Debugging Javascript with Opera

Grok Headline matches for Debugging Javascript with Opera

Javascript debugging: IE Option gotcha

Javascript debugging: IE Option gotcha 12/13/2003 05:19 PM

I've been debugging Javascript today. I like Javascript as a language, but I doubt anyone would disagree that it's a horrible, horrible language to debug across multiple browsers. Firebird at least has good debugging support - I currently use the Javascript Console and Jesse Ruderman's shell bookmarklet and I really need to learn to use Venkman some day. If anyone knows a better way of debugging Javascript in IE than relying on the lame popup box I'd love to hear about it.

In any case, one bug that I successfully vanquished today involved the humble <option> element. My HTML looked something like this:

<select name="categories"
multiple="multiple" id="catfrom" size="20">
 <option>entertainment</option>
 <option>movies</option>
 <option>sports</option>
 <option>news</option>
</select>

I was having all kinds of strange problems in IE, which I finally tracked down to the following gotcha: in IE, the value property of an Option object is empty if the corresponding option tag doesn't have a value attribute. This is counter-intuitive because in HTML if an option attribute is omitted the text inside the option element is used as the value instead. Mozilla browsers duplicate this in their handling of the Option object; IE doesn't. Hopefully this tip will save someone some debugging time in the future.

Update: David Lindquist pointed me to Microsoft's free Script Debugger.

Ask MacSlash: Debugging JavaScript In
Safari/WebCore

Ask MacSlash: Debugging JavaScript In
Safari/WebCore 04/15/2004 02:25 PM

javascript: URIs, CSS, GMail and Opera

javascript: URIs, CSS, GMail and Opera 03/14/2005 05:27 PM
How to get out of GMail jail in Opera with Javascript in CSS files.

User Javascript in Opera 8 beta 3

User Javascript in Opera 8 beta 3 03/17/2005 03:29 AM
Opera 8 beta 3 adds User Javascript functionality. Use it to get rid of site annoyances, and extend web site functionality.

At Long Last, a True Space Opera. Turing
Opera Workshop releases teaser trailer
for new 3d sci-fi opera, Kai, Death of
Dreams.

At Long Last, a True Space Opera. Turing
Opera Workshop releases teaser trailer
for new 3d sci-fi opera, Kai, Death of
Dreams. 05/31/2004 02:13 PM
Scarborough, ME -- January 12, 2004 Turing Opera Workshop releases the first teaser trailer for their production of Richard deCostas 3d sci-fi opera, K'ai, Death of Dreams. The trailer, available on the production website, http://www.RicharddeCosta.com/KaiOpera, is a preview of the opera scheduled for release in February. The opera is being produced entirely in 3d computer graphics. [PRWEB Jan 13, 2004]

Professional JavaScript for Web
Developers: JavaScript in the Browser,
Pt. 1

Professional JavaScript for Web
Developers: JavaScript in the Browser,
Pt. 1 06/22/2005 02:51 AM
Web browsers have come a long way over the years and can now handle a variety of file formats, not just conventional HTML. Here, you'll learn how JavaScript fits into HTML, other languages, and some basic concepts of the Browser Object Model (BOM). By WROX Press. 0620

Opera Skinned & Opera Directory
Traversal (Additional Details & a Simple
Exploit)

Opera Skinned & Opera Directory
Traversal (Additional Details & a Simple
Exploit) 11/12/2003 01:14 PM
S G Masood (Nov 12 2003)

Opera Software Announces The Opera
Browser for Windows Mobile

Opera Software Announces The Opera
Browser for Windows Mobile 08/31/2004 08:29 PM
Opera announces intention to produce a version ofr Microsoft Windows Mobile Software.

Opera Releases Security Fix for Opera
6.x

Opera Releases Security Fix for Opera
6.x 03/20/2003 08:31 AM

Opera 7.50 preview and my Opera Journal

Opera 7.50 preview and my Opera Journal 12/23/2003 02:09 PM
A few days ago, Opera released an early Christmas Present for the avid group of people following the opera.beta newsgroup,...

It's All in the Debugging

It's All in the Debugging 02/10/2004 02:52 AM
Shark Tank: This VP of IT regularly assigns impossible deadlines, fails to provide resources and generates a high stress level, and that's making employees frequently call in sick. But the VP can't believe it. ...

