Synchronizing jQuery idle timeout in multiple tabs - jquery-plugins

Question

I am using jQuery idle timeout plugin by Eric Hynds
My question is simple but I know there won't be any simple answer to this.
The plugin works great when the website is opened in only one tab. What I want to do is when user opens the website in any number of tabs it should there should only one background timer but the info message should be shown on all tabs.
Consider for example user opens a website in 3 different tabs but actively uses only one tab(obviously) so currently the plugin senses that user is inactive on that tab for specified time and logs him out which is not correct as user still actively using other tab.
I know I have to put some hacks somewhere but really dont understand where and how. If anyone had already done this it would really help me alot. Also any suggestions are most welcome. Pls help guys.

Answer 1

I had the same issue! An idle timer can communicate (stay in sync) across multiple windows & tabs using localStorage variables. Most modern browsers support this feature. On github, marcuswestin/store.js provides good functionality with 'fallback' behavior for older browsers.
Here is the 'testing' code for an idleTimer plugin which provides synchronized windows/tabs (must all be within the same domain). It sets 2 localStorage variables to track the state of the user's session.
You can see a demo of this code here. Open multiple windows/tabs and observe.
http://jillelaine.github.io/jquery-idleTimeout/
/**
* This work is licensed under the MIT License
*
* Configurable idle (no activity) timer and logout redirect for jQuery.
* Works across multiple windows, tabs and iframes from the same domain.
*
* Dependencies: JQuery v1.7+, JQuery UI, store.js from https://github.com/marcuswestin/store.js - v1.3.4+
*
* Commented and console logged for debugging with Firefox & Firebug or similar
* version 1.0.6
**/
/*global jQuery: false, document: false, store: false, clearInterval: false, setInterval: false, setTimeout: false, window: false, alert: false, console: false*/
/*jslint indent: 2, sloppy: true, plusplus: true*/
(function ($) {
$.fn.idleTimeout = function (options) {
console.log('start');
//##############################
//## Configuration Variables
//##############################
var defaults = {
idleTimeLimit: 30000, // 30 seconds for testing. 'No activity' time limit in milliseconds. 1200000 = 20 Minutes
dialogDisplayLimit: 20000, // 20 seconds for testing. Time to display the warning dialog before redirect (and optional callback) in milliseconds. 180000 = 3 Minutes
redirectUrl: '/logout', // redirect to this url on timeout logout. Set to "redirectUrl: false" to disable redirect
// optional custom callback to perform before redirect
customCallback: false, // set to false for no customCallback
// customCallback: function () { // define optional custom js function
// perform custom action before logout
// },
// configure which activity events to detect
// http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/events/
// https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Reference/Events
activityEvents: 'click keypress scroll wheel mousewheel', // separate each event with a space
//dialog box configuration
dialogTitle: 'Session Expiration Warning',
dialogText: 'Because you have been inactive, your session is about to expire.',
// server-side session keep-alive timer
sessionKeepAliveTimer: 600000 // Ping the server at this interval in milliseconds. 600000 = 10 Minutes
// sessionKeepAliveTimer: false // Set to false to disable pings
},
//##############################
//## Private Variables
//##############################
opts = $.extend(defaults, options),
checkHeartbeat = 2000, // frequency to check for timeouts - 2000 = 2 seconds
origTitle = document.title, // save original browser title
sessionKeepAliveUrl = window.location.href, // set URL to ping to user's current window
keepSessionAlive, activityDetector,
idleTimer, remainingTimer, checkIdleTimeout, idleTimerLastActivity, startIdleTimer, stopIdleTimer,
openWarningDialog, dialogTimer, checkDialogTimeout, startDialogTimer, stopDialogTimer, isDialogOpen, destroyWarningDialog,
countdownDisplay, logoutUser,
checkForIframes, includeIframes, attachEventIframe; // iframe functionality
//##############################
//## Private Functions
//##############################
keepSessionAlive = function () {
if (opts.sessionKeepAliveTimer) {
var keepSession = function () {
if (idleTimerLastActivity === store.get('idleTimerLastActivity')) {
console.log('keep session alive function');
$.get(sessionKeepAliveUrl);
}
};
setInterval(keepSession, opts.sessionKeepAliveTimer);
}
};
activityDetector = function () {
$('body').on(opts.activityEvents, function () {
if (isDialogOpen() !== true) {
console.log('activity detected');
startIdleTimer();
} else {
console.log('dialog open. activity ignored');
}
});
};
checkIdleTimeout = function () {
var timeNow = $.now(), timeIdleTimeout = (store.get('idleTimerLastActivity') + opts.idleTimeLimit);
if (timeNow > timeIdleTimeout) {
console.log('timeNow: ' + timeNow + ' > idle ' + timeIdleTimeout);
if (isDialogOpen() !== true) {
