Develop Reference

passing JSON with functions via AJAX

Quite simply, I'd like to "re-hydrate" functions which are passed from AJAX, as follows:
//AJAX response:
{"foo":"bar","baz":"function(){console.log('I am back working as a function!');}"}
And obviously, baz should be a function and not a string. How would I do this?

As Jozef already suggested you can use eval().
But, if you go through Google you will see that the use of that function is NOT recommended:
https://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/how-evil-is-eval/
When is JavaScript's eval() not evil?
https://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/how-evil-is-eval/
Why is using the JavaScript eval function a bad idea?
As this blog suggests (http://2ality.com/2014/01/eval.html) I would recommend you, to use this:
let json = {"foo":"bar","baz":"function(){console.log('I am back working as a function!');}"};
let func = new Function("console.log('I am back working as a function!');");
func();
If you don't have the possibility to change your json you can simply use str.replace().
Please keep in mind that arbitrary code could be executed!
I would strongly recommend that you do e.g. sth. like this instead of just responding with a function. By doing the following you would do some sort of whitelisting. So, no matter if the http-response has been manipulated, the attacker can only execute the pre-defined javascript functions.
function func1() {
console.log('I am back working as a function!');
}
function func2() {
console.log('another code block');
}
let json = {"foo":"bar","baz":"1"};
switch(json.baz) {
case "1": func1();break;
case "2": func2();break;
default: console.error("Invalid response");
}
I hope this helps.

It's possible, but of course we must use the evil eval .. use at your own risk!!
var ajaxResponse = {"foo":"bar","baz":"function(){console.log('I am back working as a function!')}", "lambda": "() => console.log('Hello i\\'m a lambda')"};
function isAFunction(v) {
try {
eval("var f = " + v);
return typeof f === "function";
} catch (e) {
return false;
}
}
var result = Object.entries(ajaxResponse).reduce((obj, [key,value]) => {
if (isAFunction(value)) {
eval("obj[key] = " + value);
} else {
obj[key] = value;
}
return obj;
}, {});
result.baz();
result.lambda();

what "this._find(callback)" means in Mongoose find() method?

As I looked through the source code of the find() of mongoose.js, which looks like following:
Query.prototype.find = function(conditions, callback) {
if (typeof conditions === 'function') {
callback = conditions;
conditions = {};
}
conditions = utils.toObject(conditions);
if (mquery.canMerge(conditions)) {
this.merge(conditions);
}
prepareDiscriminatorCriteria(this);
try {
this.cast(this.model);
this._castError = null;
} catch (err) {
this._castError = err;
}
// if we don't have a callback, then just return the query object
if (!callback) {
return Query.base.find.call(this);
}
this._find(callback);
return this;
};
I really don't understand the part
this._find(callback);
what this means? what is the _find in javascript?
Thanks in advance!
Max

what “this._find(callback)” means in Mongoose find() method?
It's a function call. It seems this._find is a supposed to be a function. That function is called and passed the value of callback.
what is the _find in javascript?
Nothing special. It's simply a property with name _find. If you continue looking through the source code, you might discover its definition somewhere.

How to proxying functions on a function in javascript?

I am newbie about javascript.So I do not know what is the name of I looking for and How do I do it?
After you read question if you thing question title is wrong, you should change title.
I am using console.log for debugging but this is causing error if browser IE. I made below function for this problem.
var mylog=function(){
if (devmode && window.console){
console.log(arguments);
}
};
mylog("debugging");
Now I want to use all console functions without error and I can do that as below.
var myconsole={
log:function(){
if (devmode && window.console){
console.log(arguments);
}
}
,error:function(){
if (devmode && window.console){
console.error(arguments);
}
}
...
...
...
};
But I do not want to add all console functions to myconsole object severally.
I can do that in PHP with below code.
class MyConsole
{
function __call($func,$args)
{
if ($devmode && function_exists('Console')){
Console::$func($args); // Suppose that there is Console class.
}
}
}
MyConsole::warn("name",$name);
MyConsole::error("lastname",$lastname);
This is possible with __noSuchMethod__ method but this is specific to only firefox.
Thanks for helping.

