Same URL - render different pages (EXPRESS) - javascript

Is it possible to render different pages for the same URL in express?
For example, if I click on #login1, I want to be sent to /login_page/. If I click on #login2, I should still be sent to /login_page/. Each time, I want to render different htmls depending on which #login I clicked.
So I want it to look like this.
Client:
$("#login1").click(function(){
window.open(/login_page/,'_parent');
});
$("#login2").click(function(){
window.open(/login_page/,'_parent');
});
Server:
app.get('/login_page/', users.login_page1); //if I clicked #login1
app.get('/login_page/', users.login_page2); //if I clicked #login2
Thanks a lot for any help.

Basically you need some field in the request to convey this information.
The simple thing: the URL, as the web was designed
If you're too cool to have the URLs be different, you can use the query string
window.open('/login_page?from=login2', '_parent');
If you're too cool for the query string, you could set a cookie
If you're too cool for a cookie, you could request the page via ajax with xhr.setRequestHeader
If you're tool cool for a custom ajax request header, you could add an image with a tracking pixel src attribute to the DOM just prior to loading the login_page and detect that in the server side session and render a different page accordingly
So in summary there are at least a half-dozen ways to technically achieve this. Only the URL and the query string are reasonable, IMHO.

if I got it correctly you just want to invoke different controllers upon the same request with no parameters?
you know you can just parametrise the url and get the result you need with small control logic on the server side.

I don't believe it's possible to do this without any parameters. One solution could look like this
client:
$("#login1").click(function(){
window.open(/login_page/1,'_parent');
});
$("#login2").click(function(){
window.open(/login_page/2,'_parent');
});
Server:
app.get('/login_page/:id', function(req, res){ //if I clicked #login1
if(req.params.id == 1){
res.render('index1.html');
} else {
res.render('index2.html');
}
}

Related

Redirect to URL from URL

I am wondering how to deal with a simple redirect. I have a domain, for example: stackguy.com. And I want to redirect users to specific URLs from this url.
Let's say, stackguy.com/redirect=youtube.com/watch/xxx
And this URL (youtube.com...) needs to be elastic. What the user enters, it should redirect to the website the user wants.
I have totally no idea, to be honest. I've tried to do it by using database and by separating all urls but it's a lot of work and can't be automated easily.
It can also be done like stackguy.com/red=<id of YT video>
Doesn't matter to me.
The other solution talks about using javascript which runs on the client side. And you probably want this on the server side.
You still need to use a parameter
stackguy.com?redirect=https://www.youtube.com/watch/xxx
But you can use php to do the redirect.
$par = filter_var ($_GET ['redirect'] ?? '', FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
if ($par)
{header('Location: ' . $par, true, 302); }
The first line gets the parameter after sanitizing it. It returns blank if its null (or missing)
The second line checks if there is a string
The third line does a redirect using a 302. This is a temporary redirect, I wouldn't advise using a 301 (permanent).
Note that this will only work if the PHP file has done NO HTML output.
I think you should use query parameters for this and handle the redirect in your javascript. Instead of:
stackguy.com/redirect=youtube.com/watch/xxx
use
stackguy.com?redirect=https://www.youtube.com/watch/xxx
Then in your js you can check if the redirect paramter is set and redirect the user to the link in the query parameter.
Here is an example:
function redirectUrl() {
// Get the value of the "redirect" query parameter
const redirect = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("redirect");
// If the "redirect" parameter is not null, redirect the user to the specified URL
if (redirect) {
window.location = redirect;
}
}
To use the function you will need to call it in your code for example:
window.addEventListener("load", redirectUrl);

Simple MEAN Stack issue

I have a express route;
router.get('/uni/:queryst', function (req, res) {
var choice = req.params.queryst);}
Where basically I use the queryst value from the URL to use it to query something in my database. On the front end, I need to have an input field where the user types the choice and hits submit and then it translates to something like /uni/valuehere on the browser and sending GET to express where it gets caught by the router I wrote above. I don't know how can I make the input field of HTML turn into a URL of the format /uni/valuehere .
As for testing the code initially I was directly typing the URL manually with the value I intended to verify to check if the data passed. Well, users are not going to type URL's directly to search, they will need a form and that is what I can't get my head around to how to turn the input field into a URL in a format /uni/WhateverTheUserHasTypedInTheFieldShouldAppearHere
Thanks in advance for the help. I am self learning the MEAN stack and have come a long way. I need support of experienced developers as I am currently stuck here.
While sending the request write (in controller):
$http.get('/uni/'+queryst).success(function(response){
// Write code using response
});
While on the server side write:
$http.get('/uni/:queryst',function(req,res){
var choice= req.params.queryst
// Code ....
});

