I've hooked up a lazy loader in Angular. It pulls in full templates and extracts key information from that full template in order to populate a partial. This full page template has script tags which load in and then register with the existing app. All of this works fine. My problem is that I'd like to remove the only use of jQuery in this approach.
The root issue is that the JS inside of something.js doesn't execute when using $element.html(), but it does execute when using $.html(), despite the script tag being placed in the DOM in both approaches.
Working code, including lazy loader and post-bootstrap registration of lazy-loaded JS:
$http.get("/path/to/file.html").success(function(response) {
// response is a full HTML page including <doctype>
var partial = getOnlyWhatWeNeed(response);
// partial is now something like: '<script type="text/javascript" src="/path/to/something.js"></script><div ng-controller="somethingCtrl">{{something}}</div>'
// i'd like the following to not rely on full jQuery.
$("#stage").html(partial);
$("#stage").html($compile(partial)($scope)); // it is necessary to do it once before compile so that the <script> tags get dropped in and executed prior to compilation.
});
I've tried what seems like the logical translation:
$element.html($compile(partial)($scope));
and the DOM is created properly, but the JS inside of the loaded <script> tag doesn't actually execute. My research suggested this was an $sce issue, so I tried:
$element.html($compile($sce.trustAsHtml(partial)($scope));
but i get the same result. the DOM is fine, but the JS doesn't actually execute and so I get undefined controller issues.
I've tried playing with $sce.JS and $sce.RESOURCE_URL but the docs didnt elaborate much so I'm not sure I know whether or not what I'm trying is even right.
I've also tried $element[0].innerHTML but I get the same result as $element.html().
Preemptive disclaimer: I can trust the incoming HTML/JS. I know it's inadvisable. This isn't my baby and it is much more complicated than I explained so please try to stay on topic so other people in this position may not have as hard of a time as I am :)
The $http.get happens in a provider, and the $element.html happens in a directive. I consolidated them to remove noise from the problem.
Jquery will find any script tags and evaluate them (either a direct eval or appending them to the head for linked scripts) when calling html(), see this answer. I'm assuming angular's jquery lite doesn't do this. You would need to effectively replicate what jquery is doing and look for script tags in the html you are appending.
Something like this (although I haven't tested it):
$http.get("/path/to/file.html").success(function(response) {
// response is a full HTML page including <doctype>
var partial = getOnlyWhatWeNeed(response);
// partial is now something like: '<script type="text/javascript" src="/path/to/something.js"></script><div ng-controller="somethingCtrl">{{something}}</div>'
var d = document.createElement('div');
d.innerHTML = partial;
var scripts = d.getElementsByTagName('script');
for (var i = 0; i < scripts.length; i++) {
document.head.appendChild(scripts[0]);
}
$("#stage").html($compile(partial)($scope)); // it is necessary to do it once before compile so that the <script> tags get dropped in and executed prior to compilation.
});
This is far from an ideal solution as it gives you no guarantee of when things are loaded and doesn't really handle dependencies across scripts. If you can control the templates it would be simpler to remove the scripts from them and load them independently.
Related
I am writing a script that needs to add DOM elements to the page, at the place where the script is located (widget-like approach).
What is the best way to do this?
Here are the techniques I am considering:
Include an element with an id="Locator" right above the script. Issues:
I don't like the extra markup
If I reuse the widget in the page, several elements will have the same "Locator" id. I was thinking about adding a line in the script to remove the id once used, but still...
Add an id to the script. Issues:
even though it seems to work, the id attribute is not valid for the script element
same issue as above, several elements will have the same id if I reuse the script in the page.
Use getElementsByTagName("script") and pick the last element. This has worked for me so far, it just seems a little heavy and I am not sure if it is reliable (thinking about deferred scripts)
document.write: not elegant, but seems to do the job.
[Edit] Based on the reply from idealmachine, I am thinking about one more option:
Include in the script tag an attribute, for example goal="tabify".
Use getElementsByTagName("script") to get all the scripts.
Loop through the scripts and check the goal="tabify" attribute to find my script.
Remove the goal attribute in case there's another widget in the page.
