JavaScript file not updating no matter what I do - javascript

I have an external JavaScript file and whether in FireFox or Chrome, whether all browsing data is cleared, it will NOT update no matter what. I believe something happened when I made a backup of my file, which I simply added "_thedate" to the end of the name. Then Save As back to the original name.
Now I cannot seem to get rid of the old JS no matter what unless I change the name of the file, which I really don't want to do, or add the script to the PHP page, which crowds it.
Anyone know the solution to this?

You are sure you are linking to the same file and then editing that same file?
On some browser, you can use CTRL F5 to force a refresh (on the PC). On the Mac, it is Cmd Shift R
Firebug also has a net tab with "Disable Browser Cache".
But I want to give a warning here: even if you can hard refresh, how do you know your customers are getting the latest version? So you need to check, rather than just making sure you and your program manager can do a hard refresh and just go home and take the paycheck next month. If you want to do a job that change the world for the better, or leave the world a little bit better than you found it, you need to investigate more to make sure it works for your customers too (or else, sometimes the customer may call tech support, and tech support may read the script of "clear out the cookies and it will work", which is what happens to me sometimes). Some methods down at the bottom of this post can ensure the customers get the latest version.
Update 2020:
If you are using Chrome and the DevTools is open, you can click and hold the Refresh icon in front of the address bar, and a box will pop up, and you can choose to "Hard Reload" or even "Empty Cache and Hard Reload":
Update 2017:
If you use the Google Chrome debugger, it is the same, you can go to the Network section and make sure the "Disable cache (while DevTools is open)" is checked, in the Settings of the debugger panel.
Also, when you link the JavaScript file, use
<script src="my-js-file.js?v=1"></script>
or v=2, and so forth, when you definitely want to refresh the file. Or you can go to the console and do a Date.now() and get a timestamp, such as 1491313943549, and use
<script src="my-js-file.js?t=1491313943549"></script>
Some building tools will do that automatically for you, or can be configured to do that, making it something like:
<script src="main.742a4952.js"></script>
which essentially will bust the cache.
Note that when you use the v=2 or t=1491313943549, or main.742a4952.js, you also have the advantage that for your users, they definitely will get the newer version as well.

How about adding a '?2' to the tag?
<script src="a.js?2"></script>
The server should return the same file with or without the '?2', but the browser should see it as a different file and redownload. You can just change this query string whenever the file is changed.
adapted from: http://blog.httpwatch.com/2007/12/10/two-simple-rules-for-http-caching/

I've had this problem before, it's very frustrating but I found a work around. Type in the full address of the js file (i.e. yourhost.com/javascript.js) and load it. You will probably see the old version load. Then hit f5 to refresh that page and you should see the new version load. The js file will now be updated in your cache and the code should run as you expect.

The solution I use is.
Using firefox
1. using web developer --> Web Console
2. open the java-script file in new tab.
3. Refresh the new tab you should see your new code.
4. Refresh the original page
5. You should see your changes.

I had this problem and solved in Chrome by just disabling Cache:
- Click F12;
- Go at Network tab;
- Click on "Disable Cache".

A little late to the party, but if you put this in your html, it will keep your website from updating the cache. It takes the website a little longer to load, but for debugging purposes i like it. Taken from this answer: How to programmatically empty browser cache?
<meta http-equiv='cache-control' content='no-cache'>
<meta http-equiv='expires' content='0'>
<meta http-equiv='pragma' content='no-cache'>

Rename your js file to something else temporarily. This is the only thing that worked for me.

The best way around browsercaches is to append a random number to the path of the js file.
Example in pseudo code:
// generate a random number
int i = Random.Next();
echo "<script src='a.js?'" + i + "></script>";
This will make sure your browser always reloads the file, because it thinks it's a different file because of the random number in the url.
The server will always return the file and ignore what comes after the '?'.

In both Firefox and Chrome, that is really annoying, but because of their default settings which can be changed the following way and then they work. I tried in Chrome and Firefox both with same order of steps.
Press F12 (Open Inspector)
Click Network, and then click Disable Cache
Now click Clear icon. In Firefox, it shows as a trash bin icon on left corner, in Chrome it is the second left icon, in between 'stop recording' and 'Filter'.
Now press F5 or refresh the page
They do update the resources with their fresh copy as they re-download them.

In Asp.netcore we can use asp-append-version taghelper
<script src="~/js/site.js" asp-append-version="true"></script>

Are you 100% sure your browser is even loading the script? Go to your page in Firefox and use the console in Firebug to check if the script has been loaded or not.

