IE9: Settings and system object not working

Hi everyone,

I've stumbled upon a delicate problem which I've now spent the last couple of hours researching on the internet with little success.

I'm creating a gadget which basic functionality relies on an IFRAME.
In this iframe I have a page loading with a bunch of ajax. Now bear with me because this is where it gets tricky.

This ajax page does not load if IE9 is in browser mode IE9 and document mode IE7,IE8 or BackComp/Quirk mode. I can explicitly set the document mode to IE9 at which point the browser mode and document mode is matching. This will make the ajax page load just fine but this creates another problem.

When IE9 is in IE9 browser/document mode, the settings button disappears. After some debugging I see that it is because it's most likely not recognizing the "System(.Gadget)" object. So it's either the main content not working or not being able to use the System object and settings properties.

To sum up: Gadget settings are not working when IE9 is in IE9 mode. Likewise if I set IE9 to be in IE8 mode the iframe stops working because of ajax errors.

Any help appreciated!
/Jonas

It seems I am not alone. I was aware of this problem since IE9 RC, and it isn't fixed in the final version of IE9. When you set the gadget page to load in IE9 document mode, the native gadget object (namely the "System" object) will become inaccessible. This will affect everything that requires this System object to function, including the settings panel.

In your case, I think you can simply stick to IE8 document mode. I don't know how you code your gadget, but I guess IE8 (mode) should provide enough features to make things work, unless you are trying to use HTML5, SVG or something like that. In my own case, I need HTML5 and SVG so I have to use IE9 mode. This problem "encouraged" me to try emulating the whole System object with JavaScript, and it ends up that I can make my gadget work as a standalone application (HTA) WITHOUT the Sidebar gadget platform... LOL

Thanks for the reply! Feels good to know I'm not alone :)

Unfortunately IE8 won't work for me as I'm loading an iframe w/ pretty complex js in it. The iframe loads perfectly in IE9/IE9 mode and IE8/IE8 mode. With IE9/IE8 however, it will not load. So if I set it to document mode IE8 it will run in Browser mode IE9 and document mode IE8 (Referred to as IE9/IE8 above).

I'll just have to do without the settings for a while, which is pretty ok I guess.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted if I find a solution :)