window.location.hash

[tribalmaniac]

Hi,

If you use inline JavaScript to forward a page to a new hash e.g:
window.location.hash = 'action=test'; The onhashchange even doesn't fire.

This is a good thing, because it means you can set up an initial hash representing the AJAX state. However the back button would take you from
http://example.com/#action=test to http://example.com/

Which creates a usability problem as the back button then has to be pressed twice to actually go back.

SOMEHOW Google manage to avoid this. To see, open docs.google.com in a new window or tab and you will be taken to http://docs.google.com/#all
And yet the back button is disabled - as if the transition to #all never even happened.

Does anybody know how they do this? As it would solve the double back button problem I mentioned above.

(This doesn't appear to be a serverside redirect as the hash appears once the page has loaded).

[Kor]

maybe htaccess solves this.

[tribalmaniac]

Mmmm, I'm not so sure. Do you see the hash appearing once the page has loaded - and yet the back button is still disabled.

[Kor]

as long as the document is open in a new tab, the back button is disabled, no wonder...

[tribalmaniac]

I don't think you understand, Google, and the code I mention both forward the browser to a new hash.
(I only mention opening a new window so you can see the effect.)

In my case this enabled the back button as in my first example.
However, Google's case - the back button does not become enabled.

[tribalmaniac]

I found a post regarding the same problem:

http://bytes.com/topic/javascript/an...adding-history

The solution is to use window.location.replace initially and window.location.hash thereafter.