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Got any pointers to "gotchas" articles or guides for cross-site JS widgets/includes? If not, want to write one? I've been looking for some blog articles on this

by thorax 18y ago

Got any pointers to "gotchas" articles or guides for cross-site JS widgets/includes? If not, want to write one? I've been looking for some blog articles on this recently for our team.

jasonkester 18y ago
I actually almost wrote one today. Basically, if you're doing a JS API, you're likely going to end up with a pattern like: <script src="api.js"></script> <script> MyAPI.userID = 4000; MyAPI.Start(); </script> That's how most everybody does it, and it's guaranteed to throw ugly script errors any time a network error causes the .js file download to fail. It's really easy to work around though. Somewhere in that .js file, simply declare a variable, or better still a method that sniffs for DOM dependencies like "does this div that I need to function actually exist". So you end up with something looking like this instead: <script src="api.js"></script> <script> if (window.MyAPI && MyAPI.CheckDependencies()) { MyAPI.userID = 4000; MyAPI.Start(); } </script> That way, your thing will only run if it has fully loaded and has a reasonable chance of actually working. Here's an old article I wrote with some other ideas: http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/one-rule-of-dhtml-programming.html http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/one-rule-of-dh...
- thorax 18y ago
  Great start there. Thanks a lot for the response. Some of our widgets actually do it the other way: <script> MyAPI_userID = 4000; MyAPI_something = 2; </script> <script src="api.js"></script> With the embed script itself doing what it needed to initialize things further.
- ahoyhere 18y ago
  Oh hi. It's you! I read all of your blog a while back, maybe a year ago, when there was a long sabbatical. Most of the posts were about how to do the biz thing while all over the place, geographically, as I recall. I see you're back! But no more globe trotting posts? I'd love some updates to that part of your life, since I'm having to deal with such a situation myself.
  - jasonkester 18y ago
    Trotting around Venice, CA at the moment, after I got sorta ejected from the UK for coming and going too frequently. Lived in Basque country for a year, moved (unsuccessfully) to England. But yeah, I guess I haven't been writing too much about travel of late. This might help a bit: http://www.blogabond.com/jason http://www.blogabond.com/jason

by thorax 18y ago

Got any pointers to "gotchas" articles or guides for cross-site JS widgets/includes? If not, want to write one? I've been looking for some blog articles on this recently for our team.

jasonkester 18y ago

I actually almost wrote one today. Basically, if you're doing a JS API, you're likely going to end up with a pattern like: <script src="api.js"></script> <script> MyAPI.userID = 4000; MyAPI.Start(); </script> That's how most everybody does it, and it's guaranteed to throw ugly script errors any time a network error causes the .js file download to fail. It's really easy to work around though. Somewhere in that .js file, simply declare a variable, or better still a method that sniffs for DOM dependencies like "does this div that I need to function actually exist". So you end up with something looking like this instead: <script src="api.js"></script> <script> if (window.MyAPI && MyAPI.CheckDependencies()) { MyAPI.userID = 4000; MyAPI.Start(); } </script> That way, your thing will only run if it has fully loaded and has a reasonable chance of actually working. Here's an old article I wrote with some other ideas: http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/one-rule-of-dhtml-programming.html http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/one-rule-of-dh...

thorax 18y ago
Great start there. Thanks a lot for the response. Some of our widgets actually do it the other way: <script> MyAPI_userID = 4000; MyAPI_something = 2; </script> <script src="api.js"></script> With the embed script itself doing what it needed to initialize things further.
ahoyhere 18y ago
Oh hi. It's you! I read all of your blog a while back, maybe a year ago, when there was a long sabbatical. Most of the posts were about how to do the biz thing while all over the place, geographically, as I recall. I see you're back! But no more globe trotting posts? I'd love some updates to that part of your life, since I'm having to deal with such a situation myself.
- jasonkester 18y ago
  Trotting around Venice, CA at the moment, after I got sorta ejected from the UK for coming and going too frequently. Lived in Basque country for a year, moved (unsuccessfully) to England. But yeah, I guess I haven't been writing too much about travel of late. This might help a bit: http://www.blogabond.com/jason http://www.blogabond.com/jason