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JS variable is displayed as undefined when using HTML

I am working on a project on Google Apps Script. I have a JS function that returns a date (as a text). I also have an HTML document to display a form with several inputs. I would like to prefill one input with the date returned by the JS funtion. It almost works, except it displays "undefined" instead of the date, even though I know the js funtion is working fine.
Here are some code to better understand :
The input where I call the script (don't mind the onmousemove, i just didn"t find anotherway to call the script).
<input type="text" id="deliveryDate" name="deliveryDate" onmousemove="displayActiveDate()">
So it calls the folowing script.
<script>
function displayActiveDate(){
var activeDate = google.script.run.getActiveDate();
document.getElementById("deliveryDate").value = activeDate;
}
</script>
Which in turn calls getActiveDate() which is the separate JS function that returns the date.
If you have any idea on how to solve this, I will be very thankful.

google.script.run.serverSideFunction() returns undefined. In order to get the actual response value from your serverSideFunction() you need to use the withSuccessHandler() method with a callback like so:
google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(onSuccess).serverSideFunction();
function onSuccess(data) {
// do something with the data returned by the serverSideFunction()
}
Also note that you also have withFailureHandler(err) to handle any errors you server-side functions may return.
Here is the full reference

Instead of writing document.getElementById("deliveryDate").value = activeDate; type document.getElementById("deliveryDate").innerHTML= activeDate; in your script

What's the correct way to send Javascript code along with rendered HTTP to a client?

Mid development I decided to switch to server-side rendering for a better control amongst other benefits. My web application is completely AJAX based, no url redirecting, so the idea here is a website that builds itself up
I just couldn't figure out the proper way to send javascript events/functions along with the html string, or should all the necessary javascript always be preloaded in the static files?
Let's say client clicks a pre-rendered button 'open table'
The server will make a query, build the html table and send it back, but this table also needs javascript triggers and functions to work properly, how are these sent, received and executed?
There are a couple of articles that mention to not use eval() in Javascript, is there any way around this? I don't want to have to preload unnecessary events for elements that don't yet exist
The server is Python and the Client is Javascript/JQuery
Theoretical example :
Client Base Javascript :
$("body").on("click", "#open_table", function() {
$.getJSON('/get_table', function(response){
$("#table_div").append(response.html);
eval(response.javascript()); //??
}
});
Python Server(views.py) :
def get_table(request):
data = {}
#String containing rendered html
data['html'] = get_render_table()
#String containing Javascript code?
data['javascript'] = TABLE_EVENTS_JAVASCRIPT
return HttpResponse(json.dumps(data),content_type='json')
Worth noting my question comes from an experimental/learning perspective

Update:
You can use jQuery.getScript() to lazy load JS. I think this solution is as close as you can get to run JS without using eval().
See this example:
jQuery.getScript("/path/to/script.js", function(data, textStatus, jqxhr) {
/* Code has been loaded and executed. */
console.log( data ); // Data returned
console.log( textStatus ); // Success
console.log( jqxhr.status ); // 200
console.log( "Load was performed." );
});
and "/path/to/script.js" could be a string returned from $.getJOSN response.
Also, the documentation for getScrippt() has examples on how to handle errors and cache files.
Old Answer:
Using .on() attaches events to current and future DOM elements.
You can either attache events prior to DOM insertion or attache event after DOM insertion.
So in your example you can do something like:
$("body").on("click", "#open_table", function() {
$.getJSON('/get_table', function(response){
var code = $(response.html);
code.find(".elementToFind").on("click", function (){
// Code to be executed on click event
});
$("#table_div").append(code);
}
});
I did not test the code but I think it should work.

Assuming you can't just set up an event-binding function and then call it from the main script (the JavaScript you need can't be guessed ahead of time, for example) then one really easy way is just to append the JavaScript to the bottom of the returned HTML content within script tags. When it's appended along with the HTML, the script should simply execute, with no eval() required.
I can't swear that this would work in old browsers, but it's a trick I've used a couple of times, and I've had no problems with it in Firefox, Chrome, or any of the later IE versions.

I think I see what you're asking here, from my understanding you want to send the new "page" asynchorously, and render the new javascript and html. It looks like you already got your request/response down, so i'm not gonna go and talk about sending JSON objects, and the whole "how-to" of sending html and javascript because it looks like you got that part. To do what you want and to dynamically add your javascript in, this stackoverflow question looks like it has what you need
Is there a way to create a function from a string with javascript?
So pertaining to your example, here is how it would look when you recieve the JSON string from your python script:
$("body").on("click", "#open_table", function() {
$.getJSON('/get_table', function(response){
$("#table_div").append(response.html);
/* Create function from string */
var newFunction = Function(response.javascript['param_1'], response.javascript['param_2'], response.javascript['function']);
/* Execute our new function to test it */
newFunction();
}
});
*Your actual function contents would be the string: response.javascript['function']
*Your parameter names if any would be in separate strings ex: response.javascript['param_1']
That is almost a direct copy of the "String to function" code that you can see in the linked question, just replaced it with your relevant code. This code is also assuming that your object is sent with the response.javascript object containing an array with your actual function content and parameter names. I'm sure you could change the actual name of the var too, or maybe put it in an associative array or something that you can keep track of and rename. All just suggestions, but hopefully this works for you, and helps you with your problem.