[Edit] Another idea, also inspired by the replies so far:
Use getElementsByTagName("script") to get all the scripts.
Loop through the scripts and check innerHTML to find my script.
At the end of the script, remove the script tag in case there's another widget in the page.
Out of the box : document.currentScript (not supported by IE)
I've worked for OnlyWire which provides, as their main service, a widget to put on your site.
We use the var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName("script"); var thisScript = scripts[scripts.length - 1]; trick and it seems to work pretty well. Then we use thisScript.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, thisScript); to insert whatever we want before it, in the DOM tree.
I'm not sure I understand why you consider this a "heavy" solution... it doesn't involve iteration, it's a pure cross-browser solution which integrates perfectly.
This works with multiple copies of same code on page as well as with dynamically inserted code:
<script type="text/javascript" class="to-run">
(function(self){
if (self == window) {
var script = document.querySelector('script.to-run');
script.className = '';
Function(script.innerHTML).call(script);
} else {
// Do real stuff here. self refers to current script element.
console.log(1, self);
}
})(this);
</script>
Either document.write or picking the last script element will work for synchronously loaded scripts in the majority of web pages. However, there are some options I can think of that you did not consider to allow for async loading:
Adding a div with class="Locator" before the script. HTML classes has the advantage that duplicates are not invalid. Of course, to handle the multiple widget case, you will want to change the element's class name when done adding the HTML elements so you do not add them twice. (Note that it is also possible for an element to be a member of multiple classes; it is a space-separated list.)
Checking the src of each script element can ensure that tracking code (e.g. Google Analytics legacy tracking code) and other scripts loaded at the very end of the page will not prevent your script from working properly when async loading is used. Again, to handle the multiple widget case, you may need to remove the script elements when done with them (i.e. when the desired code has been added to the page).
One final comment I will make (although you may already be aware of this) is that when coding a widget, you need to declare all your variables using var and enclose all your code within: (JSLint can help check this)
(function(){
...
})();
This has been called a "self-executing function" and will ensure that variables used in your script do not interfere with the rest of the Web page.
Whether you drop a <script> tag in or a <div class="mywidget">, you're adding something to the markup. Personally, I prefer the latter as the script itself is only added once. Too many scripts in the page body can slow down the page load time.
But if you need to add the script tag where the widget is going to be, I don't see what's wrong with using document.write() to place a div.
I just found another method that seems to answer my question:
How to access parent Iframe from javascript
Embedding the script in an iframe allows to locate it anytime, as the script always keeps a reference to its own window.
I vote this the best approach, as it'll always work no matter how many times you add the script to the page (think widget). You're welcome to comment.
What pushed me to consider iframes in the first place was an experiment I did to build a Google gadget.
In many cases this work well (hud.js is the name of the scipt):
var jsscript = document.getElementsByTagName("script");
for (var i = 0; i < jsscript.length; i++) {
var pattern = /hud.js/i;
if ( pattern.test( jsscript[i].getAttribute("src") ) )
{
var parser = document.createElement('a');
parser.href = jsscript[i].getAttribute("src");
host = parser.host;
}
}
Also you can add individual script's name inside them.
either inside some js-script
dataset['my_prefix_name'] = 'someScriptName'
or inside HTML - in the <script> tag
data-my_prefix_name='someScriptName'
and next search appropriate one by looping over document.scripts array:
... function(){
for (var i = 0, n = document.scripts.length; i < n; i++) {
var prefix = document.scripts[i].dataset['my_prefix_name']
if (prefix == 'whatYouNeed')
return prefix
}
}
I haven't had access to internet explorer since forever, but this should work pretty much everywhere:
<script src="script.js"
data-count="30"
data-headline="My headline"
onload="uniqueFunctionName(this)"
defer
></script>
and inside script.js:
window.uniqueFunctionName = function (currentScript) {
var dataset = currentScript.dataset
console.log(dataset['count'])
console.log(dataset['headline'])
}
can anyone explain what happens when you use javascript to insert a javascript based widget?
here's my js code:
var para = document.getElementsByTagName("p");
var cg = document.createElement("div");
cg.setAttribute("class", "twt");
cg.innerHTML='<a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button"
data-count="vertical" data-via="xah_lee">Tweet</a>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>';
document.body.insertBefore(cg, para[1]);
it inserts the twitter widget, before the first paragraph. As you can see above, the twitter widget calls for a javascript that shows how many time the page has been tweeted.
doesn't work in Firefox, Chrome, but semi-works in IE8. What should be the expected behavior when this happens? Does the newly inserted js code supposed to execute? If so, how's it differ from if the code is on the page itself?
