Find then execute a dynamically loaded JavaScript method - javascript

I have a piece of HTML that contains some JavaScript
<div id=’abc’> Hello World</div><script> myfunction() { alert (“hi”);}</script>
This is loaded/injected into a target div that is in an iFrame, via an Ajax call that gets the above html.
<iframe id=’myiFrame’><div id=’targetDiv’></div></iframe>
So I’d have something like
<iframe id=’myiFrame’><div id=’targetDiv’><div id=’abc’> Hello World</div><script> function myfunction() { alert (“hi”);}</script></div></iframe>
This all works
My question is. How do I execute myfunction() at some later point in time. How do I find/reference the embedded JavaScript.
I know there are a lot of ifs and buts in this question. Please assume the DOM is ready etc.
I will try to execute myfunction() from an already loaded piece of JavaScript
(function(myframework, undefined ) {
myframework.ButtonClickMethod = function()
{
//this is the call to the dynamically loaded method
//but how do I find / reference this method
myfunction();
}
}(document.myframework = document.myframework || {} ));
Note: myframework.ButtonClickMethod is called from a button click at a time well after all HTML and script has been loaded.
The problem is also complicated by the fact that I cannot control where the piece of injected HTML/Javascript is placed. It has to go into the target div.
I can use JQuery, but prefer vanilla JavaScript.
Also, please ignore any typos in the question, I typed it in Word, it's put ' in etc. It's the mechanism of how to do it I'm interested in.

A less than appealing solution would be to use jQuery to select the script tag html contents. Then use something likethis answer to make it into its own function.

Related

How do I tell a Javascript method to wait until after binding values to execute in DotVVM?

I use a value binding (<dot:HtmlLiteral Html="{value: BannerHTML}" class="mainBanner"/>) to generate some of my page content based on a number of variables.
I also need to run some javascript on the generated HTML to fix a few minor niggles, like matching font size for unusual scaling scenarios and the like. As standard, I place executable javascript at the end of an HTML document.
Generated HTML in one of these scenarios:
<div class="mainBanner" data-bind="html: BannerHTML">
<div class="mainBanner-upper">some text</div>
<div class="mainBanner-face" id="mainTitle">some other text</div>
<div class="mainBanner-lower">some more text</div>
</div>
JS to operate on that HTML:
(requires https://github.com/adactio/FitText.js)
window.fitText(document.getElementById("mainTitle"));
As far as I can see, the javascript executes before the HTML is generated, and javascript that is executed on the element returns Cannot read property 'xyz' of null. How do I tell it to wait? I tried both binding the javascript file to a resource, and simply writing it in with <script> tags at the end of the body element without success.
As your problem seems to be DOM related, I can propose you two approches.
Your javascript must check and wait for DOM. On which I strongly suggest you to read this answer to ...how to call a function when the page/DOM is ready...
Add your script dynamically after your data is binded (I'm not really sure about this)
Good luck.
EDIT
So I went and took a look to the dotvvm documentation to look for events calls and noticed something interesting :
Every DotVVM page includes Dotvvm.js which defines dotvvm in the global scope. This object can be used to access viewmodel and react to various page events.
This allows you to access specifics events fired by DOTVVM, you only have to find the one you need in your case. I provided you with an example below.
You could try something like this (the event may no be the one you need) :
<script>
//By subscribing to the event, your code will only be executed
// if "init" event is fired by dotvvvm
dotvvm.events.init.subscribe(()=>{
window.fitText(document.getElementById("mainTitle"));
//basically enclose the content of your script tag with this.
});
</script>
Please do read the documentation as I may have omitted something ? DOTVVM Javascript Events

