SyntaxError: Illegal return statement - searching for string in url

Question

I'm just in the console in Chrome for now. I created this variable:

url = window.location.href

which gives:

Now I tried this:

if (url.indexOf('australia-and-south-pacific') > 0) {return 'foo';}

Which returned:

SyntaxError: Illegal return statement

I expected the console to return 'foo'.

Why is this happening? I noticed that after receiving this error, give it afew seconds and a new error appears:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'hide' of undefined

If that helps to diagnose?

Because you are not in a function, so there is nothing to return to, maybe you wanted: console.log('foo') — Patrick Evans
– Patrick Evans, Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 14:49
Ah OK, thank you I will update. Sorry this must have been super simple — Doug Fir
– Doug Fir, Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 14:49

user4012225 · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-05 14:55:41Z

8

An ECMAScript program is considered syntactically incorrect if it contains a return statement that is not within a FunctionBody.

answered Sep 5, 2014 at 14:55

user4012225

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