Replace data only if new content is different - javascript

I started out with a problem extremely similar to this one: Jquery : remplace content only if the new content is different
I've tried the accepted solution, and it doesn't seem to work the way it is supposed to. I tried first the native solution, just putting in my div stuff. Then I tried looking up the function on jQuery's site here: http://api.jquery.com/data/ and fixed my code accordingly to the last example. I tried alerting the data to see what exactly was going on, but it's fair amount of data, which is why I have everything MD5 hashed.
My problem is that the first alert is coming back undefined, and the second one is, in fact, defined going out. Am I doing something wrong? What would cause this stored data to disappear?
My current code:
function setDiv(data) {
newData = md5(data);
if ($('#myDiv1').data('oldData') != newData) {
$('#myDiv1').fadeTo("fast", 0, function () {$(this).html(data).fadeTo("fast", 1)});
alert($('#myDiv1').data('oldData'))
$('#myDiv1').data('oldData',md5(data));
alert($('#myDiv1').data('oldData'))
}
}
And my script headers (the second one is for the md5 function):
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://www.myersdaily.org/joseph/javascript/md5.js"></script>
For all intents and purposes, the data being fed to the function is correct... what I could see of it, anyways. It still functions after being set. But I just don't want it to refresh every time setTimeout does it's thing, plus I rather like things fading out and in, rather than just BAM.
Right now, with that current code, it just fades in and out, even though the data is the same. And obviously alerts me undefined on start, and a md5 on finish. Same md5 on finish every time, so it's definitely the same data. But the first alert is just undefined is being the problem.
Function that submits the data to the function above:
function loadDivContent(arg1,arg2) {
$.post('divContent.php',{arg1:arg1,arg2:arg2})
.done(function(data) {
setDiv(data)
});
}

Related

PHP logic to Javascript front into html tags

I am currently trying to convert a lot of backend code to front end (to lighten the load on a small system).
The code at the moment calls a PHP function to return specific information. (e.g. image locations, strings, styling)
I am converting this code to its js equivalent, the content from Mysql was converted to JSON and stored in a read only file and I am accessing that file using this code:
<script>
function jsread(tag) {
$.getJSON("/strings.json", function(result){
document.write(result[tag]['value']);
});
}
</script>
I want the function to "print" where ever it is invoked. document write writes the value to the page but stops all other loading and write only the value.
Let me be very clear on this: I DO NOT want to use anything that needs extra calls or references out side of this function, that will take months of work so no getting elements by their IDs I have already view many questions on this subject and none are what I can work with. I need something that can be applied to every situation. Other wise I will just have to read the JSON using PHP as a middle compromise.
The problem here is, document.write()'s behaviour is crazy across all the browsers, because, it directly modifies the document object and messes up with the events attached. So it is always better to avoid this function as each browser defines it differently and has a different effect on the same code, with different browsers.
Is there a way to use them without a direct reference?
Solution
The wise thing is, as I said in the comments, it is better to use one of the jQuery functions safely, which create a textNode and insert it the right way, without affecting the others:
<script>
function jsread(tag) {
$.getJSON("/strings.json", function(result){
$("body").append(result[tag]['value']);
});
}
</script>
In case, if you wanna do something like having a placeholder and doing stuff, then you can try giving something like this:
$(function () {
var data = "Dummy Data, that would probably get returned from the getJSON";
// Inside the Success function, do this:
$("span.placeholder-of-the-json").replaceWith(data);
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<span class="placeholder-of-the-json">This gets replaced</span>

First class functions- how are even they possible?