console.log('dialog is not open & will be opened');
openWarningDialog();
startDialogTimer();
}
} else if (store.get('idleTimerLoggedOut') === true) { //a 'manual' user logout?
logoutUser();
} else {
console.log('idle not yet timed out');
if (isDialogOpen() === true) {
console.log('dialog is open & will be closed');
destroyWarningDialog();
stopDialogTimer();
}
}
};
startIdleTimer = function () {
stopIdleTimer();
idleTimerLastActivity = $.now();
store.set('idleTimerLastActivity', idleTimerLastActivity);
console.log('start idle timer: ' + idleTimerLastActivity);
idleTimer = setInterval(checkIdleTimeout, checkHeartbeat);
};
stopIdleTimer = function () {
clearInterval(idleTimer);
};
openWarningDialog = function () {
var dialogContent = "<div id='idletimer_warning_dialog'><p>" + opts.dialogText + "</p><p style='display:inline'>Time remaining: <div style='display:inline' id='countdownDisplay'></div></p></div>";
$(dialogContent).dialog({
buttons: {
"Stay Logged In": function () {
console.log('Stay Logged In button clicked');
destroyWarningDialog();
stopDialogTimer();
startIdleTimer();
},
"Log Out Now": function () {
console.log('Log Out Now button clicked');
logoutUser();
}
},
closeOnEscape: false,
modal: true,
title: opts.dialogTitle
});
// hide the dialog's upper right corner "x" close button
$('.ui-dialog-titlebar-close').css('display', 'none');
// start the countdown display
countdownDisplay();
// change title bar to warning message
document.title = opts.dialogTitle;
};
checkDialogTimeout = function () {
var timeNow = $.now(), timeDialogTimeout = (store.get('idleTimerLastActivity') + opts.idleTimeLimit + opts.dialogDisplayLimit);
if ((timeNow > timeDialogTimeout) || (store.get('idleTimerLoggedOut') === true)) {
console.log('timeNow: ' + timeNow + ' > dialog' + timeDialogTimeout);
logoutUser();
} else {
console.log('dialog not yet timed out');
}
};
startDialogTimer = function () {
dialogTimer = setInterval(checkDialogTimeout, checkHeartbeat);
};
stopDialogTimer = function () {
clearInterval(dialogTimer);
clearInterval(remainingTimer);
};
isDialogOpen = function () {
var dialogOpen = $("#idletimer_warning_dialog").is(":visible");
if (dialogOpen === true) {
return true;
}
return false;
};
destroyWarningDialog = function () {
console.log('dialog destroyed');
$(".ui-dialog-content").dialog('destroy').remove();
document.title = origTitle;
};
// display remaining time on warning dialog
countdownDisplay = function () {
var dialogDisplaySeconds = opts.dialogDisplayLimit / 1000, mins, secs;
remainingTimer = setInterval(function () {
mins = Math.floor(dialogDisplaySeconds / 60); // minutes
if (mins < 10) { mins = '0' + mins; }
secs = dialogDisplaySeconds - (mins * 60); // seconds
if (secs < 10) { secs = '0' + secs; }
$('#countdownDisplay').html(mins + ':' + secs);
dialogDisplaySeconds -= 1;
}, 1000);
};
logoutUser = function () {
console.log('logout function');
store.set('idleTimerLoggedOut', true);
if (opts.customCallback) {
console.log('logout function custom callback');
opts.customCallback();
}
if (opts.redirectUrl) {
console.log('logout function redirect to URL');
window.location.href = opts.redirectUrl;
}
};
// document must be in readyState 'complete' before looking for iframes
checkForIframes = function () {
var docReadyCheck, isDocReady;
docReadyCheck = function () {
if (document.readyState === "complete") {
console.log('check for iframes, now that the document is complete');
clearInterval(isDocReady);
includeIframes();
}
};
isDocReady = setInterval(docReadyCheck, 1000);
};
// look for iframes
includeIframes = function () {
console.log('include iframes start');
var foundIframes = document.getElementsByTagName('iframe'), index, iframeItem;
if (foundIframes.length > 0) { //at least one iframe found
console.log('iframes found: ' + foundIframes.length);
// attach events to each iframe found
for (index = 0; index < foundIframes.length; index++) {
iframeItem = foundIframes.item(index);
if (iframeItem.attachEvent) { // IE < 11. Returns a boolean true/false
console.log('attach event to iframe. Browser IE < 11');
iframeItem.attachEvent('onload', attachEventIframe(index));
} else { // IE >= 11 and FF, etc.
console.log('attach event to iframe. Browser NOT IE < 11');
iframeItem.addEventListener('load', attachEventIframe(index), false);
}
} // end for loop
} // end if any iframes
};
// attach events to each iframe
attachEventIframe = function (index) {
var iframe = $('iframe:eq(' + index + ')').contents().find('html');
iframe.on(opts.activityEvents, function (event) {
console.log('bubbling iframe activity event to body of page');
$('body').trigger(event);
});
};
//###############################
// Build & Return the instance of the item as a plugin
// This is your construct.
//###############################
return this.each(function () {
if (store.enabled) {
idleTimerLastActivity = $.now();
store.set('idleTimerLastActivity', idleTimerLastActivity);
store.set('idleTimerLoggedOut', false);
} else {
alert('Please disable "Private Mode", or upgrade to a modern browser. Or perhaps a dependent file missing. Please see: https://github.com/marcuswestin/store.js');
}
activityDetector();
keepSessionAlive();
startIdleTimer();
checkForIframes();
});
};
}(jQuery));