Problem finding properties using JS

[williamz]

Hi!

I am not that experienced with javascript and I am having a problem reading some properties using javascript.

I have a menu bar sitting inside a div that is centred. Some menu options drop down from the bar, with their left position being set in css.

I want to read the left position using JS becaues the position of the dropdown boxes will change depending on the width of the browser plus every time I change a menu I hqve to recode the values that turn the menus on and off.

I found the code below, but in Firefox it returns 0px (seems to be wrong) while IE returns 160px (correct, but does not allow for the centering - just reporting the left within its div).

var x = document.getElementById(el);
if (x.currentStyle)
{
     var y = x.currentStyle[styleProp];
}else if (window.getComputedStyle){
     var y = document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(x,null).getPropertyValue(styleProp);
}
    return y;
} 
 

If I inspect the offsetLeft property I just get auto from both browsers. Is there any way of reading either the elements absolute position on the page, or getting its correct left property in firefox and its offset from the left of the page in both browsers?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[pbmods]

Heya, Dave. Welcome to TSDN!

Please use CODE tags when posting source code. See the REPLY GUIDELINES on the right side of the page next time you post.

Have a look at this article.

[williamz]

Thank you so much pbmods, sorry about the ettiquette breach...

I can now get everything working fine in IE, but firefox is still flummoxing me. This code

x = document.getElementById('pageLinksBox1').offsetParent;
y = x.id;
alert(getStyle(y, 'left'));
 

is fine for IE, but in Firefox, while x is an object that contains the box (verified by setting the .top property and seeing the element move), firefox returns 'null' for the .offsetParent. This is set correctly in IE, so I assume that I am making some mistake with the code....

The code

x = document.getElementById('pageLinksBox1');
alert (x.id);
 
y = x.offsetParent;
alert (y.id);
 

produces an alert with the correct name (pageLinksBox1) in firefox and then breaks the javascript processing with an error that says that y has no properties...

Sorry to be obtuse, but does anyoneknow what I am doing wrong?

Thanks in advance

Dave