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Wrapping `console.log` and retaining call stack

In my logging helper class, I have the following:
this.myInfo = console.info.bind(console);
When I call my myInfo function from elsewhere, the calling object and line number are correctly retained and logged in the Chrome devtools.
When I run myInfo though, I also want to run another local function in addition to the console.info. Hence, I figured I could just wrap the above and it would work. I've come up with the following:
var obj = this;
this.myInfo = (function() {
console.info.apply(this, arguments);
myOtherFunc.apply(obj, arguments);
}).bind(console);
The problem is that unlike my first example, I lose the calling context for console.info, and the wrong line number and file are logged in the devTools.
How can I wrap the first example and retain the proper context for the console.info?

You can use getter. In getter you call your other function and then return console.info.bind(console) to caller.
Object.defineProperty(this, "myInfo", { get: function () {
myOtherFunc();
return console.info.bind(console);
}});
In case of passing arguments. You can define following function:
this.myInfo = function()
{
myOtherFunc.apply(null, arguments);
return console.bind.apply(console, arguments);
}
// example of call
this.myInfo(1,2,3)();
I've new solution. You can implement your console.log wrapper in separate JS file or evaluate it with sourceURL then go to Chrome DevTools settings and add "console-wrapper.js" url to blackbox pattern or blackbox this script by link when first message is arrived to console.
When script become blackboxed then all messages will have correct location in source code.
It works in last Google Chrome Canary build and will be available in stable in around two months.
eval("\
function myAwesomeConsoleLogWrapper() {\
console.log.call(console, arguments);\
makeAnotherWork();\
}\
//# sourceURL=console-wrapper.js");

Alexey Kozyatinskiy's approach is cool. However, if not-pretty code like this.myInfo(1,2,3)() is a more serious problem than ugly console output, you could use the wrapper you posted in your question and print needed filename and line number manually having it extracted from new Error().stack. I'd personnaly use Alexey's method unless there was a team working on this project.

RequestContext and Ajax status in PrimeFaces

I need to handle globally ajax responses. Everything works ok, out of the box, when I only want to call normal javascript action without any arguments. Than I can use p:ajaxStatus controll, and application behaves in a correct way.
What I actually now need to do, is to handle situation, when during ajax request there was externalContext.redirect() call. It happens only in one place in application, but it is called from many places.
I was thinking, that I can for instance add callback param in RequestContext. But how can I access this param in javascript?
While watching in firebug, I can see that callbackParam is returned in json response, but how can I access this value in javascript?

It's been added as a property of default args object which is available in oncomplete context.
So, for example
RequestContext.getCurrentInstance().addCallbackParam("foo", "bar");
is available as
oncomplete="console.log(args.foo)"
See also:
PrimeFaces RequestContext showcase
Update: as per the comments, that turns out to fail in <p:ajaxStatus>. I sugges to report it as a bug to PF guys, that the arguments are not available in <p:ajaxStatus oncomplete>. In the meanwhile, you can workaround it with the following script which is loaded by <h:outputScript target="head"> inside the <h:body> (to guarantee that it's loaded after PrimeFaces script):
var originalPrimeFacesAjaxUtilsSend = PrimeFaces.ajax.AjaxUtils.send;
PrimeFaces.ajax.AjaxUtils.send = function(cfg) {
var originalOncomplete = cfg.oncomplete;
cfg.oncomplete = function() {
ajaxStatusOncomplete.apply(this, arguments);
if (originalOncomplete) {
originalOncomplete.apply(this, arguments);
}
};
originalPrimeFacesAjaxUtilsSend.apply(this, arguments);
};
function ajaxStatusOncomplete(xhr, status, args) {
// Do your thing here.
}

In p:ajaxStatus params available via PrimeFaces.ajax.Queue.xhrs
For example:
oncomplete="console.log(PrimeFaces.ajax.Queue.xhrs[0].pArgs.foo)"

