415: <!--end-toc--><hr><h2 id="conformance-requirements"><span class="secno">1 </span>Conformance requirements</h2><p>This specification is an HTML specification. All the conformance
                    416:   requirements, conformance classes, definitions, dependencies,
1.4       ihickson  417:   terminology, and typographical conventions described in the core
1.6       ihickson  418:   HTML5 specification apply to this specification. <a href="#refsHTML5">[HTML5]</a><h2 id="idl"><span class="secno">2 </span>IDL</h2><h2 id="event-definitions"><span class="secno">3 </span>Event definitions</h2><p>Messages in <span>server-sent events</span>, <span>Web
1.1       ihickson  419:   sockets</span>, <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a>, and
                    420:   <a href="#channel-messaging">channel messaging</a> use the <dfn id="event-message" title="event-message"><code>message</code></dfn> event.
                    421:   
                    422:   <a href="#refsEVENTSOURCE">[EVENTSOURCE]</a>
                    423:   <a href="#refsWEBSOCKET">[WEBSOCKET]</a>
                    424:   
                    425:   <p>The following interface is defined for this event:<pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="messageevent">MessageEvent</dfn> : Event {
                    426:   readonly attribute any <a href="#dom-messageevent-data" title="dom-MessageEvent-data">data</a>;
                    427:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#dom-messageevent-origin" title="dom-MessageEvent-origin">origin</a>;
                    428:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#dom-messageevent-lasteventid" title="dom-MessageEvent-lastEventId">lastEventId</a>;
                    429:   readonly attribute <span>WindowProxy</span> <a href="#dom-messageevent-source" title="dom-MessageEvent-source">source</a>;
                    430:   readonly attribute <a href="#messageportarray">MessagePortArray</a> <a href="#dom-messageevent-ports" title="dom-MessageEvent-ports">ports</a>;
                    431:   void <a href="#dom-messageevent-initmessageevent" title="dom-MessageEvent-initMessageEvent">initMessageEvent</a>(in DOMString typeArg, in boolean canBubbleArg, in boolean cancelableArg, in any dataArg, in DOMString originArg, in DOMString lastEventIdArg, in <span>WindowProxy</span> sourceArg, in <a href="#messageportarray">MessagePortArray</a> portsArg);
                    432: };</pre><dl class="domintro"><dt><var title="">event</var> . <code title="dom-MessageEvent-data"><a href="#dom-messageevent-data">data</a></code></dt>
                    433: 
                    434:    <dd>
                    435: 
                    436:     <p>Returns the data of the message.</p>
                    437: 
                    438:    </dd>
                    439: 
                    440:    <dt><var title="">event</var> . <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code></dt>
                    441: 
                    442:    <dd>
                    443: 
                    444:     <p>Returns the origin of the message, for <span>server-sent
                    445:     events</span> and <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a>.</p>
                    446: 
                    447:    </dd>
                    448: 
                    449:    <dt><var title="">event</var> . <code title="dom-MessageEvent-lastEventId"><a href="#dom-messageevent-lasteventid">lastEventId</a></code></dt>
                    450: 
                    451:    <dd>
                    452: 
                    453:     <p>Returns the last event ID, for <span>server-sent
                    454:     events</span>.</p>
                    455: 
                    456:    </dd>
                    457: 
                    458:    <dt><var title="">event</var> . <code title="dom-MessageEvent-source"><a href="#dom-messageevent-source">source</a></code></dt>
                    459: 
                    460:    <dd>
                    461: 
                    462:     <p>Returns the <code>WindowProxy</code> of the source window, for
                    463:     <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a>.</p>
                    464: 
                    465:    </dd>
                    466: 
                    467:    <dt><var title="">event</var> . <code title="dom-MessageEvent-ports"><a href="#dom-messageevent-ports">ports</a></code></dt>
                    468: 
                    469:    <dd>
                    470: 
                    471:     <p>Returns the <code><a href="#messageportarray">MessagePortArray</a></code> sent with the
                    472:     message, for <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a> and
                    473:     <a href="#channel-messaging">channel messaging</a>.</p>
                    474: 
                    475:    </dd>
                    476: 
                    477:   </dl><div class="impl">
                    478: 
                    479:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-initmessageevent" title="dom-MessageEvent-initMessageEvent"><code>initMessageEvent()</code></dfn>
                    480:   method must initialize the event in a manner analogous to the
                    481:   similarly-named method in the DOM Events interfaces. <a href="#refsDOMEVENTS">[DOMEVENTS]</a></p>
                    482: 
                    483:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-data" title="dom-MessageEvent-data"><code>data</code></dfn>
                    484:   attribute represents the message being sent.</p>
                    485: 
                    486:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-origin" title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><code>origin</code></dfn> attribute
                    487:   represents, in <span>server-sent events</span> and
                    488:   <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a>, the <span>origin</span> of
                    489:   the document that sent the message (typically the scheme, hostname,
                    490:   and port of the document, but not its path or fragment
                    491:   identifier).</p>
                    492: 
                    493:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-lasteventid" title="dom-MessageEvent-lastEventId"><code>lastEventId</code></dfn>
                    494:   attribute represents, in <span>server-sent events</span>, the <span title="concept-event-stream-last-event-id">last event ID
                    495:   string</span> of the event source.</p>
                    496: 
                    497:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-source" title="dom-MessageEvent-source"><code>source</code></dfn> attribute
                    498:   represents, in <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a>, the
                    499:   <code>WindowProxy</code> of the <span>browsing context</span> of the
                    500:   <code>Window</code> object from which the message came.</p>
                    501: 
                    502:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-messageevent-ports" title="dom-MessageEvent-ports"><code>ports</code></dfn>
                    503:   attribute represents, in <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document messaging</a> and
                    504:   <a href="#channel-messaging">channel messaging</a> the <code><a href="#messageportarray">MessagePortArray</a></code>
                    505:   being sent, if any.</p>
                    506: 
                    507:   <p>Except where otherwise specified, when the user agent creates and
                    508:   dispatches a <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code> event in the