Dynamically set href anchor tags not sending a get request

I'm not really sure where I"m screwing up with this. Basically I'm reading from my database to generate an html page and dynamically set the hrefs of some anchor tags. When I click on the links, however, the page just reloads and doesn't send a GET request to the server. The important part of the Jade rendering is here.
each val in tournaments
a(href="/home/tournaments/?_id=" + val._id)
The _id param is just the default _id MongoDB gives to the document upon creation.
I'm also using Express to handle my server side requests. The pertinent one for this is here:
app.route("/home/tournaments/:id")
.get(function(req, res, next) {
console.log("Request: " + req.query._id);
});
Nothing gets printed to the console when I click the anchor tag, so I guess it's not reaching this route for some reason.
Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do to fix it?
Thanks in advance.
The problem is that you're placing the ID in the query string instead of the actual url path. So to make your existing route match, you'd need to instead do this:
each val in tournaments
a(href="/home/tournaments/" + val._id)
and then use req.params.id instead of req.query._id.
OR you could adjust your route pattern to just be /home/tournaments.

Recommended way to redirect to same view and perform server side code from a client side event in MVC

I am having a hard time deciding on an appropriate way to Perform some server side functionality and then redirecting to the same View in my ASP.Net MVC project.
I am trying to call an Action after the selected index changed client side event of my combobox.
One way I can think of is to change the window.location to the url of my Action and pass the data i need via the query string like this
function SelectedIndexChanged(s,e)
{
window.location.href = "/MyController/MyAction?" + s.GetValue();
}
I also see lots of people saying you should use jquery ajax for this
function SelectedIndexChanged(s,e)
{
$.ajax({
url: 'MyController/MyAction',
data: { value: s.GetValue() },
success: function(){
alert('Added');
}
});
}
My Action looks something like this where i set some cookie values using the value and Set View bags values depending on the selected index.
public ActionResult SelectedIndexChanged(string value)
{
//Do some processing
//Set cookie values
SetViewBags(value);
return Redirect(Request.UrlReferrer.ToString());
}
Is there a better approach to accomplish my task, I am leaning more towards changing the location.href as it is simpler, but i'm not sure if this is good practice?
EDIT
To Clarify this Combobox is a Devexpress MVC extension so I will have to handle the "SelectedIndexChanged" client side event.
This Combobox is also on my layout page so it appears on every view in my project. So when it is changed i will need to to call the same Action no matter what page it is on
As you've indicated that your form is in your layout (not a view), I recommend you look at using a view partial. Fortunately, MVC has already provided an example with their view partial (can't remember the name) that has the login and logout buttons. If a user clicks logout, some javascript is fired and the form is submitted. This will redirect the user; however, you could also send the original address (referrer) as a parameter to your server method and then redirect to that page afterward.
You could always use an Html.Action
function SelectedIndexChanged(s,e)
{
#Html.Action("ActionName", "ControllerName", {optional route values})
}

