Fetch random excerpt from Wikipedia (Javascript, client-only) - javascript

I have a web page that asks the user for a paragraph of text, then performs some operation on it. To demo it to lazy users, I'd like to add an "I feel lucky" button that will grab some random text from Wikipedia and populate the inputs.
How can I use Javascript to fetch a sequence of text from a random Wikipedia article?
I found some examples of fetching and parsing articles using the Wikipedia API, but they tend to be server side. I'm looking for a solution that runs entirely from the client and doesn't get scuppered by same origin policy.
Note random gibberish is not sufficient; I need human-readable sentences that make sense.

My answer builds on the technique suggested here.
The tricky part is formulating the correct query string:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&generator=random&prop=extracts&exchars=500&format=json&callback=onWikipedia
generator=random selects a random page
prop=extracts and exchars=500 retrieves a 500 character extract
format=json returns JSON-formatted data
callback= causes that data to be wrapped in a function call so it can be treated like any other <script> and injected into your page (see JSONP), thus bypassing cross-domain barriers.
requestid can optionally be added, with a new value each time, to avoid stale results from the browser cache (required in IE9)
The page served by the query is something that looks like this (I've added whitespace for readability):
onWikipedia(
{"query":
{"pages":
{"12362520":
{"pageid":12362520,
"ns":0,
"title":"Power Building",
"extract":"<p>The <b>Power Building<\/b> is a historic commercial building in
the downtown of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Built in 1903, it
was designed by Harry Hake. It was listed on the National Register
of Historic Places on March 5, 1999. One week later, a group of
buildings in the northeastern section of downtown was named a
historic district, the Cincinnati East Manufacturing and Warehouse
District; the Power Building is one of the district's contributing
properties.<\/p>\n<h2> Notes<\/h2>"
} } } }
)
Of course you'll get a different article each time.
Here's a full, working example which you can try out on JSBin.
<HTML><BODY>
<p><textarea id="textbox" style="width:350px; height:150px"></textarea></p>
<p><button type="button" id="button" onclick="startFetch(100, 500)">
Fetch random Wikipedia extract</button></p>
<script type="text/javascript">
var textbox = document.getElementById("textbox");
var button = document.getElementById("button");
var tempscript = null, minchars, maxchars, attempts;
function startFetch(minimumCharacters, maximumCharacters, isRetry) {
if (tempscript) return; // a fetch is already in progress
if (!isRetry) {
attempts = 0;
minchars = minimumCharacters; // save params in case retry needed
maxchars = maximumCharacters;
button.disabled = true;
button.style.cursor = "wait";
}
tempscript = document.createElement("script");
tempscript.type = "text/javascript";
tempscript.id = "tempscript";
tempscript.src = "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php"
+ "?action=query&generator=random&prop=extracts"
+ "&exchars="+maxchars+"&format=json&callback=onFetchComplete&requestid="
+ Math.floor(Math.random()*999999).toString();
document.body.appendChild(tempscript);
// onFetchComplete invoked when finished
}
function onFetchComplete(data) {
document.body.removeChild(tempscript);
tempscript = null
var s = getFirstProp(data.query.pages).extract;
s = htmlDecode(stripTags(s));
if (s.length > minchars || attempts++ > 5) {
textbox.value = s;
button.disabled = false;
button.style.cursor = "auto";
} else {
startFetch(0, 0, true); // retry
}
}
function getFirstProp(obj) {
for (var i in obj) return obj[i];
}
// This next bit borrowed from Prototype / hacked together
// You may want to replace with something more robust
function stripTags(s) {
return s.replace(/<\w+(\s+("[^"]*"|'[^']*'|[^>])+)?>|<\/\w+>/gi, "");
}
function htmlDecode(input){
var e = document.createElement("div");
e.innerHTML = input;
return e.childNodes.length === 0 ? "" : e.childNodes[0].nodeValue;
}
</script>
</BODY></HTML>
One downside of generator=random is you often get talk pages or generated content that are not actual articles. If anyone can improve the query string to limit it to quality articles, that would be great!

Related

Maximum term limit on js str.replace?