In order to execute the JS code you insert into a DIV via innerHTML, you need to do something like the following (courtesy of Yuriy Fuksenko at http://www.coderanch.com/t/117983/HTML-JavaScript/Execute-JavaScript-function-present-HTML )
function setAndExecute(divId, innerHTML) {
var div = document.getElementById(divId);
div.innerHTML = innerHTML;
var x = div.getElementsByTagName("script");
for (var i=0;i<x.length;i++) {
eval(x[i].text);
}
}
A slightly more advanced approach is here: http://zeta-puppis.com/2006/03/07/javascript-script-execution-in-innerhtml-the-revenge/ - look for <script> tags, take their content and create a new element into the <head>.
innerHTML does not work to insert script tags (because the linked script, in most browsers, will fail to execute). Really, you should insert the script tag once on the server side and insert only the link at the location of each post (that is, if you are adding this to a blog home page that shows multiple posts, each with their own URLs).
If, for some reason, you decide that you must use one snippet of JavaScript to do it all, at least import the tweet button script in a way that will work, for example, the Google Analytics way or the MediaWiki way (look for the importScriptURI function). (Note that I do not know the specifics of the tweet button, so it might not even work.)
I want to give a static javascript block of code to a html template designer, which can be:
either inline or external or both
used once or more in the html template
and each block can determine its position in the template relative to the other javascript code blocks.
An example could be image banners served using javascript. I give code to template designer who places it in two places, once for a horizontal banner in the header and once for a vertical banner. The same code runs in both blocks but knowing their positions can determine if to serve a horizontal or a vertical image banner.
Make sense?
Another example: Say you have the same 2 javascript tags in a web page calling an external script on a server. Can the server and/or scripts determine which javascript tag it belongs to?
NOTE: Can we say this is a challenge? I know that I can avoid this puzzle very easily but I come across this on a regular basis.
JavaScript code can locate all <script> elements on the page and it can probably examine the attributes and the content to check from which element it came from. But that's probably not what you want.
What you want is a piece of JavaScript which replaces tags on the page with ad banners. The usual solution is to add a special element, say a IMG, for this and give that IMG an id or a class or maybe even a custom attribute (like adtype="vertical") and then use JavaScript to locate these elements and replace the content by changing the src attribute.
For example, using jQuery, you can should your images like so:
<img src="empty.gif" width="..." height="..." class="ad" adtype="..." />
Then you can locate each image with
$('img.ad')
[EDIT] Well, the server obviously knows which script belongs into which script tag because it inserts the script. So this is a no-brainer.
If the script wants to find out where it is in the DOM, add something which it can use to identify itself, say:
<script>var id= '329573485745';
Then you can walk all script tags and check which one contains the value of the variable id.
If you call an external script, then you can do the same but you must add the ID to the script tag as you emit the HTML:
<script id="329573485745" src="..." />
Then the external script can examine the DOM and lookup the element with this id. You will want to use an UUID for this, btw.
This way, a piece of JS can locate the script tag which added itself to the page.
Best thing would probably be to make an insert once function, and then have him insert only the function call where needed.
Like this:
timescalled=0
function buildad(){
var toinsert="" //Code to generate the desired piece of HTML
document.write(toinsert)
timescalled+=1 //So you can tell how many times the function have been called
}
Now a script block calling the function can simply be inserted wherever a banner is needed
<script type="text/javascript">buildad()</script>
Thanks for the tips everyone but I'll be answering my own question.
I figured out several ways of accomplishing the task and I give you the one which works nicely and is easy to understand.