Using PUT/POST/DELETE with JSONP and jQuery

I am working on creating a RESTful API that supports cross-domain requests, JSON/JSONP support, and the main HTTP method (PUT/GET/POST/DELETE). Now while will be easy to accessing this API through server side code , it would nice to exposed it to javascript. From what I can tell, when doing a JSONP requests with jQuery, it only supports the GET method. Is there a way to do a JSONP request using POST/PUT/DELETE?
Ideally I would like a way to do this from within jQuery (through a plugin if the core does not support this), but I will take a plain javascript solution too. Any links to working code or how to code it would be helpful, thanks.
Actually - there is a way to support POST requests.
And there is no need in a PROXI server - just a small utility HTML page that is described bellow.
Here's how you get Effectively a POST cross-domain call, including attached files and multi-part and all :)
Here first are the steps in understanding the idea, after that - find an implementation sample.
How JSONP of jQuery is implemented, and why doesn't it support POST requests?
While the traditional JSONP is implemented by creating a script element and appending it into the DOM - what results inforcing the browser to fire an HTTP request to retrieve the source for the tag, and then execute it as JavaScript, the HTTP request that the browser fires is simple GET.
What is not limited to GET requests?
A FORM. Submit the FORM while specifing action the cross-domain server.
A FORM tag can be created completely using a script, populated with all fields using script, set all necessary attributes, injected into the DOM, and then submitted - all using script.
But how can we submit a FORM without refreshing the page?
We specify the target the form to an IFRAME in the same page.
An IFRAME can also be created, set, named and injected to the DOM using script.
But How can we hide this work from the user?
We'll contain both FORM and IFRAME in a hidden DIV using style="display:none"
(and here's the most complicated part of the technique, be patient)
But IFRAME from another domain cannot call a callback on it's top-level document. How to overcome that?
Indeed , if a response from FORM submit is a page from another domain, any script communication between the top-level page and the page in the IFRAME results in "access denied". So the server cannot callback using a script. What can the server can do? redirect. The server may redirect to any page - including pages in the same domain as the top-level document - pages that can invoke the callback for us.
How can a server redirect?
two ways:
Using client side script like <Script>location.href = 'some-url'</script>
Using HTTP-Header. See: http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php
So I end up with another page? How does it help me?
This is a simple utility page that will be used from all cross-domain calls. Actually, this page is in-fact a kind of a proxi, but it is not a server, but a simple and static HTML page, that anybody with notepad and a browser can use.
All this page has to do is invoke the callback on the top-level document, with the response-data from the server. Client-Side scripting has access to all URL parts, and the server can put it's response there encoded as part of it, as well as the name of the callback that has to be invoked. Means - this page can be a static and HTML page, and does not have to be a dynamic server-side page :)
This utility page will take the information from the URL it runs in - specifically in my implementation bellow - the Query-String parameters (or you can write your own implementation using anchor-ID - i.e the part of a url right to the "#" sign). And since this page is static - it can be even allowed to be cached :)
Won't adding for every POST request a DIV, a SCRIPT and an IFRAME eventually leak memory?
If you leave it in the page - it will. If you clean after you - it will not. All we have to do is give an ID to the DIV that we can use to celan-up the DIV and the FORM and IFRAME inside it whenever the response arrives from the server, or times out.
What do we get?
Effectively a POST cross-domain call, including attached files and multi-part and all :)
What are the limits?
The server response is limited to whatever fits into a redirection.
The server must ALWAYS return a REDIRECT to a POST requests. That include 404 and 500 errors.
Alternatively - create a timeout on the client just before firing the request, so you'll have a chance to detect requests that have not returned.
not everybody can understand all this and all the stages involved. it's a kind of an infrastructure level work, but once you get it running - it rocks :)
Can I use it for PUT and DELETE calls?
FORM tag does not PUT and DELETE.
But that's better then nothing :)
Ok, got the concept. How is it done technically?
What I do is:
I create the DIV, style it as invisible, and append it to the DOM. I also give it an ID that I can clean it up from the DOM after the server response has arrived (the same way JQuery cleans it's JSONP SCRIPT tasgs - but the DIV).
Then I compose a string that contains both IFRAME and FORM - with all attributes, properties and input fields, and inject it into the invisible DIV. it is important to inject this string into the DIV only AFTER the div is in the DOM. If not - it will not work on all browsers.
After that - I obtain a reference to the FORM and submit it.
Just remember one line before that - to set a Timeout callback in case the server does not respond, or responds in a wrong way.
The callback function contains the clean-up code. It is also called by timer in case of a response-timeout (and cleans it's timeout-timer when a server response arrives).
Show me the code!
The code snippet bellow is totally "neutral" on "pure" javascript, and declares whatever utility it needs. Just for simplification of explaining the idea - it all runs on the global scope, however it should be a little more sophisticated...
Organize it in functions as you may and parameterize what you need - but make sure that all parts that need to see each other run on the same scope :)
For this example - assume the client runs on http://samedomain.com and the server runs on http://crossdomain.com.
The script code on the top-level document
//declare the Async-call callback function on the global scope
function myAsyncJSONPCallback(data){
