I'm finishing up my website. Noticed I have some scripting issues in IE7 and IE8.
Using IETester (any better alternative btw?) IE9's debug tools I can test my website for different IE versions.
Updated Example:
I use JQuery and some 3th party htc files for IE css hacks.
"Line 87" is just a html line so that's not where the error occurs.
The IE Developer Tools (built into IE8+) has a JS debugger that will break on errors.
Hit F12 to open it, select the Script tab, then click the Start Debugging button.
Is it possible to show on page source ( ctrl+U ) the HTML elements I've added in JavaScript and jQuery codes?
No.
The page source will always show you the HTML retrieved from the server.
Inspect the generated DOM tree instead, e.g. with Firebug (Firefox) or the Developer Tools (Chrome, Safari).
Nope, you just can see it on you firebug, developer tools, etc...
No, but ever modern browser has a way/extension to see the current sourcecode (actually, the DOM tree), i.e. including everything done by JavaScript.
Depending on the browser (i like chrome / firefox / safari for this) you want to look at developer tools. In firefox you can use firebug, in chrome it's Developer Tools and in Safari you have to turn on Developer menu through preferences. In all three cases, you want to look at the DOM inspector.
I have some code that I thought I had written so that it would play nice on IE. But apparently it does not. I use IE8 for my testing and get quite frustrated with the built-in debugging 'tool'. I found that firebug has a javascript tool that debugs for IE but I have to click it for every page, wait for it to load and then test my script. Is there a way to make IE ALWAYS load the firebug .js file? I tried searching for way to set up a custom header file for my IE installation but was unsuccessful.
Is there another tool out there that would be better/easier to use? Another way to test scripts for IE compatibility?
IE7 and 8 provided the IE developer toolbar. This is similar to firebug for DOM inspection, script debugging and style tracing.
Edit:
For IE 8, the toolbar is already packaged with the browser:
The Developer Toolbar is not compatible with Internet Explorer 8. Please use the developer tools included with Internet Explorer 8. Press F12 or click the 'Developer Tools' entry in the Tools menu to begin using the tool. Click here for more information on IE8 Developer Tools.
You can also use Visual Studio and attach to the process in question, then just debug in VS. Pretty good debugging tools, and lets you debug IE6 as well.
Try my log4javascript, which is a logging library that works in every major browser, including IE 5 and later.
I am using DebugBar in IE to view the DOM. But after I modify the DOM with jQuery I can not see the new or modified DOM with DebugBar. How Do I view the modified DOM?
Not sure about IE, but the Firebug extension for Firefox lets you view the changes and even displays then in a really user friendly way. Even if you must test in IE, you can always switch to using Firefox when you really need this functionality in developing your code.
Searching around I also found this piece of info for IE7:
IE7Pro just right click and choose View
Generated Source.
There are few options as listed on IE Team's blog.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/05/10/416156.aspx
I found out that I can view the modified DOM with DebugBar and with MS Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar after refreshing or reloading the DOM
You can use IE "Developer Tools," available in IE8 by default (F12 to launch) and available in IE7 via download from Microsoft. In the developer tools window, after pressing refresh, you'll see the in-memory version of the DOM in the HTML tab.
I'm trying to fix some JavaScript bugs. Firebug makes debugging these issues a lot easier when working in Firefox, but what do you do when the code works fine on Firefox but IE is complaining?
you can also check out the IE Developer Toolbar which isn't a debugger but will help you analyze the contents of your code.
Visual Studio will help with the debugging
Fiddler should help analyse the traffic travelling to and from your browser
You can try Firebug Lite or use Visual Studio to debug the JavaScript.
Since Internet Explorer 8, IE has been shipping with a built-in tool-set for debugging, troubleshooting, and generally helping in development of your pages/applications. You can access these tools by pressing F12 while in the browser.
HTML Tab
The HTML tab will let you peek into the DOM as the browser understands it. As you select elements from the HTML view, their styles will be detailed on the right, with individual rules have the ability to be toggled on and off. You can also modify rules, and determine whether the styles on the element were inherited, or assigned explicitly. Additionally, you can even tell which .css file they originate from.
There is a bit more you can do in the HTML tab, such as review and modify attributes on elements, and even make changes to the layout of the element from within the layout section. Additionally, you can make changes directly to the markup to quickly test out some structural ideas.
Script Tab
For resolving JavaScript issues, you can watch the Console and the Script Tag. If your script stumbles across an a call to an undefined method, you'll be alerted within your console. The console also lets you run arbitrary JavaScript against your page, if you want to toggle items on or off, or try bind a handler to a button.
The Script tab great as well as it will format your JavaScript for you, allow you to insert breakpoints, step in and over code blocks, and watch variables over time.
If you've used Firebug, or even the Webkit Inspector, the F12 Developer Tools in Internet Explorer 8+ should be pretty familiar to you.
Firebug lite doesn't work too well for me. The Developer Toolbar just isn't good enough. There really is no great solution.
Or IE Developer Toolbar
Have a look at DebugBar. License is free for personal use
For the DOM Inspector, try the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar.
For the Net tab, try Fiddler.
For Javascript debugging, try Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition. (Or a higher edition of Visual Studio)
Also, try DebugBar.
Visual Studio 2008 can do JavaScript debugging, you have to go to IE's Tools->Internet Options->Advanced and uncheck 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' in order for the browser to bubble up the errors it detects.
Once you're in Visual Studio you basically have it's entire debugging arsenal at your disposal. It's not as integrated as Firebug, but it is way better than anything we used to have.
i think it is better that you first install the ie core addon in firefox then load the page with ie addon and press f12.
good luck.
Make a bookmark in the favourites bar, and put this address as the URL:
javascript:(function(F,i,r,e,b,u,g,L,I,T,E){if(F.getElementById(b))return;E=F[i+'NS']&&F.documentElement.namespaceURI;E=E?F[i+'NS'](E,'script'):F[i]('script');E[r]('id',b);E[r]('src',I+g+T);E[r](b,u);(F[e]('head')[0]||F[e]('body')[0]).appendChild(E);E=new%20Image;E[r]('src',I+L);})(document,'createElement','setAttribute','getElementsByTagName','FirebugLite','4','firebug-lite.js','releases/lite/latest/skin/xp/sprite.png','https://getfirebug.com/','#startOpened');
Then navigatge to the page you want and click the link. Firebug Lite will/should open up...
The IE8 beta comes with what I think is the IE Developer toolbar, but it seems to be a lot more powerful than the last time I tried the toolbar on IE7
I'm guessing this question was posted before the IE8 final came out, according tho some of the answers.
These days, IE8's inbuilt Developer Tools are great; and while the JS debugging isn't as useful as Visual Studio the Dev Tools in general much better than Firebug in my opinion. Between that and the Compatibility View Browser Mode I can handle all my IE6 development needs.
I found a solution to this problem, you could simply stick this tag to the page you are trying to debug and it will open firebug:
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://getfirebug.com/firebug-lite.js"></script>
Explanation from https://getfirebug.com/firebuglite#Stable
If you're a serious Front-end Developer, give AJAX Edition a test run:
http://www.compuware.com/application-performance-management/ajax-performance-testing.html
It's a free tool that allows users’ to understand what is causing performance and functional-related problems in modern AJAX/web Applications.
In IE, go to MenuBar->Tools
Select Debugger Tools
Hit F12 and enjoy.
It is far from Fire Bug, but suitable for some quick help
There is always a way how to get around this issue, watch the video and you will be able to install firebug in 2 mins.
install firebug on ie
Good luck