Unfortunately, you can't do that in JavaScript, the language doesn't have support for the "no such method" concept.
Two options for you:
Option 1:
Use strings for your method name, e.g.:
function myconsole(method) {
var args;
if (devmode && window.console) {
args = Array.prototype.slice.apply(arguments, 1);
window.console[method].apply(window.console, args);
}
}
Usage:
myconsole("log", "message");
myconsole("error", "errormessage");
The meat of myconsole is here:
args = Array.prototype.slice.apply(arguments, 1);
window.console[method].apply(window.console, args);
The first line copies all of the arguments supplied to myconsole except the first one (which is the name of the method we want to use). The second line retrieves the function object for the property named by the string in method from the console object and then calls it via the JavaScript apply function, giving it those arguments.
Option 2:
A second alternative came to me which is best expressed directly in code:
var myconsole = (function() {
var methods = "log debug info warn error assert clear dir dirxml trace group groupCollapsed groupEnd time timeEnd profile profileEnd count exception table".split(' '),
index,
myconsole = {},
realconsole = window.console;
for (index = 0; index < methods.length; ++index) {
proxy(methods[index]);
}
function proxy(method) {
if (!devmode || !realconsole || typeof realconsole[method] !== 'function') {
myconsole[method] = noop;
}
else {
myconsole[method] = function() {
return realconsole[method].apply(realconsole, arguments);
};
}
}
function noop() {
}
return myconsole;
})();
Then you just call log, warn, etc., on myconsole as normal.

Javascript, passing a function in an object literal and is it callable?

always in the process of learning Javascript and modifying a cool autocomplete library, i am now in front of this :
i need to check if something passed in an object literal is a variable/field (that is to be considered as a simple value) or is something that can be called.
(as MY autocomplete depend on many input fields, i need to "value" the right things, just before the Ajax.Request) so that this declaration (see the 'extra' parts...)
myAutoComplete = new Autocomplete('query', {
serviceUrl:'autoComplete.rails',
minChars:3,
maxHeight:400,
width:300,
deferRequestBy:100,
// callback function:
onSelect: function(value, data){
alert('You selected: ' + value + ', ' + data);
}
// the lines below are the extra part that i add to the library
// an optional parameter, that will handle others arguments to pass
// if needed, these must be value-ed just before the Ajax Request...
, extraParametersForAjaxRequest : {
myExtraID : function() { return document.getElementById('myExtraID').value; }
}
see the "1 // here i'm lost..." below, and instead of 1 => i would like to check, if extraParametersForAjaxRequest[x] is callable or not, and call it if so, keeping only its value if not. So that, i get the right value of my other inputs... while keeping a really generic approach and clean modification of this library...
{
var ajaxOptions = {
parameters: { query: this.currentValue , },
onComplete: this.processResponse.bind(this),
method: 'get'
};
if (this.options.hasOwnProperty('extraParametersForAjaxRequest'))
{
for (var x in this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest)
{
ajaxOptions.parameters[x] = 1 // here i'm lost...
}
}
new Ajax.Request(this.serviceUrl, ajaxOptions );

You can do a typeof to see if the parameter is a function, and call it if it is.
var value;
for (var x in this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest)
{
value = this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest[x];
if (typeof(value) == 'function') {
ajaxOptions.parameters[x] = value();
}
else {
ajaxOptions.parameters[x] = value;
}
}

if (typeof this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest[x]==='function') {
}
You should also do this:
if (this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest.hasOwnProperty(x) {
if (typeof this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest[x]==='function') {
}
}
when iterating through properties of objects, otherwise you can end up looking at prototype members too.
Another suggestion is to make this more readable with an alias for the thing you're working with. So the ultimate would be:
var opts = this.options.extraParametersForAjaxRequest;
// don't need to check for existence of property explicitly with hasOwnProperty
// just try to access it, and check to see if the result is
// truthy. if extraParametersForAjaxRequest isn't there, no error will
// result and "opts" will just be undefined
if (opts)
{
for (var x in opts) {
if (opts.hasOwnProperty(x) && typeof opts[x]==='function') {
}
}
}

How do I wrap a function in Javascript?