I have the same problem for awhile, and manage to figure out... And my case was because I have 2 javascript with the same function name.

1.Clear browser cache in browser developer tools
2.Under Network tab – select Disable cache option
3.Restarted browser
4.Force reload Js file command+shift+R in mac
 
Make sure the fresh war is deployed properly on the Server side

I was going insane trying to get my js files to refresh and I tried everything. Then I did a header check and remembered I was using Cloudflare!
In Cloudflare you can use dev mode to disable proxy.

Don't forget to check any errors in webpack compilation. Sometimes the application.js in app/javascript/packs/ doesn't reload due to webpack compilation error.

When I run into this issue I try this sequence of steps:
Hard refresh the page.
Clear cache + cookies.
Add a static version to my script.
src="my-script-name.js?v=1"
If the above does not help, add a dynamic version to my script:
src="my-script-name.js?v=" + Date.now() + Math.random()

Related

spoof Plugins for Chrome

Is it possible to spoof Chrome plugins?
I noticed that their names are stored in Preferences and Local State file in /Users/mainuser/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Preferences and /Users/mainuser/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/Local\ State respectively (on Mac), but manually changing the contents of these files gets treated as file corruption. Any idea how to spoof it?
Plugin information are publicly available and are easily inspected with something like this:
var x=navigator.plugins.length; // store the total no of plugin stored
console.log(x);
var txt="";
for(var i=0;i<x;i++)
{
txt=navigator.plugins[i].name;
console.log(txt);
}
I assume you want to modify an extension that you have installed on your machine in order to improve it.
You can use the Developer Mode and load the modified extension:
Extensions that you download from the Chrome Web Store are packaged up
as .crx files, which is great for distribution, but not so great for
development. Recognizing this, Chrome gives you a quick way of loading
up your working directory for testing. Let's do that now.
Visit chrome://extensions in your browser (or open up the Chrome menu
by clicking the icon to the far right of the Omnibox: The menu's icon
is three horizontal bars. and select Extensions under the Tools menu
to get to the same place).
Ensure that the Developer mode checkbox in the top right-hand corner
is checked.
Click Load unpacked extension… to pop up a file-selection dialog.
Navigate to the directory in which your extension files live, and
select it.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the directory where your
extension files live onto chrome://extensions in your browser to load
it.
If the extension is valid, it'll be loaded up and active right away!
If it's invalid, an error message will be displayed at the top of the
page. Correct the error, and try again.
Paranoid about browser fingerprinting I guess.
If you want hide navigator.plugins list, see this plugin :
https://github.com/bcaller/plugin-privacy-chrome
See content.js#L27 :
properties.plugins = vecw({}, true);
The "real" fix is to stop the enumeration of plugins for everybody, so there is no fingerprint information (after everyone upgrades):
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=271772
If you hide navigator.plugins, that is also an identifying (single bit) feature that will make you stand out since there will be very few users who hide navigator.plugins. Which is why you'd want to spoof.
From another answer, from #Hors Sujet, https://github.com/bcaller/plugin-privacy-chrome is a great place to start how to program a spoof. You'll want to look like the vast majority of Chrome users (I'm not sure that actually exists, though.)
But what you likely really want is EFF's Privacy Badger.
Start here to see the number of bits you can be fingerprinted by:
https://panopticlick.eff.org/
And then install Privacy Badger from here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-badger/pkehgijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp

Force TinyMCE to reload plugin

I'm developing a TinyMCE plugin, however the changes I'm making to the plugin do not get loaded into TinyMCE after the first time it's loaded (It's getting cached). This is happening on both FF and Chrome.
If I search the cache in Firefox, I find a reference to the plugin's editor_plugin.js file with a cache expiry of 6 days 23 hours.
The only way I can get round this is to clear the cache on the browser every time I want to test a change - Anyone else get this behaviour? Am I missing something obvious here?
To force reloading the cache on clients, tinyMce implements the solution with a cache_suffix. It will reload all the files if you change the suffix.
tinymce.init({
selector: 'textarea', // change this value according to your HTML
cache_suffix: '?v=4.1.6'
});
https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/configure/integration-and-setup/#cache_suffix
There is an easy way in Firefox to get rid of the chache on every new page load.
You need to install Firebug.
Go to the network tab and choose "deactivate browser cache".
Usually I manipulate the changed script's referring url, for example:
ed.windowManager.open({
file : url + '/image.htm?v1',...});
The file name is not changed, but the script vill be reloaded at production time too.