Change Text using jQuery

I have a script that is pulling in news from Yahoo on a certain subject. It renders the title of the news feed like this:
<div class="header-title">subject - Yahoo! News Search Results</div>
I would like to change this to read differently. Since this is inserted via JS I thought I could change this with jQuery.
I attempted this:
$('.header-title').text('Subject News');
that did not work, I then attempted this:
$('.header-title').empty();
$('.header-title').text('Subject News');
that also did not work.
Both of the above methods look as if they had no effect on the text.
I am not sure what to do to remove the old text and replace with my text.
Note: All of my code is inside jQuery's Document Ready IE:
$(function(){
//Code Here
});
Don't forget to put your code in DOM ready:
$(function() {
$(".header-title").text("Subject News");
});
Otherwise the code should work fine.
This solution assumes you have no access to the other script that creates the feed widget
WIthout knowing more about other script it sounds like it is asynchronous, and creates the title elements also. You could have a timed interval loop that checks for the element to exist and once it exists do the update:
function changeYahooTitle(){
var $yhooTitle=$('.header-title');
if($yhooTitle.length){
$yhooTitle.text('My New Title');
}else{
/* doesn't exist so check again in 1/10th second, will loop recursively until found*/
setTimeout(changeYahooTitle, 100);
}
}
Then on page load:
$(function(){
changeYahooTitle()
})
If you do have access to the other script it can be modified to accommodate your needs, or you can still use this solution
Try using html() instead of empty() and text()
$(document).ready(function(){
$(".header-title").html("Subject News");
});
What's probably happening:
First you're setting the text: $('.header-title').text('Subject News');
THEN ... after the data finishes the load of the Yahoo or whatever content your text gets replaced actually with the new fetched data
Change the text inside the load callback (after data is loaded) and it will work.
It doesn't work because you call the function before the element is created. If you put your function inside <script> tag after the <div> element it should work

using javascript to output html

I have a javascript link that references another .js file. I've been trying to output an image (for testing purposes), but I'm not sure what is the correct way to go about this.
alert("beginning");
//var link = $("<a href='http://juixe.com'>Hello, <b>World</b>!</a>");
//$('body').append(link);
//document.write("hi");
//document.write("<div><img src='http://s3-media2.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xqC6Iy5mOLb_8mwMKGv8_w/l.jpg' /></div>");
alert("before function");
(function(){
alert("middle");
var links = $("<a href='http://juixe.com'>Hello, <b>World</b>!</a>");
$('body').append(links);
alert("after middle");
//alert($("img").attr("id"));
document.write("hi");
document.write("<div><img src='http://s3-media2.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xqC6Iy5mOLb_8mwMKGv8_w/l.jpg' /></div>");
alert("end");
}());
I was able to alert beginning, all the way to middle. It seems like var links doesn't work. I'm trying to use HTML inside this .js file. Essentially, I want to be able to do some modal window, but I'm trying to output images for testing purposes right now.
Also, is this the correct way for jquery?
Thanks in advance!
Your code is a strange mix. Jquery code almost always needs to run after the page has loaded whereas document.write can never be used after the page has loaded.
You are incorrectly wrapping your jQuery in an immediate executing function. The proper wrap for jQuery is within :
$(document).ready(function(){
/* html of page exists now, run jQuery here */
});// notice no extra "()" after close brace as you have
or the shorthand version that does same thing:
$(function(){
/*html of page exists now, run jQuery here */
});// notice no extra "()" after close brace as you have
If you change all of your document.write to $('body').append(/* your content*/) and place all your code inside the above wrappers you will have much better success.
There is a wealth of information within the jQuery documentation and API. A good start point with more detail about the wrapping I've shown can be found here: http://docs.jquery.com/How_jQuery_Works
Your biggest problem is addressed in the other answer. You are improperly wrapping JQUery so essentially JQuery is not ready to be executed when it reaches your append statement.
It is unnecessary to wrap your html in a JQuery object (in this case):
var links = "<a href='http://juixe.com'>Hello, <b>World</b>!</a>";
$('body').append(links);
or simply:
$('body').append("<a href='http://juixe.com'>Hello, <b>World</b>!</a>");
In terms of best practice, using append, appendTo or prepend are good options depending on the context. You could also use:
$("body").html("/*Your HTML here*/")
At the end of the day you have many options but avoid document.write at all cost. The non-JQuery approach would be to use .innerHTML with a DOM element. This is also a good approach in the absence of JQuery.

Why is document.getElementById() returning a null value when I know the ID exists?