Is there an upper limit to terms on str.replace?
From brute force it seems to be 2,720, as it stops working at that line of data from my spreadsheet.
In the following simple web application for replacing an input from column A (a Chinese character) with an output from column B (a keyword for it). Is there a better way to make this web app? (perhaps in Python?)
https://pastebin.com/LE2qAXtL
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$('#txtFirst').keyup(function(e) {
var str = $(this).val();
var res = str.replace(/ /g, "-").replace(/着/g, "-ING")
.replace(/耐/g, "-PROOF")
.replace(/咐/g, "-STRUCT")
.replace(/啦/g, "!!")
.replace(/了/g, "(-ED)")
.replace(/嘛/g, "(PAUSE MARKER)")
.replace(/们/g, "(PLURAL)")
.replace(/赵/g, "ZHAO")
.replace(/浙/g, "ZHEJIAN PROVINCE")
.replace(/郑/g, "ZHENG")
.replace(/呜/g, "ZOOM-ZOOM")
;
$('#txtSecond').val(res);
});
});
</script>
...
and so on.
Here is where it is hosted in a working version with only 2,720 terms. (I want to be able to include more data)
https://chkey.000webhostapp.com/

Javascript-Using Parsed Data From a Query String as a Heading

I am wondering how to take the information from a parsed query string and use it to display on the top of my page. Ignore the window.alert part of the code, I was just using that to verify that the function worked.
For example: If the user had choices of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall, whichever they chose would display a a header on the next page. So if (seasonArray[i]) = Fall, I want to transfer that information into the form and display it as a element. I'm sure this is easily done, but I can't figure it out. Thanks, in advance.
function seasonDisplay() {
var seasonVariable = location.search;
seasonVariable = seasonVariable.substring(1, seasonVariable.length);
while (seasonVariable.indexOf("+") != -1) {
seasonVariable = seasonVariable.replace("+", " ");
}
seasonVariable = unescape(seasonVariable);
var seasonArray = seasonVariable.split("&");
for (var i = 0; i < seasonArray.length; ++i) {
window.alert(seasonArray[i]);
}
if (window != top)
top.location.href = location.href
}
<h1 id="DynamicHeader"></h1>
Replace the alert line with:
document.getElementById("DynamicHeader").insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend',seasonArray[i]);

Display summary of choices in JS

this is my first time here as a poster, please be gentle! I have zero knowledge of JS (yet, working on it) but am required to do some JS anyway. Here's my problem. I got some code (not mine) allowing a user to select multiple choices. I found the function that gathers these choices and store them
function getProductAttribute()
{
// get product attribute id
product_attribute_id = $('#idCombination').val();
product_id = $('#product_page_product_id').val();
// get every attributes values
request = '';
//create a temporary 'tab_attributes' array containing the choices of the customer
var tab_attributes = [];
$('#attributes select, #attributes input[type=hidden], #attributes input[type=radio]:checked').each(function(){
tab_attributes.push($(this).val());
});
// build new request
for (var i in attributesCombinations)
for (var a in tab_attributes)
if (attributesCombinations[i]['id_attribute'] === tab_attributes[a])
request += '/'+attributesCombinations[i]['group'] + '-' + attributesCombinations[i]['attribute'];
$('#[attsummary]').html($('#[attsummary]').html() + attributesCombinations[i]['group']+': '+attributesCombinations[i]['attribute']+'<br/>')// DISPLAY ATTRIBUTES SUMMARY
request = request.replace(request.substring(0, 1), '#/');
url = window.location + '';
// redirection
if (url.indexOf('#') != -1)
url = url.substring(0, url.indexOf('#'));
// set ipa to the customization form
$('#customizationForm').attr('action', $('#customizationForm').attr('action') + request);
window.location = url + request;
}
I need to make a simple display summary of these choices. After quite a bit of searching and findling, I came with the line with the DISPLAY SUMMARY comment, this one:
$('#[attsummary]').html($('#[attsummary]').html() + attributesCombinations[i]['group']+': '+attributesCombinations[i]['attribute']+'<br/>')
In the page where I want those options, I added an empty div with the same ID (attsummary):
<div id="attsummary"></div>
Obviously, it is not working. I know I don't know JS, but naively I really thought this would do the trick. May you share with me some pointers as to where I went wrong?
Thank you very much.
Correct form of the line it isn't working for you:
$('#attsummary').html($('#attsummary').html() + attributesCombinations[i]['group']+': '+attributesCombinations[i]['attribute']+'<br/>')

