In my extension I need to transfer some data from one tab's content script to another tab's content script. How can I choose certain tab using chrome.tabs, if I know a part of that tab object's name or url in it? How can two tabs' scripts communicate?
UPDATE:
Apparently I don't have method sendMessage in chrome.extension. When I run the following from content script:
chrome.extension.sendMessage("message");
I get in console:
Uncaught TypeError: Object # has no method 'sendMessage'
First, note that messages passed within an extension are JSON-serialized. Non-serializable types, such as functions, are not included in the message.
Within a content script, you have to pass the message to the background page, because there is no method to directly access other tabs.
// Example: Send a string. Often, you send an object, which includes
// additional information, eg {method:'userdefined', data:'thevalue'}
chrome.extension.sendMessage(' ... message ... ');
In the background page, use the chrome.tabs.query method to get the ID of a tab. For the simplicity of the example, I've hardcoded the patterns and urls. It might be a good idea to include the query values from the previous message, in this way: {query:{...}, data:...}.
// background script:
chrome.extension.onMessage.addListener(function(details) {
chrome.tabs.query({
title: "title pattern",
url: "http://domain/*urlpattern*"
}, function(result) {
// result is an array of tab.Tabs
if (result.length === 1) { // There's exactely one tab matching the query.
var tab = result[0];
// details.message holds the original message
chrome.tabs.sendMessage(tab.id, details.message);
}
});
});
chrome.tabs.sendMessage was used to pass the original data to a different tab.
Remark: In the example, I only passed the message when the query resulted in one unique tab. When uniqueness is not a prerequisite, just loop through all resulting tabs, using result.forEach or:
for (var i=0, tab; i<result.length; i++) {
tab = results[i];
...
}
From a content script you only can communicate with the background process.
You may communicate between two content scripts in differents tabs using the backgound as intermediate.
Also the DOM provide other way to communicate between DOM windows, but with the same origin policy...
To get a tab's url, you may execute a content script on it. The content script can get the url using window.location.href
Related
I am currently writing a userscript for website A to access another the contents on website B. So I tried to use the GM_xmlhttpRequest to do it. However, a variable on B is written to the window property eg: window.var or responseContent.var.
However, when I tried to get the window.var, the output is undefined, which means the properties under the window variable cannot be read successfully. I guess the window object is refering to the website A but not website B, so the result is undefined (There is no window.var on A).
I am sure that the GM_xmlhttpRequest has successfully read the content of the website B because I have added console.log to see the response.responseText. I have also used the window.var to successfully visit that variable on website B by browser directly.
GM_xmlhttpRequest({
method: "GET",
url: url,
headers: {
referrer: "https://A.com"
},
onload: function (response) {
// console.log(response.responseText);
let responseContent = new Document();
responseContent = new DOMParser().parseFromString(response.responseText, "text/html");
let titleDiv = responseContent.querySelector("title");
if (titleDiv != null) {
if (titleDiv.innerText.includes("404")) {
console.log("404");
return;
} else {
console.log(responseContent.var);
console.log(window.var);
}
}
},
onerror: function (e) {
console.log(e);
}
});
I would like to retrieve content window.var on website B and show it on the console.log of A
Please help me solve the problem. Thank you in advance.
#wOxxOm's comments are on point. You cannot really get the executed javascript of another website like that. One way to go around it is to use <iframe> and post message, just like #wOxxOm said. But that may fail if the other website has policy against iframes.
If this userscript is just for your use, another way is to have two scripts, one for each website and have them both open in browser tabs. Then again you can use postMessage to have those two scripts communicate the information. Dirty solution for your second userscript would be to just post the variable info on regular interval:
// Userscript for website-b.com
// needs #grant for unsafe-window to get the window.var
setInterval(()=>{postMessage(unsafeWindow.var, "website-a.com");}, 1000);
That would send an update of var's value every second. It's not very elegant, but it's simple and works. For a more elegant solution, you may want to first postMessage from website a that will trigger postMessage(unsafeWindow.var, "website-a.com"). Working with that further, you will soon find yourself inventing an asynchronous communication protocol.
Alternatively, if the second website is simple, you can try to parse the value of var directly from HTML, or wherever the value is coming from. That's a preferred solution, but requires reverse-engineering on your part.