Editing Javascript using Chrome Developer Tools

I am trying to edit javascript on a site using Chrome's Developer Tools. I have read about 30 accounts of how to do this as well as watched a few videos. The fact is, when I go to the sources tab and open the file I want to edit, I can't do anything to it. Is there some step I am missing?
I can create break points, step through, etc... I just can't edit. Was this functionality removed recently?
I know this question is stale, but I just had a similar problem and found the solution.
If you have the file prettified, Chrome will not allow edits. I turned it off and was able to edit. Willing to bet this is/was your problem.
You can edit javascript in the developer tools on the "Sources" tab, BUT it will only allow you to edit javascript in its own file. Script embedded in an HTML (or PHP) file will remain read-only.
It has some limitations:
has to be a JS file. can't be embeded tags in a html page.
it cannot be prettified.
I don't know if you need this to save permanently, but if you need to just temporarily modify the js:
I can copy that javascript I want to modify into a text editor, edit it, then paste it in the console and it will redefine any functions or whatever that I need to be redefined.
for instance, if the page has:
<script>
var foo = function() { console.log("Hi"); }
</script>
I can take the content between the script, edit it, then enter it into the debugger like:
foo = function() { console.log("DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT"); }
and it will work for me.
Or if you have like,
function foo() {
doAThing();
}
You can just enter
function foo() {
doSomethingElse();
}
and foo will be redefined.
Probably not the best workaround, but it works. Will last until you reload the page.
I did search "chrome dev tool edit javascript". This page is the first search result. But it is too outdated, it does not help me.
I am using Chrome 73, this version of Chrome has "Enable Local Overrides" option. Using the function, I could edit a javascript and could run and debug.
My solution:
In the devtools preferences check the Enable local overrides.
Go to network tab, find the file you want to edit, rigth click on it and select Save for overrides (on the sources/overrides tab you need to add a local folder)
The file appears in a new tab on the Sources tab as local copy, so you can edit this file, and after site reload the new (and edited) override file will load on the site!

Javascript caching on iPad HTML5 fullscreen web application

I'm having an problem where the iPad insists on loading an old copy of a .js file, instead of the current one. Strangely enough, this only happens when the page is in fullscreen mode, not when it's being run from the page.
I'm not using any kind of cache manifest;
When I open the page on Safari, it behaves as dictated by the latest version of the .js;
When I open the page through the icon, it behaves as dictated by the old .js;
Killing the running application, deleting the icon and then creating it again doesn't solve the problem; it's still using the old .js, even while in full screen.
Does anyone have an idea of what's going on?
-- update --
This seems to be an iOS 5 bug.
-- Workaround (a.k.a. ugly hack) --
Simply add some fake http params to the script tag, so that the cache thinks it's entirely another JS:
<script src="js/pentaho-jqm-repository.js"></script>
Becomes:
<script src="js/pentaho-jqm-repository.js?fkn-ios-bug=1"></script>
After using the aforementioned workaround (adding a fake parameter to the URL) and then changing it back, strangely enough, the problem stopped happening. Of course, in a production environment, one wouldn't be able to do this, so I think I'll just start numbering the js versions so that the end user won't have this problem.

Easier way of testing and adding Javascript to a page in Firefox?

I am trying to extend some Javascript in one of my pages and for quick "will this work" code it's a huge pain. Basically it consists of editing code in my IDE and save, switch to Firefox, reload page, set breakpoint in Firebug, examine and repeat
Are there any Firefox extensions that will aid me in this respect?
The only thing I can find is using javascript: ... in the address bar, but that's a huge pain, can only hold a single line, and there is no way of making the test code persist across a page reload.
Try jsfiddle.net. You can experiment with html, css and code within your browser and debug that with firebug for example. You can use a diversity of js-frameworks (or none), simulate XHR, and add your own (js/css)resources. It's not ideal, but much better than the practice you described.
You can also try using KomodoEdit, which offers 'view in browser' functionality, even for URLS and with a preset browser.
just use the js console that comes with firebug. You can write all manner of code in there and even declare functions and variables that can be referenced. if you need more than one line, firebug can do that too.
EDIT: except page reload.... if you need to do page reload it needs to be saved somewhere. I would use a Greasemonkey script
You can use the Web Console (new in Firefox 4 and higher) - press Ctrl-Shift-K to open it for a particular page. The command line is at the bottom, press Shift-Enter on the command line to enter more than one line.

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