                    509:   algorithms described in the following sections, the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-lastEventId"><a href="#dom-messageevent-lasteventid">lastEventId</a></code> attribute
                    510:   must be the empty string, the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code> attribute must be the
                    511:   empty string, the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-source"><a href="#dom-messageevent-source">source</a></code> attribute must be
                    512:   null, and the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-ports"><a href="#dom-messageevent-ports">ports</a></code>
                    513:   attribute must be null.</p>
                    514: 
                    515:   </div><h2 id="crossDocumentMessages"><span class="secno">4 </span><dfn>Cross-document messaging</dfn></h2><p>Web browsers, for security and privacy reasons, prevent documents
                    516:   in different domains from affecting each other; that is, cross-site
                    517:   scripting is disallowed.<p>While this is an important security feature, it prevents pages
                    518:   from different domains from communicating even when those pages are
                    519:   not hostile. This section introduces a messaging system that allows
                    520:   documents to communicate with each other regardless of their source
                    521:   domain, in a way designed to not enable cross-site scripting
                    522:   attacks.<div class="impl">
                    523: 
                    524:   <p>The <span>task source</span> for the <span title="concept-task">tasks</span> in <a href="#crossDocumentMessages">cross-document
                    525:   messaging</a> is the <dfn id="posted-message-task-source">posted message task source</dfn>.</p>
                    526: 
                    527:   </div><h3 id="introduction"><span class="secno">4.1 </span>Introduction</h3><p><i>This section is non-normative.</i><div class="example">
                    528: 
                    529:    <p>For example, if document A contains an <code>iframe</code>
                    530:    element that contains document B, and script in document A calls
                    531:    <code title="dom-window-postMessage-2"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-2">postMessage()</a></code> on the
                    532:    <code>Window</code> object of document B, then a message event will
                    533:    be fired on that object, marked as originating from the
                    534:    <code>Window</code> of document A. The script in document A might
                    535:    look like:</p>
                    536: 
                    537:    <pre>var o = document.getElementsByTagName('iframe')[0];
                    538: o.contentWindow.postMessage('Hello world', 'http://b.example.org/');</pre>
                    539: 
                    540:    <p>To register an event handler for incoming events, the script
                    541:    would use <code title="">addEventListener()</code> (or similar
                    542:    mechanisms). For example, the script in document B might look
                    543:    like:</p>
                    544: 
                    545:    <pre>window.addEventListener('message', receiver, false);
                    546: function receiver(e) {
                    547:   if (e.origin == 'http://example.com') {
                    548:     if (e.data == 'Hello world') {
                    549:       e.source.postMessage('Hello', e.origin);
                    550:     } else {
                    551:       alert(e.data);
                    552:     }
                    553:   }
                    554: }</pre>
                    555: 
                    556:    <p>This script first checks the domain is the expected domain, and
                    557:    then looks at the message, which it either displays to the user, or
                    558:    responds to by sending a message back to the document which sent
                    559:    the message in the first place.</p>
                    560: 
                    561:   </div><h3 id="security"><span class="secno">4.2 </span>Security</h3><div class="impl">
                    562: 
                    563:   <h4 id="authors"><span class="secno">4.2.1 </span>Authors</h4>
                    564: 
                    565:   </div><p class="warning">Use of this API requires extra care to protect
                    566:   users from hostile entities abusing a site for their own
                    567:   purposes.<p>Authors should check the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code> attribute to ensure
                    568:   that messages are only accepted from domains that they expect to
                    569:   receive messages from. Otherwise, bugs in the author's message
                    570:   handling code could be exploited by hostile sites.<p>Furthermore, even after checking the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code> attribute, authors
                    571:   should also check that the data in question is of the expected
                    572:   format. Otherwise, if the source of the event has been attacked
                    573:   using a cross-site scripting flaw, further unchecked processing of
                    574:   information sent using the <code title="dom-window-postMessage-2"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-2">postMessage()</a></code> method could
                    575:   result in the attack being propagated into the receiver.<p>Authors should not use the wildcard keyword (*) in the <var title="">targetOrigin</var> argument in messages that contain any
                    576:   confidential information, as otherwise there is no way to guarantee
                    577:   that the message is only delivered to the recipient to which it was
                    578:   intended.<div class="impl">
                    579: 
                    580:   <h4 id="user-agents"><span class="secno">4.2.2 </span>User agents</h4>
                    581: 
                    582:   <p>The integrity of this API is based on the inability for scripts
                    583:   of one <span>origin</span> to post arbitrary events (using <code title="">dispatchEvent()</code> or otherwise) to objects in other
                    584:   origins (those that are not the <span title="same
                    585:   origin">same</span>).</p>
                    586: 
                    587:   <p class="note">Implementors are urged to take extra care in the
                    588:   implementation of this feature. It allows authors to transmit
                    589:   information from one domain to another domain, which is normally
                    590:   disallowed for security reasons. It also requires that UAs be
                    591:   careful to allow access to certain properties but not others.</p>
                    592: 
                    593:   </div><h3 id="posting-messages"><span class="secno">4.3 </span>Posting messages</h3><dl class="domintro"><dt><var title="">window</var> . <code title="dom-window-postMessage-2"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-2">postMessage</a></code>(<var title="">message</var>, [ <var title="">ports</var>, ] <var title="">targetOrigin</var>)</dt>
                    594: 
                    595:    <dd>
                    596: 
                    597:     <p>Posts a message, optionally with an array of ports, to the
                    598:     given window.</p>
                    599: 
                    600:     <p>If the origin of the target window doesn't match the given