I am also doing similar work in my project where I had to load partial html using ajax calls and then this partial HTML has elements which requires events to be attached. So my solution is to create a common method to make ajax calls and keep a js method name to be executed post ajax call in html response itself. For example my server returns below html
<input type="hidden" data-act="onPartialLoad" value="createTableEvents" />
<div>.........rest of html response.....<div>
Now in common method, look for input[type='hidden'][data-act='onPartialLoad'] and for each run the method name provided in value attribute (value="createTableEvents")
Dont Use Eval() method as it is not recommended due to security
issues. Check here.
you can run js method using window["method name"]...so here is a part of code that I use.
$.ajax(options).done(function (data) {
var $target = $("#table_div");
$target.fadeOut(function () {
$target.html(data);
$target.fadeIn(function () {
try {
$('input[data-act="onPartialLoad"]', $target).each(function () {
try {
//you can pass parameters in json format from server to be passed into your js method
var params = $(this).attr('params');
if (params == undefined) {
window[$(this).val()]();
}
else {
window[$(this).val()]($.parseJSON(htmlutil.htmlDecode(params)));
}
} catch (e) {
if (console && console.log) {
console.log(e.stack);
console.log($(this).val());
}
}
});
}
catch (e) {
console.log(e.stack);
}
});
});
});
use jQuery.getScript() (as suggested by Kalimah Apps) to load the required js files first.

passing map from grails to javascript

My problem is passing Map object from grails controller to JavaScript.
I have the following code inside controller
def scoreValue=new HashMap<String,String>();
scoreValue.put("0","poor");
scoreValue.put("1","good");
...
return (view:'viewname',model:[scoreValue:scoreValue]);
I have been searching for solution and have got this link pass a groovy array to javascript code. but could not help.
What I did was change the return statement to
return (view:'viewname',model:[scoreValue:scoreValue as grails.converters.JSON])
and inside gsp view I have the following code.
<g:if test="${scoreValue}">
var scoreValue=${scoreValue};
</g:if>
But what i got inside html page is the following
var scoreValue={"0":"Failure","1":"Poor"}
any help would be appreciated. thanks!

There's actually a few ways of handling GSP encoding. In addition to D. Kossatz's answer, these methods will help you out (see more at mrhaki's excellent Grails Goodness blog)
var scoreValue=${raw(scoreValue)};
var scoreValue=${scoreValue.encodeAsRaw()}
Please be aware that there is an inherent risk of cross-site scripting vulnerabilities when rendering user input unprotected on the page. So long as you know for certain that only you can set that value, and proper safe-checks to ensure it is what it is supposed to be, you should be fine.

Try:
var scoreValue= <g:applyCodec encodeAs="none">${scoreValue}</g:applyCodec>;

JSP Parsing url and matching key words

Here is my question, I am using jsp script, trying to match a key word in requesting url and do something:
<script>
$url = '${pageContext.request.requestURL}';
if("${fn:contains(url, 'key')}" == true){
...
}
....
But this doest work... I am not sure where the problem is but I want it to be like when url contains this string, go in to the if condition.
Thank you

You are mixing JSP/EL and JavaScript as if they run in sync. This is wrong. JSP/EL runs in webserver and produces HTML code which get executed in webbrowser. JavaScript (JS) is part of the generated HTML code and runs in webbrowser only.
You need to do it either fully in JSP/EL, or fully in JavaScript. You can use JSP/EL to dynamically generate JS code which get later executed when the page arrives at browser. Rightclick page in browser, do View Source to see what JSP/EL has generated. You should not see any line of JSP/EL. You should only see HTML/JS code. It's exactly that JS code which get executed then.
You're using a JSP EL function to test a JS variable which isn't in the variable scope at that moment at all. This is not going to work. It can only test JSP/EL variables.
Here's how you could do it in pure JS:
<script>
var url = window.location.href;
if (url.indexOf('key') > -1) {
// ...
}
</script>
If you really insist in doing it using JSP/EL, you could do as follows:
<script>
var url = '${pageContext.request.requestURI}';
if (${fn:contains(pageContext.request.requestURI, 'key')}) {
// ...
}
</script>
This will then generate the following JS code (rightclick page in browser and View Source to see it):
<script>
var url = '/some/uri';
if (true) {
// ...
}
</script>
But this makes no sense. Whatever functional requirement you need to solve, you need to think twice about the right approach. Feel free to ask a new question about solving the concrete functional requirement the proper way.

If you want a parameter that the page was requested with, use ${param.paramName}. So in this case ${param.key}. See implicit objects in the docs. And if you just want to check it has a value try ${not empty param.key}.

How to get texts from Resx to be used in Javascript?

