Transitioning the style code from inline to the head of the document disrupts the straightforward JavaScript intended to

Question

Transitioning the style code from inline to the head of the document disrupts the straightforward JavaScript intended to

As I delve into the world of web development, I encountered a simple issue that has been causing me frustration for the past hour. It involves code to display the border color of a div element using an alert. The code works perfectly fine when the style is applied inline, but as soon as I move it to a style element in the head section, it stops working.

Here's the working code:

function myFunction() {
  alert(document.getElementById("myDiv").style.borderColor);
}

<div id="myDiv" style="border:thick solid green">This is a div.</div>
<br>
<button type="button" onclick="myFunction()">Return border color</button>

And now, the non-working code:

function myFunction() {
  alert(document.getElementById("myDiv").style.borderColor);
}

<style>
  #myDiv {
    border: thick solid green;
  }
</style>
<div id="myDiv">This is a div.</div>
<br>
<button type="button" onclick="myFunction()">Return border color</button>

I simply moved the style attribute from the div tag to the head section. Can anyone explain why this change caused it to stop working and guide me on how to fix it?

javascript html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

The style attribute will only apply inline styles to your elements. If you need to access the actual computed style, you can utilize the getComputedStyle function in modern browsers or the currentStyle property in older versions of Internet Explorer:

function retrieveBorderStyle() {
  var element = document.getElementById("myElement");
  var computedStyle = window.getComputedStyle ? getComputedStyle(element) : element.currentStyle;
  alert(computedStyle.borderColor);
}

<style>
  #myElement {
    border: thick solid blue;
  }
</style>
<div id="myElement">This is a sample element.</div>
<br>
<button type="button" onclick="retrieveBorderStyle()">Get border color</button>

Answer 2

The style attribute will only apply inline styles to your elements. If you need to access the actual computed style, you can utilize the getComputedStyle function in modern browsers or the currentStyle property in older versions of Internet Explorer:

function retrieveBorderStyle() {
  var element = document.getElementById("myElement");
  var computedStyle = window.getComputedStyle ? getComputedStyle(element) : element.currentStyle;
  alert(computedStyle.borderColor);
}

<style>
  #myElement {
    border: thick solid blue;
  }
</style>
<div id="myElement">This is a sample element.</div>
<br>
<button type="button" onclick="retrieveBorderStyle()">Get border color</button>

Answer 3

Answer №2

When accessing the element.style property, you are retrieving the style attribute of that particular element. In case the attribute is removed, as illustrated in the second example, it will no longer function properly.

To obtain the actual styles that have been applied to an element, you must utilize the Window.getComputedStyle() method. An illustrative example of its usage is:

var targetElement = document.getElementById("specificDiv");
var computedStyles = window.getComputedStyle(targetElement);
alert(computedStyles.color);

Answer 4

When accessing the element.style property, you are retrieving the style attribute of that particular element. In case the attribute is removed, as illustrated in the second example, it will no longer function properly.

To obtain the actual styles that have been applied to an element, you must utilize the Window.getComputedStyle() method. An illustrative example of its usage is:

var targetElement = document.getElementById("specificDiv");
var computedStyles = window.getComputedStyle(targetElement);
alert(computedStyles.color);

Transitioning the style code from inline to the head of the document disrupts the straightforward JavaScript intended to

Answer №1

Answer №2

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