Debugging

Debugging 03/06/2004 02:09 AM

PHP Debugging Basics

PHP Debugging Basics 08/12/2004 08:48 PM
Whether you're a PHP newbie or a wizard, your programs are going to have bugs in them. Nobody's perfect. David Sklar, author of Learning PHP 5, provides some basic techniques for finding and fixing the problems in your programs. In particular, he covers how to set up error reporting as you like it, how to find parse errors, and how to inspect program data.

Debugging Web Applications

Debugging Web Applications 07/11/2002 01:58 AM
WebTechniques Jul 11 2002 1:11AM ET

Debugging MyAppleMenu.com

Debugging MyAppleMenu.com 06/18/2004 07:54 AM
Dear readers, if you are reading MyAppleMenu through a RSS reader, you will probably see some repeated entries, as I am going through the debugging process of fixing the RSS feeds.
Dear readers, if you are webmasters that uses the javascripts to embed MyAppleMenu contents into your web site, this feature should be working again.
Once again, my apologies for the bug(s), and thanks for your patience.

Twiki debugging

Twiki debugging 09/10/2004 04:35 PM
Cubehut - telecommute (2004-09-10)

Debugging conversations

Debugging conversations 12/30/2004 09:55 PM
Wrote a lengthy piece, so I dropped it on a separate page:

Charles Web Debugging Tool 1.8.2

Charles Web Debugging Tool 1.8.2 08/14/2004 06:29 AM
An HTTP proxy server/monitor/reverse proxy for debugging Web applications.

Charles Web Debugging Tool 1.8.1

Charles Web Debugging Tool 1.8.1 05/19/2004 07:41 AM
An HTTP proxy server/monitor/reverse proxy for debugging Web applications.

chicago.pm : Debugging Perl

chicago.pm : Debugging Perl 11/11/2003 12:49 PM
inkdroid writes "At the next chicago.pm meeting on Dec 9th @ 7PM Steven Lembark will go over the basics of using the Perl debugger to set breakpoints and interactively examine variables and structures at runtime. He will also cover using $DB::single, ...

Debugging in Plain English?

Debugging in Plain English? 07/27/2004 04:44 PM

easytoggle and debugging in Safari

easytoggle and debugging in Safari 11/05/2003 09:22 PM

I've been working on a new inobtrusive DHTML effect: easytoggle, which is an inobtrusive implementation of the common effect where links or tabs can be clicked to reveal part of a page while hiding the other parts. It's similar in some ways to the Mult i part forms with Javascript technique.

The idea is pretty simple - all you need are a bunch of links and a bunch of elements that should be toggled by those links. When adding special behaviour to links it is always a good idea to ensure that they still link to something sensible, so that in user agents without Javascript support they still do something useful. In this case, it makes sense for them to act as anchor links that point to the elements with which they are associated. With easytoggle, all you need to do is define the links, point them at an element with an ID and assign them the class 'toggle'. The script does the rest of the work. For example, for a simple set with only two panels the markup would look something like this:

<ul>
 <li><a href="#p1" class="toggle">Panel
1</a></li>
 <li><a href="#p2" class="toggle">Panel
2</a></li>
</ul>

<p id="p1">This is panel 1</p>
<p id="p2">This is panel 2</p>

That's all it takes - the demo has a very slightly more complicated example.

I thought it was finished, until I tested it in Apple's Safari browser. In Safari, the worst possible thing happens. The initialisation code which hides all of the panels after the first one works fine. Unfortunately, the code that causes the links to change which panel is visible fails silently, leaving only the first panel accessible to users with that browser. That's a big problem.

It was at this point that I discovered that Safari's support for debugging Javascript sucks rocks. Firstly, the browser gives no indication that a bug has been encountered. I'm sure this is a deliberate usability decision, but it also means users who encounter a bug won't even know that there is a problem with the site. A quick Google led me to this page, which told me how to enable Javascript error reporting:

1. In a command line shell, execute defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1 (apparently Safari Enhancer lets you do this from a GUI).
2. Reload Safari and check the "Log Javascript Exceptions" option in the newly enabled Debug menu.
3. Start Console.app, which lives in /Application/Utilities. Note that this is not the same thing as the command line console. This took me a few moments to figure out. Macs remain a strange new realm of discovery.
4. Javascript exceptions will now appear in the Console.app window.

