chrome extension ajax call onstartup - ajax

Here's what I'm trying to achieve with my Chrome extension and the issue I'm facing:
My extension runs an ajax call every x minutes to a server and based on the result, displays the updated information in the extension pop-up window.
I was able to implement all of this logic with my ajax call made from popup.js and it works perfectly fine.
The only limitation I currently face is that the extension user has to click on the extension icon for the popup.js/html script to be triggered and executed (which is expected).
- I'm trying to figure how to trigger the ajax call function when the browser is launched.
Solution trial 1: I moved my ajax call and response logic from popup.js to background.js and included a chrome.runtime.onStartup.addListener. The problem with this approach is that background.js can't access my popup DOM and thus I cannot display my updated information.
Solution trial 2: I kept my ajax call and response logic in popup.js. In background.js, I added a chrome.runtime.sendMessage within the chrome.runtime.onStartup.addListener. The problem with this approach is that popup.js is not triggered obviously (no user click on extension icon yet) and thus apparently not able to get the message from background.js to execute the ajax call.
I'm pretty confused with what is the right approach to follow, it feels a bit like an chicken & egg problem.
Any help or feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
P.S: I'm using Manifest V3

Related

Using AJAX to send an email

I am attempting to make an AJAX contact form with Webscript (http://webscript.io), but I am running into a problem. Without AJAX, the form worked well and the email was delivered. After trying to add AJAX functionality, I stopped receiving emails through the form, yet the AJAX appears to run successfully. Here is a JS Bin with my example code: http://jsbin.com/aqahok/1/edit. I have a feeling the problem doesn't lie in the Webscript (which I believe you cannot view) but in the JS since the form worked without AJAX.
Thank you for taking a look at my problem and feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
Your JavaScript is looking for input[name="message"], but it should be looking for textarea[name="message"]. I changed that and tried to send an email. It appears to have worked (no error), so hopefully that's it.
The JS Bin you created makes webscript.io return 500 Internal Server Error (you can see it in Firebug or Chrome Dev Tools). AJAX part just does not check response and show the "Contact Form Submitted!". So problem is on their side.

EditLive! Rich Text Editor - submitting form via ajax

The project I'm working on is using the Java EditLive! rich text editor. I've been trying to make the EditLive form post via ajax, but am having some problems using IE8. Here are the steps we're taking:
Load the main page
The user clicks a link and the EditLive applet is loaded and attached to the page via ajax
The user finishing editing their document and clicks the submit button
The form posts via ajax (we're using jQuery.post())
The EditLive section is reloaded and the EditLive content is correct.
The form immediately posts again
The EditLive content is back to being blank.
Unfortunately (for debugging reasons), this is not happening in FireFox - there is only a single form post and the values are saved correctly.
From what I can tell debugging this in IE8, it looks like the submit event is getting called twice with 2 different forms. My thought is that the applet isn't getting destroyed correctly, though I've tried everything in my power to destroy it.
So I was wondering if anyone has any experience successfully submitting EditLive data via ajax? Or maybe this is just a limitation to the product?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I know this is an old issue but you likely want to look at the autoSubmit property of EL:
http://docs.ephox.com/display/EditLive7/AutoSubmit+Property
http://docs.ephox.com/display/EditLive/AutoSubmit+Property
I suspect that by using an AJAXy submit process this is somehow causing you issues with EditLive and its standard behavior. I would try turning off autoSubmit and grabbing the content yourself in your jQuery posting process.

