Notification/Hook on document/window change - javascript

I want to write a browser extension that will do something when certain events happen and I am wondering if there is such an API (Firefox or Chrome) already.
I am mostly interested in DOM changes and window changes.
Let's consider this example:
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function addContentToDocument(content){
document.cookie = "debug=true"; //<--- Notify
if(content != null){
document.write(content); //<--- Notify
};
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="addContentToDocument('Say cheese')">
<h3>My Content</h3>
</body>
</html>
So in this simple example I would be interested in 2 events: document.cookie alteration and document.write method call. I want to be notified in my extension when these things happen.
Not if these statements are present in the available javascript context, but if they are actually being executed.
I tried to search for an API in Firefox extensions and Chrome extensions but couldn't find anything useful.
Thank you.
UPDATE: Other methods I would be interested are the call of eval() method and localStorage modifications


Current Firefox (and Chrome, with the webkit prefix) supports Mutation Observers. I don't think you can trap cookie changes with that, but you can definitely trap changes made to the DOM (whether or not made with document.write).
Example from the Mozilla docs:
// select the target node
var target = document.querySelector('#some-id');
// create an observer instance
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations) {
mutations.forEach(function(mutation) {
console.log(mutation.type);
});
});
// configuration of the observer:
var config = { attributes: true, childList: true, characterData: true }
// pass in the target node, as well as the observer options
observer.observe(target, config);
// later, you can stop observing
observer.disconnect();


If you want to monitor changes to a Document open in a tab/window, then MutationObservers are the way to do it. If you want to monitor methods called in pure JS, you'll need to look into the JSEngine apis for Spidermonkey in particular the apis arou nd profiling & tracing:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/SpiderMonkey/JSAPI_User_Guide#Tracing_and_Profiling

Related

Chrome Extension for FB only works on Initial Page Load [duplicate]

Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.

For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)

Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.

Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.

Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.

In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}

Subscribing to DOM changes using javascript or jquery [duplicate]

Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.

For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)

Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.

Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.

Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.

In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}

document.createTreeWalker() isn't working on Facebook or Google [duplicate]

Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.

For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)

Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.

Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.

Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.

In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}

Chrome-extension: any way to detect dom changes? [duplicate]

Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.

For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)

Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.

Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.

Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.

In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}

intercepting [HTMLElement].innerHTML modifications in Chrome

I have a function called x(). I want to call x() every time an arbitrary node's innerHTML property is being changed (please note that I want x() to be called for all nodes, not just 1 node). Initially, I thought innerHTML was a function of the HTMLElement object, and wanted to monkey patch it, but after playing around in Chrome's Javascript console, I failed to find the innerHTML function in the HTMLElement object.
I also thought about using the DOMAttrModified event (http://help.dottoro.com/ljdchxcl.php) but it's not supported in Chrome. Any suggestions are welcome.

#Cecchi's answer is cool but it's not a true monkey patch that applies globally to all HTMLElement instances. Browsers have new capabilities since that answer.
This is tricky because HTMLElement.prototype.innerHTML is a setter, but I was able to get it to work like so:
//create a separate JS context that's clean
var iframe = document.createElement('iframe');
//have to append it to get access to HTMLElement
document.body.appendChild(iframe);
//grab the setter. note that __lookupSetter__ is deprecated maybe try getOwnPropertyDescriptor? anyways this works currently
let origSetter = iframe.contentWindow.HTMLElement.prototype.__lookupSetter__('innerHTML');
//mangle the global HTMLElement in this JS context
Object.defineProperty(HTMLElement.prototype, 'innerHTML', {
set: function (val) {
console.log('innerHTML called', val);
// *** do whatever you want here ***
return origSetter.call(this, val); //allow the method to be called like normal
}
});
Now to test it:
document.createElement('div').innerHTML = '<p>oh, hey</p>';
//logs: innerHTML called <p>oh, hey</p>
Here's a JSBin http://jsbin.com/qikoce/1/edit?js,console

Depending on what you are developing for and the browser support you need (it sounds like just Chrome, and hopefully just modern Chrome), you can look into the MutationObserver interface (exampled borrowed and slightly modified from the Mozilla Hacks Blog:
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
// create an observer instance
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations) {
mutations.forEach(function(mutation) {
console.log(mutation.type);
x(mutation.target);
});
});
// configuration of the observer:
var config = { attributes: true, childList: true, characterData: true };
// select the target nodes
Array.prototype.slice.apply(
document.querySelectorAll('.nodes-to-observe')
).forEach(function(target) {
observer.observe(target, config);
});
// later, you can stop observing
observer.disconnect();
More on MutationObservers can be found here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/DOM/MutationObserver
This was implemented in Chrome 18 & Firefox 14.

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