Excellent - just what I needed to know. The entire error message I got when I clicked a link? (event handler):Undefined value. Gee, thanks a lot Safari. If anyone has any ideas how I can fix the script in Safari (or at the very least prevent it from being unusable) please leave me a note.

VSEDebug VS.NET Debugging Enhancement

VSEDebug VS.NET Debugging Enhancement 04/16/2004 12:57 AM
VSEDebug release 1.0a

Debugging: For Your Eyes Only on
PHPBuilder

Debugging: For Your Eyes Only on
PHPBuilder 10/21/2002 08:20 AM

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.36

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.36 06/24/2004 01:20 PM
ostream-based debug output and memory allocation debug support library.

Debugging Plugins Using Xcode

Debugging Plugins Using Xcode 03/14/2005 05:39 PM
When new developers are looking to write APE modules for OS X, I see a common problem that I...

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.38

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.38 09/24/2004 08:04 PM
ostream-based debug output and memory allocation debug support library.

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.34

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.34 05/27/2004 07:39 PM
ostream-based debug output and memory allocation debug support library.

New & Revolutionary Debugging
Techniques?

New & Revolutionary Debugging
Techniques? 05/02/2004 10:05 AM

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.35

C++ Debugging Support library 0.99.35 06/23/2004 01:29 AM
ostream-based debug output and memory allocation debug support library.

MOSX Debugging Tips

MOSX Debugging Tips 03/14/2005 05:09 PM

Apple posted some really handy debugging tips on their developer site a little while ago. Worth a look.

And remember, kids, come April Fool's you need to find at least one person you hate and add NSQuitAfterLaunch to their ~/.MacOS X/environment.plist file...

O'Reilly PHP Dev Center: PHP Debugging
Basics

O'Reilly PHP Dev Center: PHP Debugging
Basics 08/13/2004 07:12 AM
Every coder's had it happen, probably more times than they can count. It's embarassing to have it happen in front of everyone, and especially bad if the world knows about it. What is it? Bugs in your software - those evil, hidden issues that make you have to work that much harder. Well, th is new O'Reilly article seeks to help the process along a bit.

Researchers Aim for Plain-English
Debugging

Researchers Aim for Plain-English
Debugging 07/26/2004 07:41 PM
Students in a research project have developed a Linux debugging program that lets users ask questions about computer errors in plain English: Why didn't a program behave as expected?

Daily Windows debugging and repair log

Daily Windows debugging and repair log 07/22/2004 09:44 AM
I started getting the following error message in XP: JIT Debugging component registration is incorrect. Please repair the installation of the most recent version of Visual Studio ..Net or Remote Debugging components. Alternatively, execute the following command as an Administrator to manually repair the JIT Debugging component registration: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7Debug\vs7jit.exe" /RegServer The program it wants me to run is not on my machine. So, after a little googling, here's a partial fix (or: http://tinyurl.com/95zt). This reinstalls the .NET framework, which you need, apparently, if you're working with VB 6. This worked well enough that now the error...

Feedster and Debugging Large PHP Scripts

Feedster and Debugging Large PHP Scripts 03/15/2003 06:04 AM

Feedster

Just a note that while I am going to be working on Feedster most / all of the weekend, I'm probably not going to blog much about it if at all.  I'll save stuff for Monday when more people are listening.  But if you want to see what someone else thinks of Feedster, see Brent. I'll do a better job of blogging it on Monday but suffice it to say that Brent ... (see for yourself).

Oh and should you not care about Feedster a whit / wonder when or if I'm ever going to talk about something else, here's a PHP debugging tip.  And the answer is probably next week you'll see more of my usual blather. 

Tip: Debugging Large PHP Scripts

This is probably obvious to a lot of folks but generally not beginners.  PHP's error handling is written such that if you miss a ; or ) or {, the error can be AT the line reported or before it.  Depending on the tokenization of the script, it could be way before it.  Some of the Feedster code is quite long now, at least by PHP standards, so what I've taken to doing is moving the closing ?> marker up to just after the line where the error is reported.  That makes finding it easier by that many lines.  Now it isn't quite as good when functions you use are located below the line (they have to be defined to run the script so you might have to move them up or comment them out).  Still I only said this was a *tip* not the *holy grail*.  Unfortunately there is no holy debugging grail except for this: Stop Programming.