                    601:     origin, the message is discarded, to avoid information leakage. To
                    602:     send the message to the target regardless of origin, set the
                    603:     target origin to "<code title="">*</code>".</p>
                    604: 
                    605:     <p>Throws an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> if the <var title="">ports</var> array is not null and it contains either null
                    606:     entries or duplicate ports.</p>
                    607: 
                    608:    </dd>
                    609: 
                    610:   </dl><div class="impl">
                    611: 
                    612:   <p>When a script invokes the <dfn id="dom-window-postmessage-2" title="dom-window-postMessage-2"><code>postMessage(<var title="">message</var>, <var title="">targetOrigin</var>)</code></dfn> method (with only two
                    613:   arguments) on a <code>Window</code> object, the user agent must
                    614:   follow these steps:
                    615: 
                    616:   <ol><li>
                    617: 
                    618:     <p>If the value of the <var title="">targetOrigin</var> argument
                    619:     is not a single U+002A ASTERISK character (*), and <span title="resolve a url">resolving</span> it relative to the
                    620:     <span>entry script</span>'s <span title="script's base URL">base
                    621:     URL</span> either fails or results in a <span>URL</span> with a
                    622:     <code title="url-host-specific">&lt;host-specific&gt;</code>
                    623:     component that is neither empty nor a single U+002F SOLIDUS
                    624:     character (/), then throw a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
                    625:     abort the overall set of steps.</p>
                    626: 
                    627:    </li>
                    628: 
                    629:    <li>
                    630: 
                    631:     <p>Let <var title="">message clone</var> be the result of
                    632:     obtaining a <span>structured clone</span> of the <var title="">message</var> argument. If this throws an exception, then
                    633:     throw that exception and abort these steps.</p>
                    634: 
                    635:    </li>
                    636: 
                    637:    <li>
                    638: 
                    639:     <p>Return from the <code title="dom-window-postMessage-2"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-2">postMessage()</a></code> method, but
                    640:     asynchronously continue running these steps.</p>
                    641: 
                    642:    </li>
                    643: 
                    644:    <li>
                    645: 
                    646:     <p>If the <var title="">targetOrigin</var> argument has a value
                    647:     other than a single literal U+002A ASTERISK character (*), and
                    648:     the <code>Document</code> of the <code>Window</code> object on
                    649:     which the method was invoked does not have the <span>same
                    650:     origin</span> as <var title="">targetOrigin</var>, then abort
                    651:     these steps silently.</p>
                    652: 
                    653:    </li>
                    654: 
                    655:    <li>
                    656: 
                    657:     <p>Create an event that uses the <code><a href="#messageevent">MessageEvent</a></code>
                    658:     interface, with the event name <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code>, which does not bubble, is
                    659:     not cancelable, and has no default action. The <code title="dom-MessageEvent-data"><a href="#dom-messageevent-data">data</a></code> attribute must be set to
                    660:     the value of <var title="">message clone</var>, the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code> attribute must be
                    661:     set to the <span title="Unicode serialization of an
                    662:     origin">Unicode serialization</span> of the <span>origin</span> of
                    663:     the script that invoked the method, and the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-source"><a href="#dom-messageevent-source">source</a></code> attribute must be
                    664:     set to the <span>script's global object</span>.</p> <!--
                    665:     invariant: the global object is always a Window if the script can
                    666:     see this method -->
                    667: 
                    668:    </li>
                    669: 
                    670:    <li>
                    671: 
                    672:     <p><span>Queue a task</span> to dispatch the event created in the
                    673:     previous step at the <code>Window</code> object on which the
                    674:     method was invoked. The <span>task source</span> for this <span title="concept-task">task</span> is the <a href="#posted-message-task-source">posted message task
                    675:     source</a>.</p>
                    676: 
                    677:    </li>
                    678: 
                    679:   </ol></div><div class="impl">
                    680: 
                    681:   <h3 id="posting-messages-with-message-ports"><span class="secno">4.4 </span>Posting messages with message ports</h3>
                    682: 
                    683:   <p>When a script invokes the <dfn id="dom-window-postmessage-3" title="dom-window-postMessage-3"><code>postMessage(<var title="">message</var>, <var title="">ports</var>, <var title="">targetOrigin</var>)</code></dfn> method (with three
                    684:   arguments) on a <code>Window</code> object, the user agent must
                    685:   follow these steps:
                    686: 
                    687:   <ol><!-- EXCEPT WHERE NOTED, THESE STEPS ARE IDENTICAL TO THE PREVIOUS SECTION --><!-- one exception is the use of -3 instead of -2 in the xrefs --><li>
                    688: 
                    689:     <p>If the value of the <var title="">targetOrigin</var> argument
                    690:     is not a single U+002A ASTERISK character (*), and <span title="resolve a url">resolving</span> it relative to the
                    691:     <span>entry script</span>'s <span title="script's base URL">base
                    692:     URL</span> either fails or results in a <span>URL</span> with a
                    693:     <code title="url-host-specific">&lt;host-specific&gt;</code>
                    694:     component that is neither empty nor a single U+002F SOLIDUS
                    695:     character (/), then throw a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
                    696:     abort the overall set of steps.</p>
                    697: 
                    698:    </li>
                    699: 
                    700:    <li>
                    701: 
                    702:     <p>Let <var title="">message clone</var> be the result of
                    703:     obtaining a <span>structured clone</span> of the <var title="">message</var> argument. If this throws an exception, then
                    704:     throw that exception and abort these steps.</p>
                    705: 
                    706:    </li>
                    707: 
                    708:    <li> <!-- NEW STEP -->
                    709: 
                    710:     <p>If the <var title="">ports</var> argument is empty<!-- or null
                    711:     (if we make it nullable)-->, then act as if the method had just