The following chunk of code relies on outputting dummy divs and jQuery.
<script>
// Unique identifier for all dummy divs
var rnd1="_0xDEFEC8ED_";
// Unique identifier for this dummy div
var rnd2=Math.floor(Math.random()*999999);
// The dummy div
var d="<div class='"+rnd1+" "+rnd2+"'></div>";
// Script which :
// Calculates index of THIS dummy div
// Total dummy divs
// Outputs to dummy div for debugging
var f1="<script>$(document).ready(function(){";
var f2="var i=$('."+rnd1+"').index($('."+rnd2+"'))+1;";
var f3="var t=$('."+rnd1+"').length;";
var f4="$('."+rnd2+"').html(i+' / '+t);";
var f5="});<\/script>";
document.write(d+f1+f2+f3+f4+f5);
</script>
Why not not just place the function call on the page instead of the entire code block? This way you can pass in a parameter to tell it what type of advertisement is needed?
BuildAd('Tower');
BuildAd('Banner');
Javascript itself has no clue of it's position in a page. You have to target a control on the page to get it's location.
I don't think it is possible for JavaScript code to know where it was loaded from. It certainly doesn't run at the point it is found, since execution isn't directly tied to the loading process (code usually runs after the whole DOM is loaded). In fact, in the case of externals, it doesn't even make sense, since only one copy of the code will be loaded no matter how many times it is encountered.
It shouldn't be the same code for each banner - there will be a parameter passed to whatever is serving the image banner which will specify the intended size.
Can you give a specific example of what you need this for?
To edit for your recent example: The simple answer is no. I could help you approach the problem from a different direction if you post details of your problem
The term "static block of code" leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Inline scripts (e.g., ones that rely on document.write and so must be parsed and executed during the HTML parsing phase) cannot tell where they are in the DOM at runtime. You have to tell them (as in one of the first answers you got).
I think you'll probably find that you need to change your approach.
A common way to keep code and markup separate (which is useful when providing tools to HTML designers who aren't coders) is to have them use a script tag like so:
<script defer async type='text/javascript' src='pagestuff.js'></script>
...which then triggers itself when the page is loaded (using window.onload if necessary, but there are several techniques for being triggered earlier than that, which you want because window.onload doesn't trigger until the images have all loaded).
That script then looks for markers in the markup and manipulates the page accordingly. For instance (this example uses Prototype, but you can do the same with raw JavaScript, jQuery, Closure, etc.):
document.observe("dom:loaded", initPage);
function initPage() {
var verticals = $$('div.vertical');
/* ...do something with the array of "vertical" divs in `verticals`,
such as: */
var index;
for (index = 0; index < verticals.length; ++index) {
vertical.update("I'm vertical #" + index);
}
}
The designers can then have blocks on the page that are filled in by code which they flag up in a way that's normal for them (classes or attributes, etc.). The code figures out what it should do based on the classes/attributes of the blocks it finds when it runs.
I was thinking of using Fiddler for the following purpose...
I have a JavaScript based service I want to demonstrate to potential clients. In order to show them what their website could look like if they install (i.e. include) my script, I want to set up Fiddler on my PC, so that when fetching the client's website, the
<script type="text/JavaScript" src="myscript.js"></script>
line will be included in the HTML <head> section.
Can this be easily done with Fiddler? Could someone point me to where I may find the documentation covering that, if it is?
Thanks!
----Update----
For the time being I have resorted to using a BHO to add my script to the page. I use execScript(), upon onDocumentComplete, to run a simple piece of JavaScript which appends the .js file I need to the page. But EricLaw's pointers and jitter's answer seem like the way to go for a more complete (and elegant) way to do what I need.
If someone is interested I could upload the BHO code here.
-Thanks!
Open fiddler -> Menu Rules -> Customize Rules (or hit Ctrl+R)
The CustomRule.js file opens. Scroll down until you find the line
static function OnBeforeResponse(oSession: Session)
This is where your code goes. Here you can change the server response before the browser sees it.