Enjoy the weekend!  Anything you want to ask me about / comment on Feedster about, I'm online.

Researchers Aim to Make Debugging
Simpler (AP)

Researchers Aim to Make Debugging
Simpler (AP) 07/26/2004 02:18 PM
AP - Computer bugs, or errors in software, can mess up just about anything: They've been blamed for missing homework, blackouts, prison breaks and even the loss of multimillion-dollar space probes.

Debugging Indian Computer Programmers

Debugging Indian Computer Programmers 12/17/2004 06:41 PM

Debugging the Megahertz Myth Editorial

Debugging the Megahertz Myth Editorial 09/16/2004 11:07 AM

HTML Tip: 5 Ways For Debugging Your Web
Page

HTML Tip: 5 Ways For Debugging Your Web
Page 12/21/2002 02:15 PM
Net Mechanic Dec 21 2002 11:54AM ET
Grok Description matches for Debugging Javascript with Opera
GrokA matches for Debugging Javascript with Opera

Photo Archives: Unleashed Aayla Secura

Photo Archives: Unleashed Aayla Secura 08/27/2004 01:38 PM
Star of comic books, short stories, movies, and cartoons, the Unleashed version of Aayla Secura joins our Photo Archives today. The sexy Twi'lek uses her deadly lightsaber skills to defeat her opponents, much like she did in Attack of the Clones.

Photo Archives: ROTS Aayla Secura (Jedi
Knight)

Photo Archives: ROTS Aayla Secura (Jedi
Knight) 03/22/2005 04:58 PM
Aayla Secura (Jedi Knight) joins our Photo Archives today. This Twi'lek beauty has spent the Clone Wars trying to rescue her former master from the dark side of the Force, mostly by accepting undercover missions for the Republic. She's now back Revenge of the Sith, ready to take on the Separatists.

Safari JavaScript Overflow

Safari JavaScript Overflow 03/08/2004 11:23 PM

Safari 1.3 has a JavaScript Console

Safari 1.3 has a JavaScript Console 04/16/2005 02:12 PM

My single biggest complaint about Safari in the past has been its terrible support for JavaScript debugging. Safari 1.3 has just been released, and tucked away in the Debug menu is a brand new JavaScript console option. It's not as good as the Firefox equivalent (it throws up far too many "Undefined value, line: 0" errors for my liking) but it's a big step in the right direction.

Safari javascript array overflow

Safari javascript array overflow 03/08/2004 11:20 PM
kang (Mar 06 2004)

An AppleScript to toggle JavaScript in
Safari

An AppleScript to toggle JavaScript in
Safari 05/20/2004 11:45 AM
Being a satisfied Safari user, I've never seen the need to disable JavaScript in my regular browsing; but this morning I came across a need to test several sites with JavaScript both enabled and disabled. Imagine my surprise ...

Apple: Safari, AppleScript and
JavaScript

Apple: Safari, AppleScript and
JavaScript 10/29/2003 02:19 AM
As noted yesterday, the latest version of Safari includes the 'do JavaScript' command in its AppleScript dictionary. By using the command, users can create AppleScript scripts that interact with the Safari JavaScript DOM (Document Object Model). Apple provides sample scripts along with links to Safari Developer FAQ, Safari JavaScript DOM Part 1 and Safari JavaScript DOM Part 2.

Other News: Safari JavaScript
Vulnerability

Other News: Safari JavaScript
Vulnerability 03/08/2004 11:09 PM
Insecure.ws reports a security vulnerability in Safari's JavaScript.

Safari Magic 1.0 adds numerous tools to
Safari

Safari Magic 1.0 adds numerous tools to
Safari 07/20/2004 02:43 AM
Stephen Becker has announced the release of Safari Magic 1.0, a utility which adds several tools to Safari...