Essentially I want to have a script execute when the contents of a DIV change. Since the scripts are separate (content script in the Chrome extension & webpage script), I need a way simply observe changes in DOM state. I could set up polling but that seems sloppy.
For a long time, DOM3 mutation events were the best available solution, but they have been deprecated for performance reasons. DOM4 Mutation Observers are the replacement for deprecated DOM3 mutation events. They are currently implemented in modern browsers as MutationObserver (or as the vendor-prefixed WebKitMutationObserver in old versions of Chrome):
MutationObserver = window.MutationObserver || window.WebKitMutationObserver;
var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations, observer) {
// fired when a mutation occurs
console.log(mutations, observer);
// ...
});
// define what element should be observed by the observer
// and what types of mutations trigger the callback
observer.observe(document, {
subtree: true,
attributes: true
//...
});
This example listens for DOM changes on document and its entire subtree, and it will fire on changes to element attributes as well as structural changes. The draft spec has a full list of valid mutation listener properties:
childList
Set to true if mutations to target's children are to be observed.
attributes
Set to true if mutations to target's attributes are to be observed.
characterData
Set to true if mutations to target's data are to be observed.
subtree
Set to true if mutations to not just target, but also target's descendants are to be observed.
attributeOldValue
Set to true if attributes is set to true and target's attribute value before the mutation needs to be recorded.
characterDataOldValue
Set to true if characterData is set to true and target's data before the mutation needs to be recorded.
attributeFilter
Set to a list of attribute local names (without namespace) if not all attribute mutations need to be observed.
(This list is current as of April 2014; you may check the specification for any changes.)
Edit
This answer is now deprecated. See the answer by apsillers.
Since this is for a Chrome extension, you might as well use the standard DOM event - DOMSubtreeModified. See the support for this event across browsers. It has been supported in Chrome since 1.0.
$("#someDiv").bind("DOMSubtreeModified", function() {
alert("tree changed");
});
See a working example here.
Many sites use AJAX/XHR/fetch to add, show, modify content dynamically and window.history API instead of in-site navigation so current URL is changed programmatically. Such sites are called SPA, short for Single Page Application.
Usual JS methods of detecting page changes
MutationObserver (docs) to literally detect DOM changes.
Info/examples:
How to change the HTML content as it's loading on the page
Performance of MutationObserver to detect nodes in entire DOM.
Lightweight observer to react to a change only if URL also changed:
let lastUrl = location.href;
new MutationObserver(() => {
const url = location.href;
if (url !== lastUrl) {
lastUrl = url;
onUrlChange();
}
}).observe(document, {subtree: true, childList: true});
function onUrlChange() {
console.log('URL changed!', location.href);
}
Event listener for sites that signal content change by sending a DOM event:
pjax:end on document used by many pjax-based sites e.g. GitHub,
see How to run jQuery before and after a pjax load?
message on window used by e.g. Google search in Chrome browser,
see Chrome extension detect Google search refresh
yt-navigate-finish used by Youtube,
see How to detect page navigation on YouTube and modify its appearance seamlessly?
Periodic checking of DOM via setInterval:
Obviously this will work only in cases when you wait for a specific element identified by its id/selector to appear, and it won't let you universally detect new dynamically added content unless you invent some kind of fingerprinting the existing contents.
Cloaking History API:
let _pushState = History.prototype.pushState;
History.prototype.pushState = function (state, title, url) {
_pushState.call(this, state, title, url);
console.log('URL changed', url)
};
Listening to hashchange, popstate events:
window.addEventListener('hashchange', e => {
console.log('URL hash changed', e);
doSomething();
});
window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
console.log('State changed', e);
doSomething();
});
P.S. All these methods can be used in a WebExtension's content script. It's because the case we're looking at is where the URL was changed via history.pushState or replaceState so the page itself remained the same with the same content script environment.
Another approach depending on how you are changing the div.
If you are using JQuery to change a div's contents with its html() method, you can extend that method and call a registration function each time you put html into a div.
(function( $, oldHtmlMethod ){
// Override the core html method in the jQuery object.
$.fn.html = function(){
// Execute the original HTML method using the
// augmented arguments collection.
var results = oldHtmlMethod.apply( this, arguments );
com.invisibility.elements.findAndRegisterElements(this);
return results;
};
})( jQuery, jQuery.fn.html );
We just intercept the calls to html(), call a registration function with this, which in the context refers to the target element getting new content, then we pass on the call to the original jquery.html() function. Remember to return the results of the original html() method, because JQuery expects it for method chaining.