JS Function Invocation from AS3 with Complex Object in Parameter

I'm building an AIR desktop application. At one point the application loads a popup window (an MXML component based on s:Window), which contains an mx:HTML component which loads a local (in the application directory) html file, blank.html. The relevant elements in blank.html are:
<script src="jw/jwplayer.js"/> <!--JW Player's JS-based Embedder-->
...
<div id="jwtarget" /> <!-- the target that the embedder will use -->
Since the parameters I want to use are determined at runtime, I use the domWindow property to invoke the method which loads the player. Here's an example that works:
private function injectPlayer():void {
var playerVars:Object = {};
playerVars.flashplayer = "jw/player.swf";
playerVars.file = "http://www.archive.org/download/meet_john_doe_ipod/meet_john_doe_512kb.mp4";
playerVars.height = 360;
playerVars.width = 640;
try { // attempt to invoke the js function
htmlComponent.domWindow.jwplayer("jwtarget").setup(playerVars);
} catch(e:Error) {}
}
which is called when the page finishes loading by:
<mx:HTML id="htmlComponent" location="assets/blank.html" complete="injectPlayer()" />
That all works fine.
Now to the question. I need to be able to pass a more complex playerVars Object to the function, but I don't seem to be getting the syntax correct. Here's the simplest example I've been attempting:
private function injectPlayer():void {
var playerVars:Object = {};
//playerVars.flashplayer = "jw/player.swf";
playerVars.file = "http://www.archive.org/download/meet_john_doe_ipod/meet_john_doe_512kb.mp4";
playerVars.height = 360;
playerVars.width = 640;
playerVars.modes = [{"type":"flash","src":"jw/player.swf"}];
try { // attempt to invoke the js function
htmlComponent.domWindow.jwplayer("jwtarget").setup(playerVars);
} catch(e:Error) {}
}
This code should create the exact same thing as the above code, but it fails to execute. I assume I need to change the syntax in some way to allow the array of Objects (modes) to be passed properly as a parameter to the js function.
I've tried various things, like passing the modes as a String, or putting the whole thing through JSON.stringify() first, but to no avail. Anyone know the correct way for constructing a complex object for a parameter?
Other details, if you haven't inferred them by now: Flex 4.5.1 is the SDK I'm building with, including the AIR 3.0 extensions (which means targeting FP11).
Update:
Another configuration I tried, which does work:
playerVars.modes = {"type":"flash", "src":"jw/player.swf"};
However, this still doesn't solve the problem that I should be able to pass an Array of Objects in the modes property. But at least this way loads the video player.
More Update:
So, I found this little section of code from jwplayer.js where I suspected the player loading was failing:
if (typeof parsedConfig.modes == "string") {
_modes = _playerDefaults();
_modes[0].src = parsedConfig.modes;
} else if (parsedConfig.modes instanceof Array) { // I suspect this was eval'd as false
_modes = parsedConfig.modes;
} else if (typeof parsedConfig.modes == "object" && parsedConfig.modes.type) {
_modes = [parsedConfig.modes];
}
And to test my suspicion I added the following function to my blank.html:
<script type="text/javascript">
var instanceOfArrayTest = function(arr) {
return arr instanceof Array;
}
</script>
And in my ActionScript code tried the following:
trace([1,2,3] is Array); // true
trace(htmlComponent.domWindow.instanceOfArrayTest([1,2,3])); // false!!!!
So, it seems that the problem is that ActionScript is not passing AS3 Array objects as JS Array objects!

Try doing this instead:
playerVars.modes = [{type:"flash",src:"jw/player.swf"}];

Unlike the call() method of the ExternalInterface class, the mx:HTML does not automatically convert AS3 classes to corresponding JS classes when they are passed as parameters to a JS function. Instead, the HTML Control maintains an environment where methods and properties native to the AS3 classes are preserved and made accessible to JS directly.
If a JS function requires a JS Array object, one must create the JS Array explicitly using the JavaScript Window object to access the JS Array constructor. The HTML Control provides access to this with it's domWindow property. Otherwise, there is no way to "cast" an AS3 Array to a JS Array.
Here's a basic example:
var JSArray:Function = htmlComponent.domWindow.Array;
htmlComponent.domWindow.instanceOfArrayTest( JSArray(1,2,3) ); // true
And for the more complex example using the config parameter for JW Player:
playerVars.modes = JSArray({"type":"flash","src":"jw/player.swf"},{"type":"html5"});
which creates a JS Array of two Objects.
For more info on the JavaScript environment in the HTML Control, check out the JavaScript in AIR section of Adobe's Developing AIR Applications with Flex.

Having IE Issues When Passing Object By Ref. and Dynamically Adding Properties

So, I've created a function to do some error checking on an XML file that I recieve from an AJAX call. Part of the validation is that the function then builds out an object for easy access while I process that data into a form. In FF, works like a charm. IE dies with the error:
Object doesn't support this property or method
Here is the function (minus the un-important bits):
function checkReceiveXMLTagString( doc, messageObject, tag ) {
var tag_nodes = doc.getElementsByTagName( tag );
...do some error checking...
messageObject[tag] = tag_str; <-- error occurs on this line
return true;
}
Here is an example of how the function is call:
if ( checkReceiveXMLTagString( messageObject.Name[0], messageObject.Name[0], "First" ) ) {
...process messageObject.Name[0].First...
}
Like I said, FF has no issues. Safari loads the pages as well. IE has issues.
Thanks!