                    712:     been <a href="#dom-window-postmessage-2" title="dom-window-postMessage-2">called with two
                    713:     arguments</a>, <var title="">message</var> and <var title="">targetOrigin</var>.</p>
                    714: 
                    715:    </li>
                    716: 
                    717:    <li> <!-- NEW STEP -->
                    718: 
                    719:     <p>If any of the entries in <var title="">ports</var> are null, if
                    720:     any <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object is listed in <var title="">ports</var> more than once, or if any of the
                    721:     <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> objects listed in <var title="">ports</var> have already been cloned once before, then
                    722:     throw an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
                    723: 
                    724:    </li>
                    725: 
                    726:    <li> <!-- NEW STEP -->
                    727: 
                    728:     <p>Let <var title="">new ports</var> be an empty array.</p>
                    729: 
                    730:     <p>For each port in <var title="">ports</var> in turn,
                    731:     obtain a new port by <a href="#clone-a-port" title="clone a port">cloning</a> the
                    732:     port with the <code>Window</code> object on which the method was
                    733:     invoked as the owner of the clone, and append the clone to the
                    734:     <var title="">new ports</var> array.</p>
                    735: <!--
                    736:     <p class="note">If the original <var title="">ports</var>
                    737:     array was empty, then the <var title="">new ports</var> array will
                    738:     also be empty.</p>
                    739: -->
                    740:    </li>
                    741: 
                    742:    <li>
                    743: 
                    744:     <p>Return from the <code title="dom-window-postMessage-3"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-3">postMessage()</a></code> method, but
                    745:     asynchronously continue running these steps.</p>
                    746: 
                    747:    </li>
                    748: 
                    749:    <li>
                    750: 
                    751:     <p>If the <var title="">targetOrigin</var> argument has a value
                    752:     other than a single literal U+002A ASTERISK character (*), and
                    753:     the <code>Document</code> of the <code>Window</code> object on
                    754:     which the method was invoked does not have the <span>same
                    755:     origin</span> as <var title="">targetOrigin</var>, then abort
                    756:     these steps silently.</p>
                    757: 
                    758:    </li>
                    759: 
                    760:    <li>
                    761: 
                    762:     <p>Create an event that uses the <code><a href="#messageevent">MessageEvent</a></code>
                    763:     interface, with the event name <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code>, which does not bubble, is
                    764:     not cancelable, and has no default action. The <code title="dom-MessageEvent-data"><a href="#dom-messageevent-data">data</a></code> attribute must be set to
                    765:     the value of <var title="">message clone</var>, the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-origin"><a href="#dom-messageevent-origin">origin</a></code> attribute must be
                    766:     set to the <span title="Unicode serialization of an
                    767:     origin">Unicode serialization</span> of the <span>origin</span> of
                    768:     the script that invoked the method, and the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-source"><a href="#dom-messageevent-source">source</a></code> attribute must be
                    769:     set to the <span>script's global object</span>.</p> <!--
                    770:     invariant: the global object is always a Window if the script can
                    771:     see this method -->
                    772: 
                    773:    </li>
                    774: 
                    775:    <li> <!-- NEW STEP -->
                    776: 
                    777:     <p>Let the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-ports"><a href="#dom-messageevent-ports">ports</a></code> attribute
                    778:     of the event be the <var title="">new ports</var> array.</p>
                    779: 
                    780:    </li>
                    781: 
                    782:    <li>
                    783: 
                    784:     <p><span>Queue a task</span> to dispatch the event created in the
                    785:     previous step at the <code>Window</code> object on which the
                    786:     method was invoked. The <span>task source</span> for this <span title="concept-task">task</span> is the <a href="#posted-message-task-source">posted message task
                    787:     source</a>.</p>
                    788: 
                    789:    </li>
                    790: 
                    791:   </ol><p class="note">These steps, with the exception of the second and
                    792:   third steps and the penultimate step, are identical to those in the
                    793:   previous section.</p>
                    794: 
                    795:   <!-- v2: we can merge this section and the previous section when
                    796:   implementations have shipped postMessage(). Anne asked that these
                    797:   sections be kept separate so that implementors can avoid getting
                    798:   confused with the 'port' step. -->
                    799: 
                    800:   </div><h2 id="channel-messaging"><span class="secno">5 </span><dfn>Channel messaging</dfn></h2><h3 id="introduction-0"><span class="secno">5.1 </span>Introduction</h3><p><i>This section is non-normative.</i><p>To enable independent pieces of code (e.g. running in different
                    801:   <span title="browsing context">browsing contexts</span>) to
                    802:   communicate directly, authors can use <a href="#channel-messaging">channel
                    803:   messaging</a>.<p>Communication channels in this mechanisms are implemented as
                    804:   two-ways pipes, with a port at each end. Messages sent in one port
                    805:   are delivered at the other port, and vice-versa. Messages are
                    806:   asynchronous, and delivered as DOM events.<p>To create a connection (two "entangled" ports), the <code title="">MessageChannel()</code> constructor is called:<pre>var channel = new MessageChannel();</pre><p>One of the ports is kept as the local port, and the other port is
                    807:   sent to the remote code, e.g. using <code title="dom-window-postMessage-3"><a href="#dom-window-postmessage-3">postMessage()</a></code>:<pre>otherWindow.postMessage('hello', [channel.port2], 'http://example.com');</pre><p>To send messages, the <code title="dom-MessagpePort-postMessage">postMessage()</code> method on
                    808:   the port is used:<pre>channel.port1.postMessage('hello');</pre><p>To receive messages, one listens to <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code> events:<pre>channel.port1.onmessage = handleMessage;
                    809: function handleMessage(event) {
                    810:   // message is in event.data
                    811:   // ...