For more info on method overriding and extension, check out http://www.bennadel.com/blog/2009-Using-Self-Executing-Function-Arguments-To-Override-Core-jQuery-Methods.htm, which is where I cribbed the closure function. Also check out the plugins tutorial at JQuery's site.
In addition to the "raw" tools provided by MutationObserver API, there exist "convenience" libraries to work with DOM mutations.
Consider: MutationObserver represents each DOM change in terms of subtrees. So if you're, for instance, waiting for a certain element to be inserted, it may be deep inside the children of mutations.mutation[i].addedNodes[j].
Another problem is when your own code, in reaction to mutations, changes DOM - you often want to filter it out.
A good convenience library that solves such problems is mutation-summary (disclaimer: I'm not the author, just a satisfied user), which enables you to specify queries of what you're interested in, and get exactly that.
Basic usage example from the docs:
var observer = new MutationSummary({
callback: updateWidgets,
queries: [{
element: '[data-widget]'
}]
});
function updateWidgets(summaries) {
var widgetSummary = summaries[0];
widgetSummary.added.forEach(buildNewWidget);
widgetSummary.removed.forEach(cleanupExistingWidget);
}
I have a chrome extension which injects an iframe into every open tab. I have a chrome.runtime.onInstalled listener in my background.js which manually injects the required scripts as follows (Details of the API here : http://developer.chrome.com/extensions/runtime.html#event-onInstalled ) :
background.js
var injectIframeInAllTabs = function(){
console.log("reinject content scripts into all tabs");
var manifest = chrome.app.getDetails();
chrome.windows.getAll({},function(windows){
for( var win in windows ){
chrome.tabs.getAllInWindow(win.id, function reloadTabs(tabs) {
for (var i in tabs) {
var scripts = manifest.content_scripts[0].js;
console.log("content scripts ", scripts);
var k = 0, s = scripts.length;
for( ; k < s; k++ ) {
chrome.tabs.executeScript(tabs[i].id, {
file: scripts[k]
});
}
}
});
}
});
};
This works fine when I first install the extension. I want to do the same when my extension is updated. If I run the same script on update as well, I do not see a new iframe injected. Not only that, if I try to send a message to my content script AFTER the update, none of the messages go through to the content script. I have seen other people also running into the same issue on SO (Chrome: message content-script on runtime.onInstalled). What is the correct way of removing old content scripts and injecting new ones after chrome extension update?
When the extension is updated Chrome automatically cuts off all the "old" content scripts from talking to the background page and they also throw an exception if the old content script does try to communicate with the runtime. This was the missing piece for me. All I did was, in chrome.runtime.onInstalled in bg.js, I call the same method as posted in the question. That injects another iframe that talks to the correct runtime. At some point in time, the old content scripts tries to talk to the runtime which fails. I catch that exception and just wipeout the old content script. Also note that, each iframe gets injected into its own "isolated world" (Isolated world is explained here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laLudeUmXHM) hence newly injected iframe cannot clear out the old lingering iframe.
Hope this helps someone in future!
There is no way to "remove" old content scripts (Apart from reloading the page in question using window.location.reload, which would be bad)
If you want to be more flexible about what code you execute in your content script, use the "code" parameter in the executeScript function, that lets you pass in a raw string with javascript code. If your content script is just one big function (i.e. content_script_function) which lives in background.js
in background.js:
function content_script_function(relevant_background_script_info) {
// this function will be serialized as a string using .toString()
// and will be called in the context of the content script page
// do your content script stuff here...
}
function execute_script_in_content_page(info) {
chrome.tabs.executeScript(tabid,
{code: "(" + content_script_function.toString() + ")(" +
JSON.stringify(info) + ");"});
}
chrome.tabs.onUpdated.addListener(
execute_script_in_content_page.bind( { reason: 'onUpdated',
otherinfo: chrome.app.getDetails() });
chrome.runtime.onInstalled.addListener(
execute_script_in_content_page.bind( { reason: 'onInstalled',
otherinfo: chrome.app.getDetails() });
)
Where relevant_background_script_info contains information about the background page, i.e. which version it is, whether there was an upgrade event, and why the function is being called. The content script page still maintains all its relevant state. This way you have full control over how to handle an "upgrade" event.