Firing the Facebook Conversion Pixel

I'm still pretty new to Javascript, but I was wondering what would be the best way to fire the Facebook conversion pixel (below) without actually loading a "confirmation"/"Thank You" page?
<script type="text/javascript">
var fb_param = {};
fb_param.pixel_id = 'XXXXXXXXXXX';
fb_param.value = '0.00';
fb_param.currency = 'USD';
(function(){
var fpw = document.createElement('script');
fpw.async = true;
fpw.src = '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fp.js';
var ref = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
ref.parentNode.insertBefore(fpw, ref);
})();
</script>
<noscript><img height="1" width="1" alt="" style="display:none"
src="https://www.facebook.com/offsite_event.php?id=XXXXXXXXXX&value=0&currency=USD" /></noscript>
Facebook says that we should plug this into our "Thank You pages" that visitors see after they convert (fill out a form, make a purchase, etc). However, some of our forms are popups or forms on sidebars next to content that we don't want readers to be directed away from by a confirmation page.
With Google Analytics, I can create an "invisible" pageview by firing _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); code that can tell GA that it should count that invisible pageview as a goal completion.
Is there something similar to that that's general enough to tell my site to fire the FB pixel?
EDIT: I've updated my code as what I had mentioned previously did not work. Thanks to #Flambino to pointing out.
This is my revised answer using a pixel rather than a script to pass the conversion pixel. I reference the How to track a Google Adwords conversion onclick? SO post:
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function facebookConversionPixel(fb_pixel, fb_value){
var image = new Image(1,1);
image.src = "//www.facebook.com/offsite_event.php?id=" + fb_pixel + "&value=" + fb_value + "&currency=USD";
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
FBCONV
</body>
From the FB docs "How to track in-page events":
After the base code snippet is installed, you can track in-page actions, such as clicks on a button, by making a _fbq.push('track') call for the conversion pixel through registering different event handlers on an HTML DOM element. For example:
function trackConversionEvent(val, cny) {
var cd = {};
cd.value = val;
cd.currency = cny;
_fbq.push(['track', '<pixel_id>', cd]);
}
<button onClick="trackConversionEvent('10.00','USD');" />
Just move the entire original code into the event of your choice. Then just change 1 part of the code. The thing you will have to do is make the fb_param global instead of local.
See below at the comment
$('.button').click(function() {
window.fb_param = {}; // must be global by adding `window.`
fb_param.pixel_id = '123456789';
fb_param.value = '0.00';
fb_param.currency = 'USD';
(function(){
var fpw = document.createElement('script'); fpw.async = true; fpw.src = '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fp.js';
var ref = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
ref.parentNode.insertBefore(fpw, ref);
})();
});
I was having similar kind of issue and I would like to run multiple adds to track pixels codes and some reason I was not able to track. What I did is that, in the current page I have added pixel code in footer and javascript function
to call when my ajax button get submitted.
First refer to Facebook documentation page
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ads-for-websites/conversion-pixel-code-migration#multi-conv-events
How to track Multiple Conversion Events
After the base code snippet is installed, you can track multiple conversions within the same web page by making multiple _fbq.push('track') calls for each conversion pixel ids. For example:
_fbq.push(['track','<pixel_id1>',{'value':'10.00','currency':'USD'}]);
_fbq.push(['track','<pixel_id2>']);
How to track In-Page Events
After the base code snippet is installed, you can track in-page actions, such as clicks on a button, by making a _fbq.push('track') call for the conversion pixel through registering different event handlers on an HTML DOM element. For example:
function trackConversionEvent(val, cny) {
var cd = {};
cd.value = val;
cd.currency = cny;
_fbq.push(['track', '<pixel_id>', cd]);
}
<button onClick="trackConversionEvent('10.00','USD');" />
Also, add the facebook pixel tracking code chrome addon and refer the facebook pixel helper page: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ads-for-websites/pixel-troubleshooting
See my below solution/answer
Facebook tracking code in the current page
(function() {
var _fbq = window._fbq || (window._fbq = []);
if (!_fbq.loaded) {
var fbds = document.createElement('script');
fbds.async = true;
fbds.src = '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbds.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(fbds, s);
_fbq.loaded = true;
}
})();
window._fbq = window._fbq || [];
window._fbq.push(['track', 'yourid', {'value':'1.00','currency':'USD'}]);
<!-- Facebook Conversion -->
<script>(function() {
var _fbq = window._fbq || (window._fbq = []);
if (!_fbq.loaded) {
var fbds = document.createElement('script');
fbds.async = true;
fbds.src = '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbds.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(fbds, s);
_fbq.loaded = true;
}
})();
window._fbq = window._fbq || [];
window._fbq.push(['track', 'yourid', {'value':'1.00','currency':'USD'}]);
</script>
And the javascript code to call when ajax form submit or button click
<script>
function trackConversionEvent(val, cny) {
var cd = {};
cd.value = val;
cd.currency = cny;
_fbq.push(['track', 'yourid1', cd]);
_fbq.push(['track', 'yourid1', cd]);
}
</script>
and the call the function when ajax called
jQuery(form).ajaxSubmit({
type:"POST",
data: $(form).serialize(),
url:"process.php",
success: function() {
**trackConversionEvent**('1.00','USD');
}
......