Revenge of the User: Lessons from
Creator/User Battles ETCON talk notes

Revenge of the User: Lessons from
Creator/User Battles ETCON talk notes 02/11/2004 04:31 PM
Here're my running notes from danah boyd's Re venge of the User: Lessons from Creator/User Battles at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego.

The response is an attempt to "configure the users" -- constrain behavior to acceptable behavior with messaaging, kicking people off, etc.

This won't work: you can't tell a hacker not to hack. These kids are social hackers. You can stop some bad behavior, but you chase off your best users, too.

Dating doesn't happen because you're in a dating context. Dating arises out of real contexts.

Taking away fakesters didn't make Frienster more real. Friendster is unreal because people never remove their friends, even if they never see them (the exception is when you break up, ironic, because ex-lovers are strong ties!).

Link

HotFix Watch: Programs that are
advertised to a user run when another
user logs on to an SMS 2.0 client
computer

HotFix Watch: Programs that are
advertised to a user run when another
user logs on to an SMS 2.0 client
computer 08/30/2004 05:24 PM

How to deal with packages where user
specific data configuration has to be
user portable

How to deal with packages where user
specific data configuration has to be
user portable 09/11/2004 11:26 PM

"Lance Arthur slightly loses it over
BitTorrent - which I will confess does
not have the greatest user experience
for a naive user"

"Lance Arthur slightly loses it over
BitTorrent - which I will confess does
not have the greatest user experience
for a naive user" 08/14/2004 09:34 AM

Review - The Elements of User
Experience: User-Centered Design for the
Web

Review - The Elements of User
Experience: User-Centered Design for the
Web 12/08/2002 10:04 PM
WebmasterBase Dec 8 2002 8:41PM ET

Modify The User Description Attribute
For An Ad User Account

Modify The User Description Attribute
For An Ad User Account 08/17/2004 09:19 PM

Back to the User: Creating User-Focused
Websites

Back to the User: Creating User-Focused
Websites 10/17/2002 08:03 AM

10.3: Kill another user logged in under
Fast User Switching

10.3: Kill another user logged in under
Fast User Switching 12/02/2003 12:38 AM
Fast User Switching has been a popular Panther feature in my lab where several students share one computer. However, ocassionally a user forgets to log out, and I (logged in as Administrator) have not figured out how to log t...

SMS Query: Match Computer with User and
the User Fullname

SMS Query: Match Computer with User and
the User Fullname 05/15/2004 08:42 AM

Power User: Google is a user’s best
friend

Power User: Google is a user’s best
friend 08/05/2002 10:45 PM
Every Web user should know how to exploit the features of the powerful Google.com search engine. Besides the news.google.com beta test site I've mentioned before, it also features a free but invaluable Google toolbar that you can download from google.com. It appears as a little search window in every browser session.

PicturesPlace.Com - hot celebrities
naked celebs nude celebrity hot celebs
nude celebrities naked celebrity

PicturesPlace.Com - hot celebrities
naked celebs nude celebrity hot celebs
nude celebrities naked celebrity 12/19/2003 11:40 AM
04:21 picturesplace.com .. www.picturesplace.com_ .. .. X

picturesplace.com
track this site | 17 links

Nude For Peace

Nude For Peace 03/15/2003 07:46 PM
I think I just went blind .. anti-war nudity .. Nude For Peace

track this site | 5 links

"Biking in the nude"

"Biking in the nude" 06/18/2004 11:21 AM

Nude Celebrities

Nude Celebrities 12/02/2003 01:53 AM

celebskin.com/index.html
track this site | 9 links

Nude Pix Put Cops In a Fix

Nude Pix Put Cops In a Fix 03/25/2005 09:28 PM
Wireless privacy is once again called into question as Texas police officers come under fire for allegedly downloading naked pictures from a suspect's phone.

Oiled, but not nude

Oiled, but not nude 08/07/2004 12:17 PM
If you don't expect the Olympics to keep it real, you may appreciate the Nemean Games.

On Beyond Help: User Assistance and the
User Interface

On Beyond Help: User Assistance and the
User Interface 09/09/2002 06:29 AM

Nude-kid case tossed

Nude-kid case tossed 08/08/2004 01:42 AM
Usatoday.com - Sat Aug 7, 08:44 pm GMT

Debugging Javascript with Opera

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