Looks like something is making messageObject be null or undefined

If the error is on this line:
messageObject[tag] = tag_str;
Then, the only two ways I know of that that can cause an error are:
messageObject is not an object that you can set properties on (null or undefined are the most likely ways that would happen)
tag is null or undefined
Since I see that your code calls this function hundreds of times so you can't effectively just break on it, I'd suggest you put in some defensive coding to check for those conditions and output something to the debug console to identify what the state is when the problem occurs. You can even trigger a conditional breakpoint with code like this:
if (!messageObject || !tag) {
debugger;
}
In the toughest cases, you can put an exception handler around it and break when the exception is thrown:
try {
messageObject[tag] = tag_str;
} catch(e) {
debugger;
}
Both of these will allow you to capture the condition in the debugger and examine all your parameters at the time of the error.

Avoiding eval when executing js returned from ajax call

I want to make an ajax call that will return a json object. One of this JSON object's properties will be the string of a function to be executed in the client. I realise this can easily be solved by using eval, but seeing the many disadvantages of eval, I'd rather avoid it. My question is:
Can I in some way return from the server some js code and execute it without resorting to eval?
As requested, here's some example code:
Server (Node.js):
var testFunc = function() {
alert('h1');
};
app.get('/testPack', function(req, res) {
var template = jade.render('h1 hi');
res.send({
template : template,
entity : testFunc.toString(),
data : {
id: "OMG I love this"
}
});
});
Client:
$(document).ready(function() {
$.ajax({
url: '/testPack',
success: function(data) {
$('body').append($(data.template))
alert(data.data.id);
var entity = eval(data.entity);
entity();
}
})
})
Of course, the returned function called entity wouldn't do such a silly thing, it would expose an API of the returned widget.
Just to clarify, I'd like to avoid having to make a separate call for the javascript itself. I'd rather bundle it with the template and data to render.

Easiest way to do that, is not to call a server through an ajax, but instead to create a new script tag on the page with the url pointing to a RESTful web-service that would output pure JavaScript (not JSON). That way your output will be evaluated by the browser directly without the use of eval.
To expand a little on my answer:
To get around the problems of running script in the global context you could do some tricks. For example, when you are adding script tag to the head, you can bind onload event (or rather fake onload event, since IE doesn't support onload on the script tag) to it, and if your response from the server will be always wrapped in the the function with a known name, you could apply that function from within your object. Example code below (this is just an example though):
function test ()
{
this.init = function ()
{
var script = document.createElement("script");
script.type = "text/javascript";
script.language = "javascript";
script.src = "test.js";
var me = this;
window.callMe = function () { me.scriptReady(me); };
var head = document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0];
head.appendChild(script);
};
this.scriptReady = function (object)
{
serverResponse.call(object);
};
this.name = "From inside the object";
this.init();
}
var t=new test();
The server response should look something like this:
function serverResponse()
{
alert(this.name);
}
window.callMe();
In this case, everything inside serverResponse() will use your object as "this". Now if you modify your server response in this way:
function serverResponse()
{
this.serverJSONString = { "testVar1": "1", "testVar2": 2 };
function Test()
{
alert("From the server");
}
Test();
}
window.callMe();
You can have multiple things being returned from the server and with just one response. If you don't like just setting variables, then create a function in your main object to handle JSON string that you can supply by calling this function from your response.
As you can see, it's all doable, it really doesn't look pretty, but then again, what you are trying to do is not pretty to begin with.
P.S. Just inserting a string inside tag will not work for IE, it will not allow you to do that. If you don't have to support IE, then you could get away with just inserting server response inside a newly created script tag and be done with it.
P.P.S. Please don't use this code as is, cause I didn't spend too much time writting it. It's ugly as hell, but was just ment as an example:-)

No, you can't do this by definition, because JavaScript functions are not valid JSON. See the spec here:
http://www.json.org/
If you're returning a string, then that's what it is: just a string. You can't evaluate it without eval. You can call whatever else you're returning whatever you want, but please don't call it JSON.