                    812: }</pre><h3 id="message-channels"><span class="secno">5.2 </span>Message channels</h3><pre class="idl">[<a href="#dom-messagechannel" title="dom-MessageChannel">Constructor</a>]
                    813: interface <dfn id="messagechannel">MessageChannel</dfn> {
                    814:   readonly attribute <a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a> <a href="#dom-channel-port1" title="dom-channel-port1">port1</a>;
                    815:   readonly attribute <a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a> <a href="#dom-channel-port2" title="dom-channel-port2">port2</a>;
                    816: };</pre><dl class="domintro"><dt><var title="">channel</var> = new <code title="dom-MessageChannel"><a href="#dom-messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code>()</dt>
                    817: 
                    818:    <dd>
                    819: 
                    820:     <p>Returns a new <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object with two new <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> objects.</p>
                    821: 
                    822:    </dd>
                    823: 
                    824:    <dt><var title="">channel</var> . <code title="dom-MessageChannel-port1">port1</code></dt>
                    825: 
                    826:    <dd>
                    827: 
                    828:     <p>Returns the first <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object.</p>
                    829: 
                    830:    </dd>
                    831: 
                    832:    <dt><var title="">channel</var> . <code title="dom-MessageChannel-port2">port2</code></dt>
                    833: 
                    834:    <dd>
                    835: 
                    836:     <p>Returns the second <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object.</p>
                    837: 
                    838:    </dd>
                    839: 
                    840:   </dl><div class="impl">
                    841: 
                    842:   <p>When the <dfn id="dom-messagechannel" title="dom-MessageChannel"><code>MessageChannel()</code></dfn>
                    843:   constructor is called, it must run the following algorithm:</p>
                    844: 
                    845:   <ol><li><p><a href="#create-a-new-messageport-object">Create a new <code>MessagePort</code> object</a>
                    846:    owned by the <span>script's global object</span>, and let <var title="">port1</var> be that object.</li>
                    847: 
                    848:    <li><p><a href="#create-a-new-messageport-object">Create a new <code>MessagePort</code> object</a>
                    849:    owned by the <span>script's global object</span>, and let <var title="">port2</var> be that object.</li>
                    850: 
                    851:    <li><p><a href="#entangle">Entangle</a> the <var title="">port1</var> and <var title="">port2</var> objects.</li>
                    852: 
                    853:    <li><p>Instantiate a new <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object, and
                    854:    let <var title="">channel</var> be that object.</li>
                    855: 
                    856:    <li><p>Let the <code title="dom-channel-port1"><a href="#dom-channel-port1">port1</a></code>
                    857:    attribute of the <var title="">channel</var> object be <var title="">port1</var>.</p>
                    858: 
                    859:    <li><p>Let the <code title="dom-channel-port2"><a href="#dom-channel-port2">port2</a></code>
                    860:    attribute of the <var title="">channel</var> object be <var title="">port2</var>.</p>
                    861: 
                    862:    <li><p>Return <var title="">channel</var>.</li>
                    863: 
                    864:   </ol><p>This constructor must be visible when the <span>script's global
                    865:   object</span> is either a <code>Window</code> object or an object
                    866:   implementing the <code>WorkerUtils</code> interface.</p>
                    867: 
                    868:   <p>The <dfn id="dom-channel-port1" title="dom-channel-port1"><code>port1</code></dfn> and
                    869:   <dfn id="dom-channel-port2" title="dom-channel-port2"><code>port2</code></dfn> attributes
                    870:   must return the values they were assigned when the
                    871:   <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object was created.</p>
                    872: 
                    873:   </div><h3 id="message-ports"><span class="secno">5.3 </span>Message ports</h3><p>Each channel has two message ports. Data sent through one port is
                    874:   received by the other port, and vice versa.<pre class="idl">typedef sequence&lt;MessagePort&gt; <dfn id="messageportarray">MessagePortArray</dfn>;
                    875: 
                    876: interface <dfn id="messageport">MessagePort</dfn> {
                    877: <!-- v2-onclose  readonly attribute boolean <span title="dom-MessagePort-active">active</span>;
                    878: -->  void <a href="#dom-messageport-postmessage" title="dom-MessagePort-postMessage">postMessage</a>(in any message, in optional <a href="#messageportarray">MessagePortArray</a> ports);<!--
                    879:   <span>MessagePort</span> <span title="dom-MessagePort-startConversation">startConversation</span>(in any message);-->
                    880:   void <a href="#dom-messageport-start" title="dom-MessagePort-start">start</a>();
                    881:   void <a href="#dom-messageport-close" title="dom-MessagePort-close">close</a>();
                    882: 
                    883:   // event handlers
                    884:            attribute <span>Function</span> <a href="#handler-messageport-onmessage" title="handler-MessagePort-onmessage">onmessage</a>;
                    885: };
                    886: <a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a> implements <span>EventTarget</span>;</pre><dl class="domintro"><!-- v2-onclose
                    887:    <dt><var title="">port</var> . <code title="dom-MessagePort-active">active</code></dt>
                    888: 
                    889:    <dd>
                    890: 
                    891:     <p>Returns true if the port is still active; otherwise, returns false.</p>
                    892: 
                    893:    </dd>
                    894: --><dt><var title="">port</var> . <code title="dom-MessagePort-poseMessage">postMessage</code>(<var title="">message</var> [, <var title="">ports</var>] )</dt>
                    895: 
                    896:    <dd>
                    897: 
                    898:     <p>Posts a message through the channel, optionally with the given
                    899:     ports.</p>
                    900: 
                    901:     <p>Throws an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> if the <var title="">ports</var> array is not null and it contains either null
                    902:     entries, duplicate ports, or the source or target port.</p>
                    903: 
                    904:    </dd>
                    905: 
                    906:    <dt><var title="">port</var> . <code title="dom-MessagePort-start"><a href="#dom-messageport-start">start</a></code>()</dt>
                    907: 
                    908:    <dd>
                    909: 
                    910:     <p>Begins dispatching messages received on the port.</p>
                    911: 
                    912:    </dd>