The following code sample shows how to include a custom piece of jQuery code which replaces the Unanswered link in the horizontal menu with a link which serves as short cut to Unanswered jQuery Questions
I first show you the jQuery code I want to include
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(function() {
var newLink = 'Unanswered jQuery';
$('div#hmenus div.nav:first ul li:last a').replaceWith(newLink);
});
</script>
Now the fiddler code (based on code found in CustomRules.js and code samples from the FiddlerScript CookBook)
//is it a html-response and is it from stackoverflow.com
if (oSession.oResponse.headers.ExistsAndContains("Content-Type", "html") &&
oSession.HostnameIs("stackoverflow.com")) {
// Remove any compression or chunking
oSession.utilDecodeResponse();
var oBody = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(oSession.responseBodyBytes);
// Match the jQuery script tag
var oRegEx = /(<script[^>]*jquery.min.js"><\/script>)/gi;
// replace the script tag withitself (no change) + append custom script tag
oBody = oBody.replace(oRegEx, "$1<script type='text/javascript'>$(function() {$('div#hmenus div.nav:first ul li:last a').replaceWith('Unanswered jQuery');})</script>");
// Set the response body to the changed body string
oSession.utilSetResponseBody(oBody);
}
I think you should now able to hackyourself together a piece of code which fits your problem.
Example
// Match the head end
var oRegEx = /(<\/head>)/gi;
// replace with new script
oBody = oBody.replace(oRegEx, "<script type='text/javascript' src='http://url/myscript.js'></script>$1");
if you use jQuery you can add js on the fly. I would probably think you can have a method which would include/exclude your script based on some query param. This is how you would include JS with jQuery
$.getScript('someScript.js',function(){
//Do something here after your script loads
});
Haven't tried it, but how about GreaseMonkey for IE?
I want JavaScript code to be separated from views.
I got the requirement to implement localization for a simple image button generated by JavaScript:
<img src="..." onclick="..." title="Close" />
What's the best technique to localize the title of it?
PS: I found a solution by Ayende. This is the right direction.
Edit:
I got Localization helper class which provides the Controller.Resource('foo') extension method.
I am thinking about to extend it (helper) so it could return all JavaScript resources (from "ClientSideResources" subfolder in App_LocalResources) for the specified controller by its name. Then - call it in BaseController, add it to ViewData and render it in Layout.
Would that be a good idea?
EDIT
Consider writing the necessary localized resources to a JavaScript object (hash) and then using it for lookup for your dynamically created objects. I think this is better than going back to the server for translations. This is similar to adding it via viewdata, but may be a little more flexible. FWIW, I could consider the localization resources to be part of the View, not part of the controller.
In the View:
<script type="text/javascript"
src='<%= Url.Content( "~/Resources/Load?translate=Close,Open" %>'></script>
which would output something like:
var local = {};
local.Close = "Close";
local.Open = "Open";
Without arguments it would output the entire translation hash. Using arguments gives you the ability to customize it per view.
You would then use it in your JavaScript files like:
$(function(){
$('#button').click( function() {
$("<img src=... title='" + local.Close + "' />")
.appendTo("#someDiv")
.click( function() { ... } );
});
});
Actually, I'm not too fussed about keeping my JavaScript code out of my views as long as the JavaScript code is localized in a container. Typically I'll set my master page up with 4 content area: title, header, main, and scripts. Title, header, and main go where you would expect and the scripts area goes at the bottom of the body.
I put all my JavaScript includes, including any for viewusercontrols, into the scripts container. View-specific JavaScript code comes after the includes. I refactor shared code back to scripts as needed. I've thought about using a controller method to collate script includes, that is, include multiple scripts using a single request, but haven't gotten around to that, yet.
This has the advantage of keeping the JavaScript code separate for readability, but also allows me to easily inject model or view data into the JavaScript code as needed.
Actually ASP.NET Ajax has a built-in localization mechanism: Understanding ASP.NET AJAX Localization
If you insist on keeping it separate, you could do something like:
//keep all of your localised vars somewhere
var title = '{title_from_server}';
document.getElementById('someImage').title = title;
Remember, if you use JavaScript code to initialize any text of elements, your site will degrade horribly where JavaScript isn't available.