Thread: Document Referrer

I'm trying to confirm how document.referrer is working. Let's say that a user enters the site on PageA. There is then a link on PageA to take user to PageB and then a link to pageC and then PageD. Deep Breath;

So:

Code:

......-> pageA (referrer NULL) [but can we count on this?]
PageA -> PageB (referrer PageA)
PageB -> PageC (referrer PageB)
PageC -> PageD (referrer PageC)

Now, from PageD, user presses the browser back button to return to PageC. In this case, I'm seeing document.referrer return PageB. I assume this to be correct (I would not expect it to be PageD, but perhaps NULL).

I'm trying to process some data we have from JS, but the developer is long gone as well as the souce -- it's very much like trying to fix my car by watching traffic go by.

Hey Shad!

I figured this out by experiment. Indeed, pressing the BACK button does NOT update the value of document.referrer -- which is what I expected. If however I have a BACK link, then it's updated. This is exactly what I expected, but not what the application purported to do.