I've been searching for examples and reference and have come up with nothing. I found a note in offscreenTab source code mentioning it cannot be instantiated from a background page (it doesn't have a tab for the offscreenTab to relate to). Elsewhere I found mention that popup also has no tie to a tab.
How do you successfully create an offscreenTab in a Chrome extension?
According to the documentation, offscreenTabs.create won't function in a background page. Although not explicitly mentioned, the API cannot be used in a Content script either. Through a simple test, it seems that the popup has the same limitation as a background page.
The only leftover option is a tab which runs in the context of a Chrome extension. The easiest way to do that is by using the following code in the background/popup:
chrome.tabs.create({url: chrome.extension.getURL('ost.htm'), active:false});
// active:false, so that the window do not jump to the front
ost.htm is a helper page, which creates the tab:
chrome.experimental.offscreenTabs.create({url: '...'}, function(offscreenTab) {
// Do something with offscreenTab.id !
});
To change the URL, use chrome.experimental.offscreenTabs.update.
offscreenTab.id is a tabId, which ought to be used with the chrome.tabs API. However, at least in Chrome 20.0.1130.1, this is not the case. All methods of the tabs API do not recognise the returned tabID.
A work-around is to inject a content script using a manifest file, eg:
{"content_scripts": {"js":["contentscript.js"], "matches":["<all_urls>"]}}
// contentscript.js:
chrome.extension.sendMessage({ .. any request .. }, function(response) {
// Do something with response.
});
Appendum to the background page:
chrome.extension.onMessage.addListener(function(message, sender, sendResponse) {
// Instead of checking for index == -1, you can also see if the ID matches
// the ID of a previously created offscreenTab
if (sender.tab && sender.tab.index === -1) {
// index is negative if the tab is invisible
// ... do something (logic) ...
sendResponse( /* .. some response .. */ );
}
});
With content scripts, you've got full access to a page's DOM. But not to the global object. You'll have to inject scripts (see this answer) if you want to run code in the context of the page.
Another API which might be useful is the chrome.webRequest API. It can be used to modify headers/abort/redirect requests. Note: It cannot be used to read or modify the response.
Currently, the offscreenTabs API is experimental. To play with it, you have to enable the experimental APIs via chrome://flags, and add "permissions":["experimental"] to your manifest file. Once it's not experimental any more, use "permissions":["offscreenTabs"].
I'm in the process of making a Google Chrome extension, and encountered a problem.
I'm trying to upload and search through the DOM inside the popup.html.
Here is how I get the current tab (I found the script somewhere, credit doesn't belong to me):
chrome.windows.getCurrent(function(w) {
chrome.tabs.getSelected(w.id,function (response){
)};
My problem is this: I need to traverse through the DOM of the response. When trying to do so manually, I couldn't, as the response variable was now undefined for some reason, so using the Console isn't an option.
When trying to alert the response in the html file, it came as a object. Then, I tried to navigate through the response as if it has been the 'document' object, but no luck either.
Any help will be appreciated greatly.
You can get the selected tab for your popup by passing null as the window id to getSelected. () In your popup you can listen for extension events and execute a script to push the content to your popup:
chrome.extension.onRequest.addListener(
function(request, sender, sendResponse) {
if (request.action == "content")
{
console.log('content is ' + request.content.length + ' bytes');
}
});
chrome.tabs.getSelected(null, function(tab) {
chrome.tabs.executeScript(tab.id, { file: 'scripts/SendContent.js' } );
});
And finally the content script... I have it as "scripts/SendContent.js" in my extension folder, but the script is simple enough you could execute it by putting the code in the code property instead of the name in the file property of the object you pass to executeScript:
console.log('SendContent.js');
chrome.extension.sendRequest( {
action: "content",
host: document.location.hostname,
content: document.body.innerHTML
}, function(response) { }
);
Result:
POPUP: content is 67533 bytes
If you're having trouble, use console.log() and right-click on your page or browser action to inspect it and read your messages on the console (or debug your script from there).
I believe popups are sandboxed the same way that background pages are, so you'll need to use a content script to access the page DOM.
You can inject a content script with chrome.tabs.executeScript, handle your DOM traversal in the content script, then pass back the information you need from the content script to the popup using the message passing API.
I can try to elaborate on this if you give more information about the problem you're trying to solve.