                    913: 
                    914:    <dt><var title="">port</var> . <code title="dom-MessagePort-close"><a href="#dom-messageport-close">close</a></code>()</dt>
                    915: 
                    916:    <dd>
                    917: 
                    918:     <p>Disconnects the port, so that it is no longer active.</p>
                    919: 
                    920:    </dd>
                    921: 
                    922:   </dl><div class="impl">
                    923: 
                    924:   <p>Each <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object can be entangled with
                    925:   another (a symmetric relationship). Each <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code>
                    926:   object also has a <span>task source</span> called the <dfn id="port-message-queue">port
                    927:   message queue</dfn>, initial empty. A <a href="#port-message-queue">port message
                    928:   queue</a> can be enabled or disabled, and is initially
                    929:   disabled. Once enabled, a port can never be disabled again (though
                    930:   messages in the queue can get moved to another queue or removed
                    931:   altogether, which has much the same effect).</p>
                    932: 
                    933:   <p>When the user agent is to <dfn id="create-a-new-messageport-object">create a new
                    934:   <code>MessagePort</code> object</dfn> owned by a <span>script's
                    935:   global object</span> object <var title="">owner</var>, it must
                    936:   instantiate a new <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object, and let its owner
                    937:   be <var title="">owner</var>.</p>
                    938: 
                    939:   <hr><p>When the user agent is to <dfn id="entangle">entangle</dfn> two
                    940:   <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> objects, it must run the following
                    941:   steps:</p>
                    942: 
                    943:   <ol><li>
                    944: 
                    945:     <p>If one of the ports is already entangled, then disentangle it
                    946:     and the port that it was entangled with.</p>
                    947: 
                    948:     <p class="note">If those two previously entangled ports were the
                    949:     two ports of a <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object, then that
                    950:     <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object no longer represents an actual
                    951:     channel: the two ports in that object are no longer entangled.</p>
                    952: 
                    953:    </li>
                    954: 
                    955:    <li><p>Associate the two ports to be entangled, so that they form
                    956:    the two parts of a new channel. (There is no
                    957:    <code><a href="#messagechannel">MessageChannel</a></code> object that represents this
                    958:    channel.)</li>
                    959: 
                    960:   </ol><hr><p>When the user agent is to <dfn id="clone-a-port">clone a port</dfn> <var title="">original port</var>, with the clone being owned by <var title="">owner</var>, it must run the following steps, which return
                    961:   a new <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object. These steps must be run
                    962:   atomically.</p>
                    963: 
                    964:   <ol><li><p><a href="#create-a-new-messageport-object">Create a new <code>MessagePort</code> object</a>
                    965:    owned by <var title="">owner</var>, and let <var title="">new
                    966:    port</var> be that object.</li>
                    967: 
                    968:    <li><p>Move all the events in the <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a>
                    969:    of <var title="">original port</var> to the <a href="#port-message-queue">port message
                    970:    queue</a> of <var title="">new port</var>, if any, leaving the
                    971:    <var title="">new port</var>'s <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a> in
                    972:    its initial disabled state.</li>
                    973: 
                    974:    <li>
                    975: 
                    976:     <p>If the <var title="">original port</var> is entangled with
                    977:     another port, then run these substeps:</p>
                    978: 
                    979:     <ol><li><p>Let the <var title="">remote port</var> be the port with
                    980:      which the <var title="">original port</var> is entangled.</li>
                    981: 
                    982:      <li><p><a href="#entangle">Entangle</a> the <var title="">remote port</var>
                    983:      and <var title="">new port</var> objects. The <var title="">original port</var> object will be disentangled by this
                    984:      process.</li>
                    985: 
                    986:     </ol></li>
                    987: 
                    988:    <li><p>Return <var title="">new port</var>. It is the
                    989:    clone.</li>
                    990: 
                    991:   </ol><hr><!-- v2-onclose
                    992:   <p>The <dfn title="dom-MessagePort-active"><code>active</code></dfn>
                    993:   attribute must return true if the port is entangled, and false
                    994:   otherwise.</p>
                    995: 
                    996:   <hr>
                    997: --><p>The <dfn id="dom-messageport-postmessage" title="dom-MessagePort-postMessage"><code>postMessage()</code></dfn>
                    998:   method, when called on a port <var title="">source port</var>, must
                    999:   cause the user agent to run the following steps:</p>
                   1000: 
                   1001:   <ol><li><p>Let <var title="">target port</var> be the port with which
                   1002:    <var title="">source port</var> is entangled, if any.</li>
                   1003: 
                   1004:    <li><p>If the method was called with a second argument <var title="">ports</var> and that argument isn't null, then, if any of
                   1005:    the entries in <var title="">ports</var> are null, if any
                   1006:    <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object is listed in <var title="">ports</var> more than once, if any of the
                   1007:    <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> objects listed in <var title="">ports</var> have already been cloned once before, or if
                   1008:    any of the entries in <var title="">ports</var> are either the <var title="">source port</var> or the <var title="">target port</var>
                   1009:    (if any), then throw an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
                   1010:    exception.</li>
                   1011: 
                   1012:    <li><p>If there is no <var title="">target port</var> (i.e. if <var title="">source port</var> is not entangled), then abort these
                   1013:    steps.</li>
                   1014:    <!-- we don't raise an exception if there is no target port because
                   1015:    this can happen at a moment's notice. we don't return false because