I'm writing a global error handling "module" for one of my applications.
One of the features I want to have is to be able to easily wrap a function with a try{} catch{} block, so that all calls to that function will automatically have the error handling code that'll call my global logging method. (To avoid polluting the code everywhere with try/catch blocks).
This is, however, slightly beyond my understanding of the low-level functioning of JavaScript, the .call and .apply methods, and the this keyword.
I wrote this code, based on Prototype's Function.wrap method:
Object.extend(Function.prototype, {
TryCatchWrap: function() {
var __method = this;
return function() {
try { __method.apply(this, arguments) } catch(ex) { ErrorHandler.Exception(ex); }
}
}
});
Which is used like this:
function DoSomething(a, b, c, d) {
document.write(a + b + c)
alert(1/e);
}
var fn2 = DoSomething.TryCatchWrap();
fn2(1, 2, 3, 4);
That code works perfectly. It prints out 6, and then calls my global error handler.
My question is: will this break something when the function I'm wrapping is within an object, and it uses the "this" operator? I'm slightly worried since I'm calling .apply, passing something there, I'm afraid this may break something.

Personally instead of polluting builtin objects I would go with a decorator technique:
var makeSafe = function(fn){
return function(){
try{
return fn.apply(this, arguments);
}catch(ex){
ErrorHandler.Exception(ex);
}
};
};
You can use it like that:
function fnOriginal(a){
console.log(1/a);
};
var fn2 = makeSafe(fnOriginal);
fn2(1);
fn2(0);
fn2("abracadabra!");
var obj = {
method1: function(x){ /* do something */ },
method2: function(x){ /* do something */ }
};
obj.safeMethod1 = makeSafe(obj.method1);
obj.method1(42); // the original method
obj.safeMethod1(42); // the "safe" method
// let's override a method completely
obj.method2 = makeSafe(obj.method2);
But if you do feel like modifying prototypes, you can write it like that:
Function.prototype.TryCatchWrap = function(){
var fn = this; // because we call it on the function itself
// let's copy the rest from makeSafe()
return function(){
try{
return fn.apply(this, arguments);
}catch(ex){
ErrorHandler.Exception(ex);
}
};
};
Obvious improvement will be to parameterize makeSafe() so you can specify what function to call in the catch block.

2017 answer: just use ES6. Given the following demo function:
function doThing(){
console.log(...arguments)
}
You can make your own wrapper function without needing external libraries:
function wrap(someFunction){
function wrappedFunction(){
var newArguments = [...arguments]
newArguments.push('SECRET EXTRA ARG ADDED BY WRAPPER!')
console.log(`You're about to run a function with these arguments: \n ${newArguments}`)
return someFunction(...newArguments)
}
return wrappedFunction
}
In use:
doThing('one', 'two', 'three')
Works as normal.
But using the new wrapped function:
const wrappedDoThing = wrap(doThing)
wrappedDoThing('one', 'two', 'three')
Returns:
one two three SECRET EXTRA ARG ADDED BY WRAPPER!
2016 answer: use the wrap module:
In the example below I'm wrapping process.exit(), but this works happily with any other function (including browser JS too).
var wrap = require('lodash.wrap');
var log = console.log.bind(console)
var RESTART_FLUSH_DELAY = 3 * 1000
process.exit = wrap(process.exit, function(originalFunction) {
log('Waiting', RESTART_FLUSH_DELAY, 'for buffers to flush before restarting')
setTimeout(originalFunction, RESTART_FLUSH_DELAY)
});
process.exit(1);