I'm struggling with this. I'm reading a book and the example code works really well but I can't get my head around how. The first class functions seem to twist and turn, turn themselves inside out and feed in and out of each other like magic. It goes something like this:
var data = {};
data["value1"] = fancyMethod.Value1 ;
data["value2"] = fancyMethod.Value2 ;
data["value3"] = fancyMethod.Value3 ;
getGoing( complexFunction , data);
function getGoing( complexFunction , data){
function setUpComplexFunction(param1, param2){
var param3 = param1.someValue ;
complexFunction(param1, param2, param3, data);
}
importantFunction(GetGoing);
}
The thing is the importantFunction() is the one that sets up all the processes that are used to retrieve all the parameters for the functions that feed it.
So all the params are only obtained after the importantFunction() is called. How is it possible that all the other code inside getGoing() runs OK when when it is unable to obtain its params until importantFunction() is called?
Above is a simplification of the code to just show the concepts I'm struggling with.
Actual code:
importantFunction() is actually http.createServer(onRequest).listen(8888);
and getGoing() is a function that runs the router and request handlers for the server. Coming from PHP I'm finding it strange that it seems all the requests and urls and request handlers are interpreted before the server even starts.
Source:
https://github.com/manuelkiessling/nodebeginner.org/tree/master/code/application
I guess all this will be obvious to me one day but I wonder if anyone has a simple way of explaining it for now.
importantFunction (which you haven't included the definition of) will, presumably, call GetGoing. At that point it can pass it whatever arguments it likes.
Additionally, the first time GetGoing is called, it is called by this line:
getGoing( complexFunction , data);
… which doesn't depend on importantFunction at all.

Changing the value of a variable through user input and re-using it on a different page

First I would like to say that I searched and found plenty of answers and even tried a couple (more than...) but to no avail! The error is probably mine but it is time to turn to SO and ask.
Problem description: I have a variable that I want to change the value through the user input (click on btn). As soon as the user chooses the btn it will navigate to a different page that will use the result of the variable to perform certain actions. My issue is that if I alert on my 1st page I get the value being passed by the btn... But on the second page I only get "undefined"
I think it has to do with variable scope and the fact that (I think it works that way anyway) even a window.var will be deleted/purged in a different window.
Anyway, the code is something like this (on the 1st page/file):
var somAlvo;
$('#omissL').click(function(){
somAlvo = 'l';
window.location.href='index_ProofOfConcept_nivel1.html';
});
And on the "receiving end" I have the following code
<head>
...
<script type="text/javascript" src="testForm_javascript.js"></script>
to "import" the js file with the variable and:
var processo = somAlvo;
alert(processo);
I tried declaring window, not using var inside the function and so on...
This is a proof of Concept for a project in my local University, where I'm working as a research assistant (so, this is not homework ;) )
Thanks for any help/hints...
You are right in that when you navigate to another page, the entire JavaScript runtime is reset and all variables lost.
To preserve a value across page loads you have two options:
Include it as part of a query string when navigating to the new page.
Set a cookie.
You may also want to look into loading the new content through an AJAX call and replacing what is displayed. This way you won't reload the entire page which won't cause the JavaScript runtime to be reset.

How can I clear references to Javascript functions that no longer exist?

I am working on a project that uses AJAX to download HTML, CSS and Javascript in one singe chunk of text then appends it to an element on the page. Here is the code:
_t.stage.empty();
_t.stage.html(DATA);
This works fine.
Here is the problem:
After adding the HTML to the stage, I call this function:
if(initApp != null && typeof(initApp) == "function") initApp();// Checks for initApp(). If exists, executes.
If I load a page that has this function, then load one that does NOT have this function, the function from the first page is executed. Here is some psuedo code to understand the results.
page 1:
This is a page.
<style>...</style>
<script> function initApp(){ alert("hello"); } </script>
When this page is run, an alert box with the text 'hello' is shown.
page 2: (no initApp() function)
This is page 2.
<style>...</style>
When the page is run, an alert box with the text 'hello' is shown.
Please note: These pages are loaded with AJAX and inserted into the HTML of an already loaded page.
It is not easy to tell exactly what you're trying to do, but if what you're trying to do is make it so that some other code that calls initApp() will cause nothing to happen when it calls that, then you can simply redefine the function to a do-nothing function like this:
initApp = function() {}
The most recent definition of a function takes precedence (e.g. replaces any prior definitions).
If your newly loaded code contains an implementation of initApp() that you don't want called the second time the script is loaded, then you're out of luck. You can't stop that. You will need to change the structure of your code so that the dynamically loaded code doesn't execute stuff you don't want to be executed. There are many different ways you could do that. For example, you could have a global boolean that keeps track of whether the init code has been called yet.
var initCalled = false;
function initApp() {
if (!initCalled) {
initCalled = true;
// rest of initialization code here
}
}
initApp(); // will only actually do anything the first time it's called
// even if it is loaded more than once
It appears from the comments that you seem to think that reloading a script tag with different code will somehow make code from the previous script go away. It will not. Once a function is loaded, it stays loaded unless it is redefined to mean something else or unless some code explicitly removed a property from an object. It does not matter how the code was loaded or whether it was in the core page or an external script file.
Javascript functions that no longer exist
This is a bad premise. The functions still exist, which is obvious from the fact that the second AJAX load ended up executing it. The fact that the <script> tags are replaced and no longer in the document doesn't undefine the function. It's like asking why is your TV still broken if the burglar that broke it is no longer there.
There are two basic things you can do:
a) Clear the function explicitly yourself:
if (initApp != null && typeof(initApp) == "function") {
initApp();
delete window.initApp;
}
b) Change the function name to be unique per AJAX page (or namespace the function with the same idea), probably tied to the name of the AJAX page, so you can invoke it in a more specific manner.

