'console' is undefined error for Internet Explorer

Question

I\'m using Firebug and have some statements like:

console.log(\"...\");

in my page. In IE8 (probably earlier versions too) I get script err

Answer 1

Paste the following at the top of your JavaScript (before using the console):

/**
 * Protect window.console method calls, e.g. console is not defined on IE
 * unless dev tools are open, and IE doesn't define console.debug
 * 
 * Chrome 41.0.2272.118: debug,error,info,log,warn,dir,dirxml,table,trace,assert,count,markTimeline,profile,profileEnd,time,timeEnd,timeStamp,timeline,timelineEnd,group,groupCollapsed,groupEnd,clear
 * Firefox 37.0.1: log,info,warn,error,exception,debug,table,trace,dir,group,groupCollapsed,groupEnd,time,timeEnd,profile,profileEnd,assert,count
 * Internet Explorer 11: select,log,info,warn,error,debug,assert,time,timeEnd,timeStamp,group,groupCollapsed,groupEnd,trace,clear,dir,dirxml,count,countReset,cd
 * Safari 6.2.4: debug,error,log,info,warn,clear,dir,dirxml,table,trace,assert,count,profile,profileEnd,time,timeEnd,timeStamp,group,groupCollapsed,groupEnd
 * Opera 28.0.1750.48: debug,error,info,log,warn,dir,dirxml,table,trace,assert,count,markTimeline,profile,profileEnd,time,timeEnd,timeStamp,timeline,timelineEnd,group,groupCollapsed,groupEnd,clear
 */
(function() {
  // Union of Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera, and Safari console methods
  var methods = ["assert", "cd", "clear", "count", "countReset",
    "debug", "dir", "dirxml", "error", "exception", "group", "groupCollapsed",
    "groupEnd", "info", "log", "markTimeline", "profile", "profileEnd",
    "select", "table", "time", "timeEnd", "timeStamp", "timeline",
    "timelineEnd", "trace", "warn"];
  var length = methods.length;
  var console = (window.console = window.console || {});
  var method;
  var noop = function() {};
  while (length--) {
    method = methods[length];
    // define undefined methods as noops to prevent errors
    if (!console[method])
      console[method] = noop;
  }
})();

The function closure wrapper is to scope the variables as to not define any variables. This guards against both undefined console and undefined console.debug (and other missing methods).

EDIT: I noticed that HTML5 Boilerplate uses similar code in its js/plugins.js file, if you're looking for a solution that will (probably) be kept up-to-date.