Here's an example of how I think this could work.
The json object represents what is returned from the server. The c and d properties contain function names as strings. If those functions are properties of some other object which exists in your page, then you should be able to call them using the object["property"] accessor.
See it working on jsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/WUY4n/1/
// This function is a child of the window object
window.winScopedFunction = function() {
alert("ROCK THE WIN");
}
// This function is a child of another object
var myObject = {
myFunction : function() {
alert("ROCK ON");
}
};
// pretend that this json object was the result of an ajax call.
var jsonResultFromServer= {
a : 1,
b : 2,
c : "myFunction",
d : "winScopedFunction"
};
// you can call the local functions like so
myObject[jsonResultFromServer.c]();
window[jsonResultFromServer.d]();

Yes, there's a way, but it has the exact same disadvantages as eval.
You can use the Function constructor to create a new function, and then call it. For example:
new Function(code)();

http://code.google.com/p/json-sans-eval/ is a fast JSON parser that does not use eval, and JSON.parse is becoming increasing widely available in new browsers. Both are excellent alternatives to eval for parsing JSON.

You can use the trick that Google does with Google Charts.
<html>
<head>
<script>
function onWorkDone(data) {
console.log(data);
}
</script>
<script src="callback.js"></script>
</head>
</html>
Then your callback.js is:
function doWork(callback) {
callback({result: 'foo'});
}
doWork(onWorkDone);
Basically, your script will call onWorkDone when the doWork completed. You can see a working example here:
http://jsfiddle.net/ea9Gc/

Do you have some example cases? Some things I can think of is you that you can just have a regular function inside your js file, and your server will return some parameters for your function to execute. You can even specify what function to use! (Isn't that amazing?)
// your js file
var some_namespace = {
some_function : function(a, b){
// stuff
}
}
// your server output
{
some_other_data: "123",
execute: {
func: "some_namespace.some_function",
params: [1, 2]
}
}
// your ajax callback
function(r){
window[r.execute.func].apply(this, r.execute.params);
}

The reasons of not using eval
Well, you already said it yourself. Don't use eval. But you have a wrong picture regarding why.
It is not that eval is evil. You are getting the reason wrong. Performance considerations aside, using eval this way allows a sloppy programmer to execute code passed from server on the client. Notice the "passed from server" part.
Why never execute code passed from server
Why don't you want to execute code passed from the server (incidentally that's what you're planning to do)?
When a browser executes a script on a web page, as long as the web site is valid -- i.e. really yours, and not a malware site pretending to be yours trying to trick your users -- you can be reasonably sure that every bit of code the browser is running is written by yourself.
Hacker's heaven -- script injection attacks
Now, if you are passing data from the server to your web application, and that data contains executable functions, you're asking for trouble. In the long, twisted journey of that data going from your server to your client's browser, it goes through the wild west called the Internet, perhaps through multiple layers of proxies and filters and converters, most of which you do not control.
Now, if a hacker is hiding somewhere in the middle, takes your data from the server, modify the code to those functions to something really bad, and sends it away to your client, then your client browser takes the data and executes the code. Voila! Bad things happen. The worse is: you (at the server side) will never know that your clients are hacked.
This is called a "script injection attack" and is a serious sercurity risk.
Therefore, the rule is: Never execute functions returned from a server.
Only pass data from server
If you only accept data from a server, the most that can happen whan a hacker tempers with it is that your client will see strange data coming back, and hopefully your scripts will filter them out or handle them as incorrect data. Your client's browser will not be running any arbitrary code written by the hacker with glee.
In your client-side script, of course you're sticking to the Golden Rule: Do not trust ANY data coming through the Internet. Therefore you'd already be type-check and validating the JSON data before using it, and disallowing anything that looks suspicious.
Don't do it -- pass functions from server and execute on client
So, to make a long story short: DON'T DO IT.
Think of another way to specify pluggable functionalities on the browser -- there are multiple methods.

I've had this same question, and I fixed it this way:
File: functions.js.php?f=1,3
$functions=array(
'showMessage' => 'function(msg){ alert(msg); }',
'confirmAction' => 'function(action){
return confirm("Are you sure you want to "+action+"?");
}',
'getName' => 'function getName(){
return prompt("What is your name?");
}'
);
$queried = explode($_REQUEST['f']);
echo 'var FuncUtils = {'; // begin javascript object
$counter=1;
foreach($functions as $name=>$function){
if(in_array($counter, $queried))
echo '"'.$name.'":,'.$function.',';
$counter++;
}
echo '"dummy":null };'; // end javascript object
File: data5.json
{
"action" : ['confirmAction','exit']
}
File: test.js
$(document).ready(function(){
$.getScript('functions.js.php?f=1,3');
});
function onBeforeExit(){
$.getJSON('data5.json', function(data) {
var func = data.action.shift();
FuncUtils[func].apply(null, data.action);
});
}