About this specification

This specification is like no other — it has been processed with you, the humble web developer, in mind.

The focus of this specification is readability and ease of access. Unlike the full HTML Standard, this "developer's edition" removes information that only browser vendors need know. It is automatically produced from the full specification by our build tooling, and thus always in sync with the latest developments in HTML.

To read about its conception, construction, and future, read the original press release, and the blog post about its relaunch.

Finally, feel free to contribute on GitHub to make this edition better for everyone!

  1. 9 Communication
    1. 9.1 The MessageEvent interfaces

9 Communication

9.1 The MessageEvent interfaces

Messages in server-sent events, Web sockets, cross-document messaging, channel messaging, and broadcast channels use the MessageEvent interface for their message events:

event . data

Returns the data of the message.

event . origin

Returns the origin of the message, for server-sent events and cross-document messaging.

event . lastEventId

Returns the last event ID string, for server-sent events.

event . source

Returns the WindowProxy of the source window, for cross-document messaging, and the MessagePort being attached, in the connect event fired at SharedWorkerGlobalScope objects.

event . ports

Returns the MessagePort array sent with the message, for cross-document messaging and channel messaging.

Various APIs (e.g., WebSocket, EventSource) use the MessageEvent interface for their message event without using the MessagePort API.