I have a problem. I am trying to get the source of an audio element as soon as it changes and without making it connect to the server. Let me elaborate: The server allows only one request (randomly generated url for content), which I am trying to get and obviously I don't want the audio element to reload using a new source. I am currently using a mutation observer, but with no luck of beating the onclick's speed (yes, there's complicated js involved in order to not allow anybody to get the source directly). Here's the code:
document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0].setAttribute("autoplay", false);
//not sure if ^^ makes a difference
audioObserver = new MutationObserver(function (mutations) {
window.open(mutations[0].target.src);
//I only listen for one mutation and want to open the url in a new window
audioObserver.disconnect();
//don't listen in order to not cause infinite loop
document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0].parentNode.removeChild(document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0]);
//remove the element in order to avoid reloading
});
observerConfig = {
attributes: true,
childList: false,
characterData: false
};
audioObserver.observe(document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0], observerConfig);
I would be happy with any implementation i.e. not necessarily MutationObserver. Is there anyway to literally hijack the attribute change?
You're right that MutationObserver can't do what you need. The way those work, browsers collect mutation records while a script runs, then passes the records to the observers all at once when the script yields. It's pretty much asynchronous. This is what makes mutation observers perform better than mutation events, which are dispatched synchronously. By the time the observer runs, the audio element will have received the URL and have started loading it.
Supposing that this onclick handler you're talking about sets the element's .src property, you'll want to define a custom setter for that, so that you can intercept the value before the audio element's implementation handles it.
You can define a setter like this in JavaScript: http://jsfiddle.net/omqdx8d1/
var el = document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0];
Object.defineProperty(el, 'src', {
set: function (newSrc) {
console.log('they set src to ' + newSrc);
}
});
In Chrome, this will make it impossible to call the original setter afterward, but it sounds like you're not worried about that.
Another way to modify an element's attributes is to use the setAttribute method. If you want to intercept this, you can redefine the element's setAttribute method.
Here's another example that uses setAttribute: http://jsfiddle.net/5mLysc9n/1/
var el = document.getElementsByTagName('audio')[0];
var origSetAttribute = el.setAttribute;
el.setAttribute = function (name, value) {
console.log('they set ' + name + ' to ' + value);
// origSetAttribute.call(el, name, value);
};
When you monkey patch a method, you can save the original method function, which can be useful.
Related
Is it possible in JavaScript to listen for a change of attribute value? For example:
var element=document.querySelector('…');
element.addEventListener( ? ,doit,false);
element.setAttribute('something','whatever');
function doit() {
}
I would like to respond to any change in the something attribute.
I have read up on the MutationObserver object, as well as alternatives to that (including the one which uses animation events). As far as I can tell, they are about changes to the actual DOM. I’m more interested in attribute changes to a particular DOM element, so I don’t think that’s it. Certainly in my experimenting it doesn’t seem to work.
I would like to do this without jQuery.
Thanks
You need MutationObserver, Here in snippet I have used setTimeout to simulate modifying attribute
var element = document.querySelector('#test');
setTimeout(function() {
element.setAttribute('data-text', 'whatever');
}, 5000)
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations) {
mutations.forEach(function(mutation) {
if (mutation.type === "attributes") {
console.log("attributes changed");
// Example of accessing the element for which
// event was triggered
mutation.target.textContent = "Attribute of the element changed";
}
console.log(mutation.target);
});
});
observer.observe(element, {
attributes: true //configure it to listen to attribute changes
});
<div id="test">Dummy Text</div>
Additionally, mutation.target property gives the reference to mutated/changed node.
This question is already answered, but I'd like to share my experiences, because the mutation observer did not bring me the insights in needed.
Note This is some kind of hacky solution, but for (at least) debugging purposes quite good.
You can override the setAttribute function of a particalar element. This way you can also print the callstack, and get an insight of "who" changed the attribute value:
// select the target element
const target = document.querySelector("#element");
// store the original setAttribute reference
const setAttribute = target.setAttribute;
// override setAttribte
target.setAttribute = (key: string, value: string) => {
console.trace("--trace");
// use call, to set the context and prevent illegal invocation errors
setAttribute.call(target, key, value);
};
Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.
For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)
Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.
Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.
Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.
In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}
Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.
For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)
Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.
Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.
Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.
In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}
Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.
For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)
Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.
Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.
Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.
In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}
Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.
For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)
Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.
Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.
Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.
In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}