accessing javascript object within xul - javascript

I have a series of javascript objects that I would like to make accessible from a xul page. I have looked at the XUL school tutorial on this and am getting nowhere.
Basically, I am writing a firefox extension that opens up a .xul page in a new tabbed window. My objects are initialized with certain data and I then want to be able to take in, validate, and store user information into javascript objects. Data doesn't have to be persistent. I.e. when the page closes, it goes away.
I already have my javascript objects coded up in a separate .js file, but I can't find any good, simple tutorial on how to access them from within the xul file.
Any help you all could give would be appreciated.

You can load the js file using this code:
Components.utils.import( 'resource://gre/modules/Services.jsm' );
Services.scriptloader.loadSubScript( YOUR_JS_FILE );
This is a like appending a tag in your document but in a more cleaner way.

Related

External JS file engine -- manipulating db using node.js? PHP?

Admittedly, I'm new to some of this...
Building a website on a local server. It has a ton of JS function in an external JS file.
Site has a MYSQL DB. (I am still learning this).
As part of my calculations from functions in that external JS file, I want to update and/or read from that DB.
I have been trying to read up on node.js and trying to read up on PHP (still learning both), but I'm not sure if I'm sniffing in the right direction.
Do I somehow invoke functions from node.js from the external JS file? Do I somehow invoke the PHP (in the form of a function, I suppose) from the external JS file?
How does one typically do this?
I have definitely learned that this in the external JS file does not do the trick. First window appears, but second doesn't:
// Activate the node.js library for MYSQL access
alert("got here 1");
var mysql = require('./mysql');
alert("got here 2"); // nope, this never pops up
Higher-level advice might be more useful than detailed in-the-weeds advice...? Still very new to this.
Thank you kindly!
-=-=-=-=-
self-muttering thoughts... I am using the external JS file to hold a bunch of functions that do all kinds of manipulation and conformation to the data that I collect on the front end:
<button class="ButtonOperation" onclick="DataLog(document.getElementById('DataWindow').value,'NE_AssembleOrder')">Log Data</button>
Am I eventually going to discover that I should instead port all of these functions over to a big PHP file instead?
-=-=-=-=-
Okay, took a while before I better understood this. So, this is the answer that would have gotten me moving in the right direction (for any future reference):
The thing to understand is that for this project, you want to manipulate data to and from a database, which means that (at least for now, for the sake of simplicity), the key is to get your data into a package and send it up to the server, and then have a function running on the server take up the yoke from there.
The way to do that (old school), is with a form.
When you SUBMIT a form, all that data on the form is bundled up and sent to the server.
In this instance you have an index.html page, and that page will open a new page for each of the functions you're trying to track. Use JavaScript to pop open the window and then when you include the URL for the window, pop in a Popup_SpecificFunction.php file. (change SpecificFunction as needed)
So far, so good. ;)
Now, in that Popup_SpecificFunction.php, you will collect all your data under a single form. A good ol' HTML form, with a [SUBMIT] button. That very same Popup_SpecificFunction.php file also has a reference in the header, referring to the big main library of PHP functions -- which is a file sitting on the server.
That [SUBMIT] button invokes a ProcessAllThisData function -- which is on the server-side PHP file. In doing this, it sends all the data from the form -- including a lot of data you include in hidden controls -- to the serverside function.
And at that point, you are basically "on the server" with all your data, and then you can just code that function in PHP and manipulate the database and other stuff as needed.
Using the form was the thought-jump you needed, because prior to this, you've generally thought of forms as standalone data, but they can have actions associated with the entire forms.
You can still use JavaScript to do client-side stuff, but here's another thing that can trip a person up:
There is a difference between these two HTML items as far as whether or not you should use them to send data to and from the server, or whether or not you are just going to JavaScript something on that button:
<button></button>
and
<input type="button"></input>
You might have to experiment a bit to figure out which is which.
This was everything you needed to get you moving in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Future Me. :)