//clean up
var e = document.getElementById(id);
if (e) e.parentNode.removeChild(e);
clearTimeout(timeout);
if (data && data.error){
//handle errors & TIMEOUTS
//...
return;
}
//use data
//...
}
var serverUrl = "http://crossdomain.com/server/page"
, params = { param1 : "value of param 1" //I assume this value to be passed
, param2 : "value of param 2" //here I just declare it...
, callback: "myAsyncJSONPCallback"
}
, clientUtilityUrl = "http://samedomain.com/utils/postResponse.html"
, id = "some-unique-id"// unique Request ID. You can generate it your own way
, div = document.createElement("DIV") //this is where the actual work start!
, HTML = [ "<IFRAME name='ifr_",id,"'></IFRAME>"
, "<form target='ifr_",id,"' method='POST' action='",serverUrl
, "' id='frm_",id,"' enctype='multipart/form-data'>"
]
, each, pval, timeout;
//augment utility func to make the array a "StringBuffer" - see usage bellow
HTML.add = function(){
for (var i =0; i < arguments.length; i++)
this[this.length] = arguments[i];
}
//add rurl to the params object - part of infrastructure work
params.rurl = clientUtilityUrl //ABSOLUTE URL to the utility page must be on
//the SAME DOMAIN as page that makes the request
//add all params to composed string of FORM and IFRAME inside the FORM tag
for(each in params){
pval = params[each].toString().replace(/\"/g,""");//assure: that " mark will not break
HTML.add("<input name='",each,"' value='",pval,"'/>"); // the composed string
}
//close FORM tag in composed string and put all parts together
HTML.add("</form>");
HTML = HTML.join(""); //Now the composed HTML string ready :)
//prepare the DIV
div.id = id; // this ID is used to clean-up once the response has come, or timeout is detected
div.style.display = "none"; //assure the DIV will not influence UI
//TRICKY: append the DIV to the DOM and *ONLY THEN* inject the HTML in it
// for some reason it works in all browsers only this way. Injecting the DIV as part
// of a composed string did not always work for me
document.body.appendChild(div);
div.innerHTML = HTML;
//TRICKY: note that myAsyncJSONPCallback must see the 'timeout' variable
timeout = setTimeout("myAsyncJSONPCallback({error:'TIMEOUT'})",4000);
document.getElementById("frm_"+id+).submit();
The server on the cross-domain
The response from the server is expected to be a REDIRECTION, either by HTTP-Header or by writing a SCRIPT tag. (redirection is better, SCRIPT tag is easier to debug with JS breakpoints).
Here's the example of the header, assuming the rurl value from above
Location: http://samedomain.com/HTML/page?callback=myAsyncJSONPCallback&data=whatever_the_server_has_to_return
Note that
the value of the data argument can be a JavaScript Object-Literal or JSON expression, however it better be url-encoded.
the length of the server response is limited to the length of a URL a browser can process.
Also - in my system the server has a default value for the rurl so that this parameter is optional. But you can do that only if your client-application and server-application are coupled.
APIs to emit redirection header:
http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php
Alternatively, you can have the server write as a response the following:
<script>
location.href="http://samedomain.com/HTML/page?callback=myAsyncJSONPCallback&data=whatever_the_server_has_to_return"
</script>
But HTTP-Headers would be considered more clean ;)
The utility page on the same domain as the top-level document
I use the same utility page as rurl for all my post requests: all it does is take the name of the callback and the parameters from the Query-String using client side code, and call it on the parent document. It can do it ONLY when this page runs in the EXACT same domain as the page that fired the request! Important: Unlike cookies - subdomains do not count!! It has to he the exact same domain.
It's also make it more efficient if this utility page contains no references to other resources -including JS libraries. So this page is plain JavaScript. But you can implement it however you like.
Here's the responder page that I use, who's URL is found in the rurl of the POST request (in the example: http://samedomain.com/utils/postResponse.html )
<html><head>
<script type="text/javascript">
//parse and organize all QS parameters in a more comfortable way
var params = {};
if (location.search.length > 1) {
var i, arr = location.search.substr(1).split("&");
for (i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
arr[i] = arr[i].split("=");
params[arr[i][0]] = unescape(arr[i][1]);
}
}
//support server answer as JavaScript Object-Literals or JSON:
// evaluate the data expression
try {
eval("params.data = " + params.data);
} catch (e) {
params.data = {error: "server response failed with evaluation error: " + e.message
,data : params.data
}
}
//invoke the callback on the parent
try{
window.parent[ params.callback ](params.data || "no-data-returned");
}catch(e){
//if something went wrong - at least let's learn about it in the
// console (in addition to the timeout)
throw "Problem in passing POST response to host page: \n\n" + e.message;
}
</script>
</head><body></body></html>
It's not much automation and 'ready-made' library like jQuery and involes some 'manual' work - but it has the charm :)
If you're a keen fan of ready-made libraries - you can also check on Dojo Toolkit that when last I checked (about a year ago) - had their own implementation for the same mechanism.
http://dojotoolkit.org/
Good luck buddy, I hope it helps...
Is there a way to do a JSONP request using POST/PUT/DELETE?
No there isn't.
No. Consider what JSONP is: an injection of a new <script> tag in the document. The browser performs a GET request to pull the script pointed to by the src attribute. There's no way to specify any other HTTP verb when doing this.
Rather than banging our heads with JSONP method, that actually won't
support POST method by default, we can go for CORS .That will provide no big changes in the conventional way of programming. By simple Jquery Ajax call we can go with cross domains.
In CORS method, you have to add headers in server side scripting file, or in the server itself(in remote domain), for enabling this access. This is much reliable, since we can prevent/restrict the domains making unwanted calls.
It can be found in detail in wikipedia page.

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