jQuery.post form submit odd bug firefox only

I've search high and low for an answer to this but unfortunately I'm stuck. The problem is only occuring in Firefox (tested IE, Chrome and Safari also - works fine, no errors of any sort). I'll detail the sequence of events to save posting all my code.
ASP.NET MVC 3 application, basic form loads into a jQuery UI dialog
Custom jQuery to hijax the form submit (serialize the form and then $.post to the server - no compiler errors when debugging and post shows up in Firebug without errors)
Http GET (automatically happens) getting the response object from the server (+ success text and XHR), response is plain HTML in this case (again, shows up in Firebug with no errors)
Custom jQuery to change the HTML of the UI dialog from it's current HTML to the response Html - this is where it fails.
I've used javascript alerts to debug the sequence of events and as soon as the post (and get) is complete, everything just... sort of stops.
As I say, only in firefox! Very odd, just wondering if there's any known bugs with ajax and firefox or anybody has heard of a similar situation?
I must also add, that on other parts of my site, this works perfectly in all browsers! The only difference between this form and the other forms that do successfully complete the function is that the response from this form is the same "page" again but updated rather than a new "page". (I use "page" as I got all this working with Javascript turned off first and for graceful degredation)
HELP! Or laugh, either is fine.
UPDATE
I have tried sending a view with a blank model back as the action result - works in every browser except firefox - firefox retains the values from the previous post! And then I got to thinking - that's a trait of firefox isn't it? And maybe that's why the original "re-direct" html response doesn't work?? I think it's time to give up and let people know they can't use Firefox for that particular function!
Ok so I'm answering my own question.
The only way I found to get round it is to use $.ajax instead of $.post and to use the option async : false
Hope this helps somebody.
Rob
Have you tried adding the attribute [OutputCache(Location = System.Web.UI.OutputCacheLocation.None)] to your Action for your GET? It sounds to me like a caching issue.

IE rendering before-ajax-state when hitting page via forward/back button

The problem is this:
When I change the content on a page via AJAX and then use the browsers back and forward button to go to the same page, then I will be presented with the content of the page before the AJAX was executed.
This seems to be specific to IE (confirmed on version 8), as Firefox will render the last version of the page.
Just to clarify, I don't need (nor want for usability reasons) to replay the AJAX calls when clicking back/forward.
We were thinking about firing the last AJAX call on page load (if that event is even triggered), but we would like not to force everyone to wait through the additional AJAX call when going to the page the second time, also this would cause the first real load of the page to be slower as well.
Maybe someone has a good solution for this?
I think it will be useful : http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-php-rad2/ ;)

Call interrupted by page load

I am a beginner using ajax and I always thought that it is completely asynchronous. But I discovered that a call can be interrupted by a page reload or a page change (like clicking on a hyperlink). I was under the impression that when an ajax call is started, it is carried out no matter what the browser does afterwards. Is that wrong?
Now to the specific problem I am having: think of an online test where users answer questions (by typing into textboxes). When a textbox loses focus, an ajax call is triggered which persists the value of the textbox to a DB. That works well when changing between textboxes. However, I also have a submit button which triggeres a post action to another page (it is the submit button). When I enter something into a textbox and click on the button afterwards, the call is not carried out. Moreover, when I type into a textbox, click somewhere else (also triggering the call) and swiftly click on the submit button, the call is also not made. Is that expected behaviour?
The reason I am using ajax in the first place is to persist the values so when something unforseeable happens, like a browser crash, the already typed in text is already saved.
Is my way of thinking wrong? How would you go about solving this problem?
Thank you for your time!
AJAX is asynchronous.
When you send an AJAX request the javascript engine sends it off and sets up a handler for the response.
However, if you send an AJAX request to the server and then navigate away from the page before it is received, nothing will happen. Why? Because with each page load the entire Javascript environment is tore down and reinitialized, it has no idea what happened on the last page.
For your problem I would intercept the form submit action and do whatever you need to do with the data, and then submit the form.
Edit: In response to your comment. You are correct. If the ajax request is sent, and you're not depending on it's return value, then it should not matter.
I'd suggest debugging your problem with Firebug to see if the AJAX call is really being sent properly, and to confirm your server is properly processing it.
Unless you do something special with persistent local storage, all javascript and ajax calls are blown away when a new page is loaded over the current page. Also when a submit is done on a form.
To save things intra-page, save the data asap. Eg, perhaps save on key-up, perhaps periodically with a timer, not just on lose-focus.
Re submitting the page: change the on-click behavior to first store, then to go to a new page.
All of the effects that you are seeing are normal.
Also, be sure to test on both slow (ie 6 or 7) and fast browsers (chrome)

Resources