                   1016:    if the port is _about_ to be closed, the message might not be
                   1017:    listened for anyway. -->
                   1018: 
                   1019:    <li><p>Create an event that uses the <code><a href="#messageevent">MessageEvent</a></code>
                   1020:    interface, with the name <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code>, which does not bubble, is not
                   1021:    cancelable, and has no default action.</li>
                   1022: 
                   1023:    <li><p>Let <var title="">message</var> be the method's first
                   1024:    argument.</li>
                   1025: 
                   1026:    <li><p>Let <var title="">message clone</var> be the result of
                   1027:    obtaining a <span>structured clone</span> of <var title="">message</var>. If this throws an exception, then throw
                   1028:    that exception and abort these steps.</li>
                   1029: 
                   1030:    <li><p>Let the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-data"><a href="#dom-messageevent-data">data</a></code>
                   1031:    attribute of the event have the value of <var title="">message
                   1032:    clone</var>.</li>
                   1033: 
                   1034:    <li><p>If the method was called with a second argument <var title="">ports</var> and that argument isn't null, then run the
                   1035:    following substeps:</p>
                   1036: 
                   1037:     <ol><li>
                   1038: 
                   1039:       <p>Let <var title="">new ports</var> be an empty array.</p>
                   1040: 
                   1041:       <p>For each port in <var title="">ports</var> in turn,
                   1042:       obtain a new port by <a href="#clone-a-port" title="clone a port">cloning</a>
                   1043:       the port with the owner of the <var title="">target port</var>
                   1044:       as the owner of the clone, and append the clone to the <var title="">new ports</var> array.</p>
                   1045: 
                   1046:       <p class="note">If the original <var title="">ports</var>
                   1047:       array was empty, then the <var title="">new ports</var> array will
                   1048:       also be empty.</p>
                   1049: 
                   1050:      </li>
                   1051: 
                   1052:      <li><p>Let the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-ports"><a href="#dom-messageevent-ports">ports</a></code>
                   1053:      attribute of the event be the <var title="">new ports</var>
                   1054:      array.</li>
                   1055: 
                   1056:     </ol></li>
                   1057: 
                   1058:    <li><p>Add the event to the <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a> of <var title="">target port</var>.</li>
                   1059: 
                   1060:   </ol><!--
                   1061:   <hr>
                   1062: 
                   1063:   <p>The <dfn
                   1064:   title="dom-MessagePort-startConversation"><code>startConversation(<var
                   1065:   title="">message</var>)</code></dfn> method is a convenience method
                   1066:   that simplifies create a new <code>MessageChannel</code> and
                   1067:   invoking <code
                   1068:   title="dom-MessagePort-postMessage">postMessage()</code> with one of
                   1069:   the new ports. When invoked on a port <var title="">source
                   1070:   port</var>, it must run the following steps:</p>
                   1071: 
                   1072:   <ol>
                   1073: 
                   1074:    <li><p>Let <var title="">message</var> be the method's first
                   1075:    argument.</p></li>
                   1076: 
                   1077:    <li><p><span>Create a new <code>MessagePort</code> object</span>
                   1078:    owned by the <span>script's global object</span>, and let <var
                   1079:    title="">port1</var> be that object.</p></li>
                   1080: 
                   1081:    <li><p>If the <var title="">source port</var> is not entangled with
                   1082:    another port, then return <var title="">port1</var> and abort these
                   1083:    steps.</p></li>
                   1084:    <!- - we don't raise an exception because this can happen moment's
                   1085:    notice. we don't return null because then we'd end up with
                   1086:    null derefs. better to just let the likely next postMessage call
                   1087:    fall on the floor. - ->
                   1088: 
                   1089:    <li><p>Let <var title="">target port</var> be the port with which
                   1090:    <var title="">source port</var> is entangled.</p></li>
                   1091: 
                   1092:    <li><p><span>Create a new <code>MessagePort</code> object</span>
                   1093:    owned by the owner of the <var title="">target port</var>, and let
                   1094:    <var title="">port2</var> be that object.</p></li>
                   1095: 
                   1096:    <li><p><span>Entangle</span> the <var title="">port1</var> and <var
                   1097:    title="">port2</var> objects.</p></li>
                   1098: 
                   1099:    <li><p>Create an event that uses the <code>MessageEvent</code>
                   1100:    interface, with the name <code
                   1101:    title="event-message">message</code>, which does not bubble, is not
                   1102:    cancelable, and has no default action.</p></li>
                   1103: 
                   1104:    <li><p>Let the <code title="dom-MessageEvent-data">data</code>
                   1105:    attribute of the event have the value of <var
                   1106:    title="">message</var>, the method's first argument.</p></li>
                   1107: 
                   1108:    <li><p>Let the <code
                   1109:    title="dom-MessageEvent-ports">ports</code> attribute
                   1110:    of the event be an array containing only <var
                   1111:    title="">port2</var>.</p></li>
                   1112: 
                   1113:    <li><p>Return <var title="">port1</var> from the method, but
                   1114:    continue with these steps.</p></li>
                   1115: 
                   1116:    <li><p>Add the event to the <span>port message queue</span> of <var
                   1117:    title="">target port</var>.</p></li>
                   1118: 
                   1119:   </ol>
                   1120: --><hr><p>The <dfn id="dom-messageport-start" title="dom-MessagePort-start"><code>start()</code></dfn>
                   1121:   method must enable its port's <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a>, if it
                   1122:   is not already enabled.</p>
                   1123: 
                   1124:   <p>When a port's <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a> is enabled, the
                   1125:   <span>event loop</span> must use it as one of its <span title="task
                   1126:   source">task sources</span>.</p>
                   1127: 
                   1128:   <p class="note">If the <code>Document</code> of the port's event
                   1129:   listeners' <span title="script's global object">global object</span>
                   1130:   is not <span>fully active</span>, then the messages are lost.</p>