We are building large ASP.NET applications for the intranet use in multiple languages/cultures. We utilize the Globalization with RESX files and use GetResourceText on the server side to get the localized texts.
Lately we are doing more and more client side logic with JQuery.
How do I get the RESX texts to be used in Javascript?
e.g. texts used for validation, dynamic messages etc.
All our Javascripts are in .JS files, we do not want to mix HTML in the ASPX page and Javascript blocks.
Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately, in an external JS file the server side code is not being processed by the server. However I have seen a workaround where you can set your translated values in hidden fields on the page - this way your javascript will be able to read the values in.
For example:
<%-- This goes into your page --%>
<input type="hidden" id="translatedField" name="translatedField" value="<%=Resources.Resources.translatedText %>" />
and use this inside your javascript file:
// This is the js file
$(document).ready(function() {
alert($("#translatedField").attr("value"));
});
You will be able to separate the values and still see it in your external JS file.
There is also another workaround that creates a .aspx file that only outputs Javascript instead of HTML. Check out the link below:
Using server side method in an external JavaScript file

Always separate functionality from human readable strings.
If you're creating jQuery-plugins you should be able to pass an array of localized strings as parameter when you call your different jQuery functions. The array could be defined as inline javascript directly on the page calling the different jQuery plugins or you could load the from external resource in the format /scripts/localization/strings.js?ci=en-US and register a Generic ASP.Net Handler in web.config that would respond to scripts/localization/strings.js
The DatePicker control is a fine example of how to localize text for the jQuery datepick control - this js file is dynamically created from resource files (resx) and when included on a page it will make sure the calendar control will have danish text.

Create a HttpHandler (.ashx file), and return JSON with your text resource strings.
You may also "publish" it to global namespace, i.e.
Response.Write("window.Resources=");
Response.Write((new JavaScriptSerializer()).Serialize(strings));
set up HTML like:
<script src="Resx.ashx?lang=en-US" />
<button class="LogoutButtonResourceId OtherButtonClasses">(generic logout text)</button>
<a href="#"><span class="SomeLinkTextResourceId OtherClasses">
(generic link text)
</span></a>
and apply texts like this:
$(document).ready(function() {
for(var resId in Resources){
$("."+resId).html(Resources[resId]);
}
});

If you don't want to use ASP.NET to generate your main JavaScript, here are two other options:
Use ASP.NET to generate a script file that contains variable-to-string assignments, such as var mystring = 'my value';. Your main script would then reference the localized text with variables names rather than as embedded values. If that's still too "dirty" for you, you could encode the strings as JSON rather than as variable assignments, using an HttpHandler rather than straight .aspx.
Have your JavaScript code issue an Ajax call to retrieve an array or list of localized strings from the server. The server-side part of the call would retrieve the text from your resx files.

Have you considered using $.ajax in combination with ASP.NET WebMethods? It's hard to suggest a more concrete solution to this problem without understanding how your JavaScript/jQuery would consume/process the resources. I assume that they're organized into logical groups (or could be) where you could return several resource strings that belong on a single page.
Assuming that, you could write a very simple C# class -- or use a Dictionary<string, string> -- to return data from your ASP.NET WebMethod. The results would look something like:
[WebMethod]
public Dictionary<string, string> GetPageResources(string currentPage)
{
// ... Organizational stuff goes here.
}
I always separate out my AJAX calls into separate .js files/objects; that would look like:
function GetPageResources (page, callback)
$.ajax({ // Setup the AJAX call to your WebMethod
data: "{ 'currentPage':'" + page + "' }",
url: /Ajax/Resources.asmx/GetPageResources, // Or similar.
success: function (result) { // To be replaced with .done in jQuery 1.8
callback(result.d);
}
});
Then, in the .js executed on the page, you should be able to consume that data like:
// Whatever first executes when you load a page and its JS files
// -- I assume that you aren't using something like $(document).ready(function () {});
GetPageResources(document.location, SetPageResources);
function SetPageResources(resources) {
for (currentResource in resources) {
$("#" + currentResource.Key).html(currentResource.Value);
}
}

I know it's to late but want share my experience in this task)
I use AjaxMin. It can insert resx key values into js file on build event.
It's not common way but it keeps html without unneeded script blocks and can be done during minification process if you have it.
It works like this:
ajaxmin.exe test.js -RES:Strings resource.resx -o test.min.js
Also you need to do the same for ech locale if you have many.
Syntax to write resource keys in js (and also css) is written here:
Js localization
Css localization

How about injecting it as part of a javascript control initialization? what i do is as follows:
I have a self-contained javascript control - call it CRMControl, which has an init method called setupCRMControl, to which i pass a settings object. When i initialize it, i pass an object containing all the resources i need inside javascript as follows:
CRMControl.setupCRMControl({
numOfCRMs: 3,
maxNumOfItems: 10,
// then i pass a resources object with the strings i need inside
Resources: {
Cancel: '#Resources.Cancel',
Done: '#Resources.Done',
Title: '#Resources.Title'
}
});
Then, inside this javascript control:
var crmSettings = {};
this.setupCRMControl(settings) {
crmSettings = settings;
};
and whenever i want to show a resource, i say (for example, show an alert saying 'Done'):
alert(crmSettings.Resources.Done);
You can call it "R" to make it shorter or something, but this is my approach. Maybe this may not work if you have a whole bunch of strings, but for manageable cases, this may work.