Object.extend(Function.prototype, {
Object.extend in the Google Chrome Console gives me 'undefined'
Well here's some working example:
Boolean.prototype.XOR =
// ^- Note that it's a captial 'B' and so
// you'll work on the Class and not the >b<oolean object
function( bool2 ) {
var bool1 = this.valueOf();
// 'this' refers to the actual object - and not to 'XOR'
return (bool1 == true && bool2 == false)
|| (bool1 == false && bool2 == true);
}
alert ( "true.XOR( false ) => " true.XOR( false ) );
so instead of
Object.extend(Function.prototype, {...})
Do it like:
Function.prototype.extend = {}

Function wrapping in good old fashion:
//Our function
function myFunction() {
//For example we do this:
document.getElementById('demo').innerHTML = Date();
return;
}
//Our wrapper - middleware
function wrapper(fn) {
try {
return function(){
console.info('We add something else', Date());
return fn();
}
}
catch (error) {
console.info('The error: ', error);
}
}
//We use wrapper - middleware
myFunction = wrapper(myFunction);
The same in ES6 style:
//Our function
let myFunction = () => {
//For example we do this:
document.getElementById('demo').innerHTML = Date();
return;
}
//Our wrapper - middleware
const wrapper = func => {
try {
return () => {
console.info('We add something else', Date());
return func();
}
}
catch (error) {
console.info('The error: ', error);
}
}
//We use wrapper - middleware
myFunction = wrapper(myFunction);

Here is an ES6 style:
const fnOriginal = (a, b, c, d) => {
console.log(a);
console.log(b);
console.log(c);
console.log(d);
return 'Return value from fnOriginal';
};
const wrapperFunction = fn => {
return function () {
try {
const returnValuFromOriginal = fn.apply(this, arguments);
console.log('Adding a new line from Wrapper :', returnValuFromOriginal);
} catch (ex) {
ErrorHandler.Exception(ex);
}
};
};
const fnWrapped = wrapperFunction(fnOriginal);
fnWrapped(1, 2, 3, 4);

The following wrapping utility takes a function and enables the developer to inject a code or wrap the original:
function wrap(originalFunction, { inject, wrapper } = {}) {
const wrapperFn = function(...args) {
if (typeof inject === 'function') {
inject(originalFunction, this);
}
if (typeof wrapper === 'function') {
return wrapper(originalFunction, this, args);
}
return originalFunction.apply(this, args);
};
// copy the original function's props onto the wrapper
for(const prop in originalFunction) {
if (originalFunction.hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
wrapperFn[prop] = originalFunction[prop];
}
}
return wrapperFn;
}
Usage example:
// create window.a()
(function() {
const txt = 'correctly'; // outer scope variable
window.a = function a(someText) { // our target
if (someText === "isn't") {
throw('omg');
}
return ['a', someText, window.a.c, txt].join(' ');
};
window.a.c = 'called'; // a.c property example
})();
const originalFunc = window.a;
console.log(originalFunc('is')); // logs "a is called correctly"
window.a = wrap(originalFunc);
console.log(a('is')); // logs "a is called correctly"
window.a = wrap(originalFunc, { inject(func, thisArg) { console.log('injected function'); }});
console.log(a('is')); // logs "injected function\na is called correctly"
window.a = wrap(originalFunc, { wrapper(func, thisArg, args) { console.log(`doing something else instead of ${func.name}(${args.join(', ')})`); }});
console.log(a('is')); // logs "doing something else instead of a(is)"
window.a = wrap(originalFunc, {
wrapper(func, thisArg, args) {
try {
return func.apply(thisArg, args);
} catch(err) {
console.error('got an exception');
}
}
});
a("isn't"); // error message: "got an exception"
The last example demonstrates how to wrap your function with a try-catch clause

As far as polluting the namespaces, I'm actually going to pollute them some more...
Since everything that happens in JS is initiated by an event of some kind, I'm planning to call my magical wrapper function from within the Prototype Event.observe() method, so I don't need to call it everywhere.
I do see the downsides of all this, of course, but this particular project is heavily tied to Prototype anyway, and I do want to have this error handler code be as global as possible, so it's not a big deal.
Thanks for your answer!