Facebook has updated their pixels, so I created my own custom function to call that will dynamically put the parameters together to submit to Facebook.
Step 1. On every page, make sure you've initialised your pixel in the head element of the page.
Step 2. Add this custom function I created (it's a bit verbose as it is the first draft, so I'm sure there are ways to optimise it for your benefit).
triggerFacebookPixel: function(type, price, product_id, product_name, product_category, num_items) {
//See https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ads-for-websites/pixel-events/v2.8#events for documentation
//type = "ViewContent"|"AddToCart"|"Search"|"AddToWishlist"|"InitiateCheckout"|"AddPaymentInfo"|"Purchase"|"Lead"|"CompleteRegistration"
//product_id = Numeric Product ID. String or Integer accepted for single product events, or an array of integers for multiple products.
//price = Decimal/Float number of individual product's price or total price paid in conversion, or the user's status for 'CompleteRegistration'
//product_name = Optional. String of individual product's name or string of search query
//product_category = Optional. String of product category, hierarchy's accepted. E.g. "Clothing > Shirts > Men's > T-Shirts"
//num_items = Optional. Total number of products.
var data = {
value: typeof(price) == 'string' ? parseFloat(price) : price,
currency: 'USD'
}
switch (type) {
case 'Search':
data.content_ids = product_id;
data.search_string = product_name;
if (product_category !== undefined && product_category != '') {
data.content_category = product_category;
}
break;
case 'Lead':
data.content_name = product_name;
data.content_category = product_category;
break;
case 'CompleteRegistration':
data.status = product_id;
data.content_name = product_name;
break;
default:
//Product Specific Calls
//ViewContent|AddToCart|AddToWishlist|InitiateCheckout|AddPaymentInfo|Purchase
if (num_items == 1) {
data.content_ids = [typeof(product_id) == 'string' ? parseInt(product_id) : product_id];
data.content_category = product_category;
data.content_name = product_name;
} else {
data.content_ids = product_id;
}
//"num_items" is only a parameter used in these two types
if (type == 'InitiateCheckout' || type == 'Purchase') {
data.num_items = num_items
}
//"content_type" is only a parameter used in these three types
if (type == 'Purchase' || type == 'AddToCart' || type == 'ViewContent') {
data.content_type = 'product';
}
break;
}
fbq('track', type, data);
}
Step 3. Call that function with the appropriate parameters.
For your thank you pop-up after a purchase, the pixel is fired differently if the user purchases 1 item as opposed to multiple items. Basically, Facebook accepts parameters for product names and categories if it's just one product, but doesn't accept those parameters if it's multiple products.
For the following examples, here is some sample product data of a user purchasing 1 item:
Product Name: "My Super Awesome T-Shirt"
Product ID: 182
Product Category: "Clothing > Shirts > T-Shirts"
Total amount user paid (including shipping/handling & tax): $10.84
And here's the function you'd call on the confirmation:
triggerFacebookPixel('Purchase', 10.84, 182, 'My Super Awesome T-Shirt', 'Clothing > Shirts > T-Shirts', 1);
When a user purchases multiple items, the pixel handles it differently, excluding the product names and categories and only sending their ID's. So let's pretend our user purchased these two items:
Product ID's: 182 and 164 (the shirt and something else)
Total amount user paid (including shipping/handling & tax): $24.75
This is how you'd use the function:
triggerFacebookPixel('Purchase', 24.75, [182, 164], '', '', 2);
For other standard events as defined by Facebook regarding products, you can use this same function for "ViewContent", "AddToCart", "AddToWishlist", "InitiateCheckout", and "AddPaymentInfo". Just change "Purchase" to any of those key words in your call.
The other events aren't necessarily related to products: "Lead", "Search", and "Complete Registration". You can still use this function for those key words like this.
Example: user searched for "blue shirts":
triggerFacebookPixel('Search', 0, [], 'blue shirts');
If you want to pass a product category in the user search function, you can pass that as a string at the end. I can't think of a use-case scenario where you'd know what category the user is searching for. Unless you used this in the event that the product appears in the search results and the user clicked on it from the search page. That might be what this function is actually for but the documentation isn't quite clear on that. If that's the case for you, then simply change the 0 and empty array to the actual values (price and product ID, respectively) of the product that was clicked on from the search results page, and add its category as a string as the last parameter after the search string.
Example: user submitted a form that signed them up to your newsletter:
triggerFacebookPixel('CompleteRegistration', 0, 'Signed Up', 'Newsletter');
Facebook's documentation states that "CompleteRegistration" should be used when a registration form is completed, e.g. complete subscription/signup for a service. The "Signed Up" string is the "status" parameter and the "Newsletter" string is the "content_name" parameter.
Example: user submitted a form that signed them up for a free 30-day trial of some service you offer (so they are now a lead), where the name of the service is "Free 30-Day Trial Service" and it's in the sub-category "Free Trials" under the category "My Services":
triggerFacebookPixel('Lead', 0, 'Free 30-Day Trial Service', 'My Services > Free Trials');
Facebook's documentation states that "Lead" is when a sign up is completed, e.g. click on pricing, signup for trial. I assumed that the name of the service is the parameter "content_name" and the category of the service is the "content_category" parameter.