I'm working on some custom Javascript for a CMS template at work. I want to be able to make a certain <li> element on the page receive the class of "current" for that page only. So in the global page head I have something like this:
<script type="text/javascript">
function makeCurrent(id) {
var current = document.getElementById(id);
current.setAttribute("class", "current"); // for most browsers
current.setAttribute("className", "current"); // for ie
}
</script>
Then in each individual page <head>, I have something like this:
<script type="text/javascript">makeCurrent("undergraduate")</script>
On the page I have a nav <ul>, with something like:
<li id="undergraduate">Undergraduate Program</li>
<li id="graduate">Graduate Program</li>
etc.
When I load the page, the class is not applied. When I look in the Firebug console, it gives the error message:
current is null
(x) current.setAttribute("class", "current");
I'm still getting the hang of writing solid, raw javascript (learning backwards after jQuery, you know how it goes), but I want to write it in just JS. What idiotic newbie mistake am I making?
Thanks everyone!
If you execute the javascript before the DOM tree has finished loading, it will return null. So an idea would be to call the function all the way at the end before you close the body tag.
This is why most JavaScript libraries have support for a dom-ready event, modern browsers have this as well (domcontentloaded) however for wide browser support it's a little trickier to do it for yourself (well, not that difficult, 3 or 4 different ways I think.)
The element does not exist yet when that script is being evaluated. Put it in the body's onload handler or something instead, so it executes once the DOM is in place.
An example of how to do this without touching any markup:
function callWhenLoaded(func) {
if (window.addEventListener) {
window.addEventListener("load", func, false);
} else if (window.attachEvent) {
window.attachEvent("onload", func);
}
}
callWhenLoaded(function() { makeCurrent("undergraduate"); });
The DOM is not fully loaded if you run makeCurrent in your head. You should put that script after your <li> tags.
Your code can be optimized: you can set a class attribute directly with current.className = 'current';.
The reason is that your script is being run before the page load is complete, and therefore before the DOM is populated.
You need to make sure you only call the function after page load is complete. Do this by triggering it using document.onload() or an onload event on the body tag.
After all the technical answers have been spewed out already, I'm going to skip all those which it very well could be and go for some of the more obvious ones I've run into which have caused me to facepalm once I've realised:
Typo in the identity
The identity isn't what you think it is because it's being generated or partially generated by the web framework you're using i.e. in ASP.NET you could set the client id to "MyControl" only to find that by the time it is rendered in the client it's "Page_1$Control_0$MyControl$1"
You've prepended it with a # in one or more of the incorrect places, for instance, although you're not using jQuery in your example if the object id is MyControl, in jQuery and CSS you reference it using #MyControl, but in the actual id of the object, you didn't use #. In document.getElementById() you don't use a # like you would in jQuery and CSS, but you may have used it inadvertently.
You've set the name element in the control instead of the id.
As other people have mentioned though, it could be down to not waiting for the element to be available at the time you're referencing it.

jQuery objects don't work

When I store a jQuery object in a variable, like this:
var $myObject = $("div#comments");
...I can't use the object $myObject!
This is what I'm doing to change the html of div#comments:
$myObject.html(data);
It does nothing. I already tried this way too, this time to select an element inside div#comments:
$("div.comment", $myObject);
It doesn't work.
I just want to be able to save an element in a variable and then use it!
Note: some people don't put $ before the variable name, like this: myObject.
Are you calling it after the document is loaded?
// This will ensure that the code doesn't run until
// the document has loaded
$(function() {
var $myObject = $("div#comments");
});
(This is a shortcut for jQuery's .ready() method.)
http://api.jquery.com/ready/
As long as the document is loaded, and you have a <div> with the ID comments on the page when it loads, it should work.
Also remember that there can only be one element on the page with any given ID. Because of this, it is actually a little better (quicker) to do $("#comments"); instead of $("div#comments");.
You've only provided snippits of your code, so it is impossible to tell for sure, but the odds are that you are running the code in a <script> element that appears before the <div> element and don't do anything (such as use the ready event) to delay the execution of the code until the div exists.
The result is that you get a jQuery object which found no elements. Move the script element so it is after the div. Just before the end tag for the body is a good place.
The syntax is perfectly valid and should work. Are you dynamically appending the comments div? You should alert( $myObject.length ) to see if it's 0 or 1, if its 0 that means it's never picked up.
You may need to bind the var statement until after dom ready, window load, or your ajax callback.
Well, that syntax is perfectly fine so something else is going on. Can you show your markup? And what do you get if you add an alert($myObject.length)? And one last thing to check... are you running this inside an on-ready handler?
Ok, thanks everyone for that.
I got the solution.
I thought about the order the things were loaded in the DOM and found the solution.
The problem (with the markup) was:
<div id="comments">
<script type="text/javascript">
loadComments(params);
</script>
</div>
The code above was written by PHP!
So it executed the function as soon as the browser read the code.
I already tried to put the script on the end of the page, after the function was called. The funcion was not defined yet.
So, the funcion loadComments should be executed after the div was ready AND after the function was defined.
I wrapped the code between the tags with a .ready(), like this:
<script type="text/javascript">
$(function() {
loadComments(params);
});
</script>
It was a distraction.
Sorry everyone!
Thanks a lot.
If you have the same problem and you didn't understand what I did, ask me. XD

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