Class JavascriptConsole

Defined in widgetJavascriptConsole.js

This is derived from squarefree.com and adapted to the XBLinJS framework.

Differences From Source:

• I dropped the ability to run in the opener's context, as I don't think this will be used that way. Use the bookmarklet provided by squarefree.com.
• Copied the code to force the selection into textbox, but made it optional as that would make it hard to debug other widgets on the screen.
• If a history entry is the same as the last one, it is not added to the history.
• I'm not sure what the _win.location.href stuff is, so I skipped it. Might break something (though whatever that something is, it's not Mozilla or IE...).
• Made it easier to add your own "shell commands" in a subclass, with better support for help and showing keyboard commands on the screen.
• I dropped the feature where making an entry, then pushing down enters it into history and clears the input... I don't get it, if someone can explain why they want that I can put it back in.

Relevant Parameters:

• keepfocus: Whether the widget should try to hold onto the focus. Defaults to false, and only works in browsers that support .addEventListener.
• clear_input: Whether the widget should clear the input when executed. Defaults to true to match the source's performance, but I sometimes like false; depends on the nature of the debugging task.

Implementing your own shell commands:

The JavascriptConsole includes the idea of adding in "shell commands", basically just functions put into the scope of execution, which you can provide for the user to use.

The shell commands are collected in the following manner:

• Anything in the object starting with the word "shellCommands" will be scanned for command objects, as described below. If false, they will be skipped. The order chosen is random, as Javascript iterates the object, so do not multiply-define things.
• After that, the object is scanned for anything starting with "shell_", which will be added to the list of shell commands. Anything false will be skipped. This can be used to override the above; to mask "help" out, create a member called .shell_help and set it to false, and the help message will go away.

Shell commands are sorted by key name, then presented to the user at the top of the console.

Shell commands may be one of two things. They may simply be a function, in which case they will be shown by key name on the shell command line. They may also be Javascript objects, which can contain the entries shown below. Regardless, the shell commands will recieve as their first parameter a reference to their JavascriptConsole object, followed by whatever parameters the user may have given.

• func: This is the actual function that will be run.
• hide: A boolean; if true, the command will not be shown. Use this if you want a "hidden" command, like "pr" in the original shell. Use expressions to dynamically select what shell commands are available.
• accessKey: A link will be attached to the function name in the shell display, and given this accessKey, allowing the user to execute it with "alt-[accessKey]". The shortcut will be displayed to the user.
• defaultExe: The default thing executed when the shell command is clicked on. This should be a string, which will be passed to the widget to execute as if it were typed in.
• helpText: If given, a question mark will be added next to the display of the name of the function, which, when clicked, will print out this text.
  
  For advanced uses, helpText can also be a function recieving the widget as the first parameter (so it can do advanced printing, most likely).
• displayedName: The name that will be displayed, including if desired any argument info. This string will be displayed exactly. Default is the key name plus "(object(ans))", indicating the "ans" parameter will be used if you click on it by default.

Only func is necessary, but if that is all you have, you might as well leave it just as a function.

Constructor Detail

JavascriptConsole

JavascriptConsole()

Nice Javascript console, embeddable into your page.

go

void go(_s_)

Execute the given string as input.

Parameters:
s - The string to execute.

printError

void printError(er)

Print an exception. Handles IE vs. Mozilla differences.

Parameters:
er - The exception to print.

println

Object println(s, type)

Prints a line on the console.

Parameters:
s - The string to print.
type - The CSS class to assign to the printed line. (See widgets.css for the .Console* lines.)

printWithRunin

void printWithRunin(h, s, type)

Prints a line on the console, with a "runin".

A "runin", apparently, is a bolded text with a colon appended; so, for example, you could show help with: this.printWithRunin("Help", "Some help.", "ConsoleHelpDisplay").

Parameters:
h - The header to display.
s - The string to display.
type - The CSS class to assign to the text. (See widgets.css for the .Console* lines.)

refocus

void refocus()

Focus on the input box; use this to ensure the screen has been scrolled to the box after user input.

Copied from source, which comments the "blur" is needed for mozilla to scroll correctly.