                   1131:   <!-- because of the jump-to-entry-point algorithm first step -->
                   1132: 
                   1133:   <hr><p>The <dfn id="dom-messageport-close" title="dom-MessagePort-close"><code>close()</code></dfn>
                   1134:   method, when called on a port <var title="">local port</var> that is
                   1135:   entangled with another port, must cause the user agents to
                   1136:   disentangle the two ports. If the method is called on a port that is
                   1137:   not entangled, then the method must do nothing.</p>
                   1138: 
                   1139:   <hr><p>The following are the <span>event handlers</span> (and their
                   1140:   corresponding <span title="event handler event type">event handler
                   1141:   event types</span>) that must be supported, as IDL attributes, by
                   1142:   all objects implementing the <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> interface:</p>
                   1143: 
                   1144:   <table><thead><tr><th><span title="event handlers">Event handler</span> <th><span>Event handler event type</span>
                   1145:    <tbody><tr><td><dfn id="handler-messageport-onmessage" title="handler-MessagePort-onmessage"><code>onmessage</code></dfn> <td> <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code>
                   1146:   </table><p>The first time a <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object's <code title="handler-MessagePort-onmessage"><a href="#handler-messageport-onmessage">onmessage</a></code> IDL attribute
                   1147:   is set, the port's <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a> must be enabled,
                   1148:   as if the <code title="dom-MessagePort-start"><a href="#dom-messageport-start">start()</a></code> method
                   1149:   had been called.</p>
                   1150: 
                   1151:   </div><h4 id="ports-and-garbage-collection"><span class="secno">5.3.1 </span>Ports and garbage collection</h4><div class="impl">
                   1152: 
                   1153:   <p>When a <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object <var title="">o</var> is
                   1154:   entangled, user agents must either act as if <var title="">o</var>'s
                   1155:   entangled <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object has a strong reference to
                   1156:   <var title="">o</var>, or as if <var title="">o</var>'s owner has a
                   1157:   strong reference to <var title="">o</var>.</p>
                   1158: 
                   1159:   <div class="note">
                   1160: 
                   1161:    <p>Thus, a message port can be received, given an event listener,
                   1162:    and then forgotten, and so long as that event listener could
                   1163:    receive a message, the channel will be maintained.</p>
                   1164: 
                   1165:    <p>Of course, if this was to occur on both sides of the channel,
                   1166:    then both ports could be garbage collected, since they would not be
                   1167:    reachable from live code, despite having a strong reference to each
                   1168:    other.</p>
                   1169: 
                   1170:   </div>
                   1171: 
                   1172:   <p>Furthermore, a <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object must not be
                   1173:   garbage collected while there exists a message in a <span>task
                   1174:   queue</span> that is to be dispatched on that
                   1175:   <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object, or while the
                   1176:   <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> object's <a href="#port-message-queue">port message queue</a> is
                   1177:   open and there exists a <code title="event-message"><a href="#event-message">message</a></code>
                   1178:   event in that queue.</p>
                   1179:   <!-- we might not need to explicitly say the first part if DOM
                   1180:   Events is fixed to say that events on a task queue prevent GC -->
                   1181: 
                   1182:   <!-- ports in the ports attribute of a MessageEvent that isn't
                   1183:   dispatched yet are safe because the MessageEvent is safe -->
                   1184: 
                   1185:   </div><p class="note">Authors are strongly encouraged to explicitly close
                   1186:   <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code> objects to disentangle them, so that their
                   1187:   resources can be recollected. Creating many <code><a href="#messageport">MessagePort</a></code>
                   1188:   objects and discarding them without closing them can lead to high
1.8       ihickson 1189:   memory usage.<h2 class="no-num" id="references">References</h2><!--REFS--><p>All references are normative unless marked "Non-normative".</p><!-- Dates are only included for standards older than the Web,
                   1190:   because the newer ones keep changing. --><dl><dt id="refsDOMEVENTS">[DOMEVENTS]</dt>
1.1       ihickson 1191:    <!--
                   1192:    <dd><cite><a
                   1193:    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
                   1194:    Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>,
1.8       ihickson 1195:    B. H&ouml;hrmann, P. Le Hegaret, T. Pixley. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1196:    -->
                   1197:    <dd><cite><a href="http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/DOM-Level-3-Events/html/DOM3-Events.html">Document
                   1198:    Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>,
1.8       ihickson 1199:    D. Schepers. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1200: 
                   1201:    <dt id="refsEVENTSOURCE">[EVENTSOURCE]</dt>
                   1202:    <!--
                   1203:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/eventsource/">Server-Sent
1.8       ihickson 1204:    Events</a></cite>, I. Hickson. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1205:    -->
                   1206:    <dd><cite><a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/eventsource/">Server-Sent
1.8       ihickson 1207:    Events</a></cite>, I. Hickson. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1208: 
1.6       ihickson 1209:    <dt id="refsHTML5">[HTML5]</dt>
1.8       ihickson 1210:    <dd><cite><a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/">HTML5</a></cite>,
                   1211:    I. Hickson, D. Hyatt. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1212: 
                   1213:    <dt id="refsWEBSOCKET">[WEBSOCKET]</dt>
                   1214:    <!--
                   1215:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/websockets/">The Web Sockets
1.8       ihickson 1216:    API</a></cite>, I. Hickson. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1217:    -->
                   1218:    <dd><cite><a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/websockets/">The Web Sockets
1.8       ihickson 1219:    API</a></cite>, I. Hickson. W3C.</dd>
1.1       ihickson 1220: 
1.6       ihickson 1221:   </dl><h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2><p>For a full list of acknowledgements, please see the HTML5
                   1222:   specification. <a href="#refsHTML5">[HTML5]</a>

Webmaster