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MessageChannel: MessageChannel() constructor

The MessageChannel() constructor of the MessageChannel interface returns a new MessageChannel object with two new MessagePort objects.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers

Syntax

js

new MessageChannel()

Parameters

None (undefined).

Return value

A new MessageChannel object.

Examples

In the following code block, you can see a new channel being created using the MessageChannel.MessageChannel constructor. When the <iframe> has loaded, we pass port2 to the <iframe> using MessagePort.postMessage along with a message. The handleMessage handler then responds to a message being sent back from the <iframe> (using onmessage), putting it into a paragraph. The port1 is listened to, to check when the message arrives.

js

const channel = new MessageChannel();
const para = document.querySelector("p");

const ifr = document.querySelector("iframe");
const otherWindow = ifr.contentWindow;

ifr.addEventListener("load", iframeLoaded, false);

function iframeLoaded() {
  otherWindow.postMessage("Hello from the main page!", "*", [channel.port2]);
}

channel.port1.onmessage = handleMessage;
function handleMessage(e) {
  para.innerHTML = e.data;
}

For a full working example, see our channel messaging basic demo on GitHub (run it live too).

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
MessageChannel 2 12 41 10 10.6 5 4.4 18 41 11 4.2 1.0

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MessageChannel/MessageChannel