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javascriptjqueryckeditortypeof

TypeError: CKEDITOR.instance is undefined -- Test for object instance gives error

Situation: Invoking CKEDITOR in jQuery dialog box (many challenges here). My specific problem is that when I test for the existence of a CKEDITOR instance, I always get an error thrown.

BROWSERS tested: Firefox 21, IE 9, Safari 5.1.7

The error: Error: TypeError: CKEDITOR.instance is undefined

All of these ways of testing for the CKEDITOR instance always throw a javascript error:

if(! CKEDITOR.instance['editor']){

if(CKEDITOR.instance['editor']){

if(! typeof CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] == "undefined"){

if(! typeof(CKEDITOR.instance['editor']) == "undefined"){

if(typeof CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] != "undefined"){

if(typeof CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] !== "undefined"){

if(typeof CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] === "undefined"){

Of course I scoured StackOverflow before making this post. I have tried every combination of "typeof" and "undefined" that has been suggested on StackOverflow.

How can I test for the existence of the object instance if I get an error in the very testing for the existence of the instance? A conundrum!

Solution

  • You're testing the wrong object (or object property in this case). instance is undefined, so you have to first check if instance is defined before testing one of it's properties.

    if ( CKEDITOR.instance && CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] ) {

    or if you want to know when it is NOT defined,

    if ( !CKEDITOR.instance || !CKEDITOR.instance['editor'] ) {