Read local .json from local .js without repos

I'm trying to write a chrome-extension that closes tabs when they're loaded and their links contain specific keywords, which I've saved in a .json file. Because the content.js has no access on the browser peripherals, I had to use the background.js script to close the tab. So far the extension does all that except loading the data from the .json, which means that I had to write the json (just for testing) into the background.js. Because I want to ban a lot of links this is'nt an option for me. So I decided on storing a list with the links in a .json file, which is stored in the same folder as the background.js, which means that it's on the localhost and not on any kink of webserver. That means that it should be possible to access this file, because after my research, I came to the assumption that the background.js runs on the localhost as well. So there should'nt occur any file accessing limitation issues right?
Unfortuantely I've got no idea how to write this in pure .js, because all the tutorials or posts here are either accessing the file from or in a webserver or using some kind of fancy library. This should be possible without one right?
chrome.webNavigation.onCompleted.addListener(closeTab, {
url: [
{urlPrefix: 'https://www.google.de/'},
{urlPrefix: 'https://sghm.eu/iserv/login'},
]
});
function closeTab(e) {
if (!e.frameId) {
chrome.tabs.remove(e.tabId);
}
}
this is how my code looks now, I want to have some kind of loadData('data.json') function that returns the .jsons content, so that I can delete this whole .json data strucure within the js.
It should be possible to access the javascript object notation language via javascript.
I personally think you can do this far easier and faster with using Chrome.storage. The data is saved as a json object and easy to reference and it sounds like exactly what you need as you're just referencing key/pair values anyway.

How do I include global styles/javascript in HTML files displayed as dialogs?

I am developing a Google App Script project that will be used right from within a Google Sheet, with HTML files as dialogs. My project will be a mix of .gs files as well as HTML files for data entry, etc. I am trying to use the methodology explained here:
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/html/best-practices#separate_html_css_and_javascript
to create global JavaScript and CSS modules that I can include in my HTML files rather than cutting and pasting inline code all over the place. This will be mainly useful for the data-saving routines which capture form data, serialize it, then save it to Sheets via the methodology outlined here (and many other places): http://railsrescue.com/blog/2015-05-28-step-by-step-setup-to-send-form-data-to-google-sheets/.
The problem I am having is with trying to call the "include" statement from my HTML files, namely, lines like:
<?!= include('JavaScript'); ?>
It doesn't work when I create a menu on the spreadsheet to display my HTML file as a dialog -- the text of the include line just shows up as literal output on the dialog, and code does not appear to be getting included (not in scope).
I know the Google example is primarily for pages delpoyed via a web app, but I'd like to use my HTML files as dialogs right inside the spreadsheet (e.g. from a menu or sidebar) -- that feels nice and tidy to me. But if I can't get includes to work, my code base is going to be a nightmare and it will be really, really hard to standardize CSS across the whole app. I don't want to be cutting and pasting all the time.
So, what is the secret behind this <?! tag, and why won't it work in my HTML files when they are called as dialogs? It is clear those lines are different from the get-go (maybe not in a bad way, but they don't work), as the Google Scripting console displays those lines oddly, as depicted in the screenshot below:
Please try adding:
<?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://global/skin/" type="text/css"?>
More information can be found in Adding Style Sheets.
Figured it out. I was not properly understanding the way the HTML was being served up as a dialog. I was using this behind a custom menu option:
var html = HtmlService.createHtmlOutputFromFile(htmlFileName);
when I should have been using the more dynamic:
var html = HtmlService.createTemplateFromFile(htmlFileName).evaluate();
The latter generates a user interface object where the server-side script is executed and everything is included properly when I display the object with showModalDialog() (or showSidebar()).
I just had a complete misunderstanding of how the user interface object was being created, so now all scripting works inside my HTML files.

Executing javascript returned from a database inside a JSP

I have a database table in which a field holds limited html marked-up data for a CMS. Many of the records contain, in this field, JavaScript references. I am trying to write a JSP which receives data from the database and displays the content of this field, including running any JavaScript within it.
The following entry in the field works fine, displaying the alert as the page loads:
<script type="text/JavaScript">window.alert("test")</script>
However when the reference in the field is to a js file the code never gets executed:
<script src="windowAlert.js" type="text/JavaScript"></script>
The Client specifically wants this functionality (taking on board the risks). Is there any way I can implement it? I'm new to JSP so this may be a simple issue (and maybe even a simple "Can't be done").
Thanks in advance.
Okay, it was a really stupid mistake. The file was never being called because the file path reference was local instead of absolute and the file was therefore not being found. A simple (though belated) check through IE F12 Developer Tools/Network tab might help others in the same situation.

Memory management in javascript

I am trying to develop an application using javascript and to help organise my code, I am coding using objects. However, I don't really understand how the javascript engine is managing my object.
If in a first HTML page1 where I include a js file, I make an object obj1 when I switch to HTML page2 where I include both the old js script (already included in the first html page ) and the second js file where I want to use that object created in the first javascript file, it's undefined.
Can anyone help me understand how javascript manages objects and how, going from page to page, to get my object ?
When you load a new page (or even reload the current one), everything that was on the page you are leaving is destroyed.
If you want to make an object persistent, consider using localStorage to save the information you need.

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