Dynamically Included Javascript and Dependencies

So, as a sort of exercise for myself, I'm writing a little async script loader utility (think require.js, head.js, yepnope.js), and have run across a little bit of a conundrum. First, the basic syntax is like this:
using("Models/SomeModel", function() {
//callback when all dependencies loaded
});
Now, I want to know, when this call is made, what file I'm in. I could do it with an ajax call, so that I can mark a flag after the content loads, but before I eval it to mark that all using calls are going to be for a specific file, then unset the flag immediately after the eval (I know eval is evil, but in this case it's javascript in the first place, not json, so it's not AS evil). I'm pretty sure this would get what I need, however I would prefer to do this with a script tag for a few reasons:
It's semantically more correct
Easier to find scripts for debugging (unique file names are much easier to look through than anonymous script blocks and debugger statements)
Cross-domain requests. I know I could try to use XDomainRequest, but most servers aren't going to be set up for that, and I want the ability to reference external scripts on CDN's.
I tried something that almost got me what I needed. I keep a list of every time using is called. When one of the scripts loads, I take any of those using references and incorporate them into the correct object for the file that just loaded, and clear the global list. This actually seems to work alright in Firefox and Chrome, but fails in IE because the load events seem to go off at weird times (a jQuery reference swallowed a reference to another type and ended up showing it as a dependency). I thought I could latch on to the "interactive" readystate, but it doesn't appear to ever happen.
So now I come asking if anybody here has any thoughts on this. If y'all want, I can post the code, but it's still very messy and probably hard to read.
Edit: Additional usages
//aliasing and multiple dependencies
using.alias("ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js", "jQuery");
using(["jQuery", "Models/SomeModel"], function() {
//should run after both jQuery and SomeModel have been loaded and run
});
//css and conditionals (using some non-existant variables here)
using.css({ src: "IEFix", conditionally: browser === "MSIE" && version < 9 });
//should include the IEFix.css file if the browser is IE8 or below
and to expound more on my response below, consider this to be file A (and consider the jquery alias from before to be there still):
using(["jQuery", "B"], function() {
console.log("This should be last (after both jQuery and B have loaded)");
console.log(typeof($));
});
Then this would be B:
using("C", function() {
console.log("This should be second");
});
And finally, C:
console.log("This should be first");
The output should be:
This should be first
This should be second
This should be last (after both jQuery and B have loaded)
[Object Object]
Commendable that you are taking on such an educational project.
However, you won't be able to pull it off quite the way you want to do it.
The good news is:
No need to know what file you are in
No need to mess with eval.
You actually have everything you need right there: A function reference. A callback, if you will.
A rough P-code for your using function would be:
function using(modules, callback) {
var loadedModules = []
// This will be an ajax call to load things, several different ways to do it..
loadedModules[0] = loadModule(modules[0]);
loadedModules[1] = loadModule(modules[1]);
// Great, now we have all the modules
// null = value for `this`
callback.apply(null, loadedModules);
}

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