easiest way to read data from excel spreadsheet with javascript?

I have a list of airport codes, names, and locations in an Excel Spreadsheet like the below:
+-------+----------------------------------------+-------------------+
| Code | Airport Name | Location |
+-------+----------------------------------------+-------------------+
| AUA | Queen Beatrix International Airport | Oranjestad, Aruba|
+-------+----------------------------------------+-------------------+
My Javascript is passed a 3 character string that should be an airline code. When that happens I need to find the code on the spreadsheet and return the Airport Name and Location.
Im thinking something like:
var code = "AUA";
console.log(getAirportInfo(code));
function getAirportInfo(code) {
// get information from spreadsheet
//format info (no help needed there)
return airportInfo;
}
Where the log would write out:
Oranjestad, Aruba (AUA): Queen Beatrix International Airport
What is the easiest method to get the data I need from the spreadsheet?
Extra Info:
The spreadsheet has over 17,000 entries
The function alluded to above may be called up to 8 times in row
I don't have to use an Excel Spreadsheet thats just what I have now
I will never need to edit the spreadsheet with my code
I did search around the web but everything I could find was much more complicated than what Im trying to do so it made it hard to understand what Im looking for.
Thank you for any help pointing me in the right direction.
I ended up using a tool at shancarter.com/data_converter to convert my flie to a JSON file and linked that to my page. Now I just loop through that JSON object to get what I need. This seemed like the simplest way for my particular needs.
I've used a plain text file(csv, or tsv both of which can be exported directly from Excel)
Loaded that into a string var via xmlhttprequest. Usually the browsers cache will stop having to download the file on each page load.
Then have a Regex parse out the values as needed.
All without using any third party....I can dig the code out if you wish.
Example:
you will need to have the data.txt file in the same web folder as this page, or update the paths...
<html>
<head>
<script>
var fileName = "data.txt";
var data = "";
req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("GET", fileName, false);
req.addEventListener("readystatechange", function (e) {
data = req.responseText ;
});
req.send();
function getInfoByCode(c){
if( data == "" ){
return 'DataNotReady' ;
} else {
var rx = new RegExp( "^(" + c + ")\\s+\\|\\s+(.+)\\s+\\|\\s+\\s+(.+)\\|", 'm' ) ;
var values = data.match(rx,'m');
return { airport:values[2] , city:values[3] };
}
}
function clickButton(){
var e = document.getElementById("code");
var ret = getInfoByCode(e.value);
var res = document.getElementById("res");
res.innerText = "Airport:" + ret.airport + " in " + ret.city;
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input id="code" value="AUA">
<button onclick="clickButton();">Find</button>
<div id="res">
</div>
</body>
</html>

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