Window.open opens window in new browser tab?

[jekillen]

I have a project that uses javascript window.open to open a window that loads a php enabled html form page.

 

When the window is originally opened, it opens in the expected separate window.

 

BUT, if I use one of the buttons assigned event handlers that call form.submit()* (method is set to post)

* in the separate window. This is a self processing html/php form page.

 

The resulting page opens in a new browser tab with the original window still opened but unresponsive

to events.

 

I am developing in Firefox 34.0.5. But I am assuming that this would be encountered on any DOM

browser type and version.

 

This is the first time I have encountered this phenom, even in this same project.

 

What could be causing Firefox to open a new tab for the same html/php file?

 

Possibly a js var naming conflct with the target attribute in an html element such as <a> or <form>?

EDIT:

Yes, that was the problem:

I had a variable named 'target' that is supposed to hold path information and then refered to it

and had some code manipulations to it in a 'with(document.forms.formName)' block. The result

seems to have set the target attribute of the form.

 

But it may be useful to know how to program javascript to open windows in a separate tab intentionally.

 

Thanks for time and attention

JK

Edited December 3, 2015 by jekillen

[davej]

Why do you need to open another window? Browsers now give users control over how and if a new window will be allowed to open.