[DynAPI-notify] [ dynapi-Bugs-1274309 ] unable to redraw dynlayer object in another frame (IE 6.0)

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Bugs item #1274309, was opened at 2005-08-26 16:46
Message generated for change (Comment added) made by skang
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Category: DynAPI 3 API
Group: None
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: ksj (skang)
Assigned to: Andrew Gillett (agillett)
Summary: unable to redraw dynlayer object in another frame (IE 6.0)

Initial Comment:
layer2 is a dynlayer object which is already a children of 
dynlayer object layer1. The following redraw logic does 
not work in IE 6.0

layer2.removeFromParent();	 
layer1.addChild(layer2);

Below is the error message:

Line: 51
Char: 4
Error: invalid argument
Code: 0
URL:  http://127.0.0.1/test.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

>Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-09-01 17:23

Message:
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I successfully tested the fix provided by agillett (posted on 
date: 2005-09-01 08:04) - which mean that there might be a 
quicky but not necessarily dirty solution. Interestingly, the 
problem seems to be solved by just using the two lines of 
code in dynlayer_ie.js (line 17 -18, listed below) all the time:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	parentElement.insertAdjacentHTML
("beforeEnd",this.getOuterHTML());
	elm = parentElement.children
[parentElement.children.length-1];
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

instead of using the 27-line section (line 22-48, listed below) 
which is considered more effecient for ie5+

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
			// this method is more 
efficient for ie5+. any comment?

	elm=document.createElement('DIV');
			elm.id=this.id;
			if(this._className) 
elm.className=this._className;
			if(!this._noStyle) {
				var css = 
elm.style;
				css.position=
(this._position||'absolute');
				css.pixelLeft=
(this.x||0);
				css.pixelTop=
(this.y||0);
				if(this.w!=null) 
css.width = this.w;
				if(this.h!=null) 
css.height = this.h;

	css.backgroundColor=(this.bgColor||'transparent');
				css.zIndex=
(this.z||1);
				css.cursor=
(this._cursor||'auto');
				css.overflow=
(this._overflow||'');			
				if(this.bgImage!
=null) css.backgroundImage='url('+this.bgImage+')';
				if 
(this.bgImage==null && this.html==null) 
css.backgroundImage='none';
				if (this.clip) 
css.clip='rect('+this.clip[0]+'px '+this.clip[1]+'px '+this.clip[2]
+'px '+this.clip[3]+'px)';
				else if (this.w!
=null && this.h!=null) css.clip='rect
(0px '+this.w+'px '+this.h+'px 0px)';		
				css.visibility=
(this.visible==false)? 'hidden':'inherit';
				// border - set by 
BorderManager
				if
(this._cssBorTop){

	css.borderTop = this._cssBorTop||'';

	css.borderRight = this._cssBorRight||''; 

	css.borderBottom = this._cssBorBottom||'';

	css.borderLeft = this._cssBorLeft||'';
				}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anybody shed some light on why the second section is 
better than the first section for ie5+? Can it be enhanced to 
gain the benefit of the first section where no "global variable" 
is used? Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: Doug Melvin (doug_melvin)
Date: 2005-09-01 16:10

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My two cents:
If the frames are on seperate domains (or different ip
address) then no.. there is no easy fix. This is called
cors-site scripting and is delibratly disabled for obvious
security reasons.

Now that said and idea comes to mind.. how about passing
dynapi calls between the two frames via our handy-dandy soap
objects?

It's no small project, and one which I certainly do not have
time for atm. (16 hour days make Douggie a very sad man indeed)

breif outline: 
A method by which fram/window A on domain Y may execute or
cause to be executed javascript code in fram/window B on
domain Z.

This method would involve window A sending a message server
Y which serrver Y would relay to Server Z which in turn
would relay said message to window B.

Even as i type this i see how there would be a certainly
level of complexity in implementation, However, I can also
see how such an interface and be abstracted and made
"simple" for the end-using coder.

All I can say now is "Viva La eval()!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-09-01 12:29

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It seems to me that we run into a problem caused by 
using "global variables" in a set of APIs that try to achieve 
OO programming in javascript environment. 

I think if dynapi users stick to dynapi objects, as in my 
example code, the application should behave in a way that 
OO programmers expect -- certainly, only if that's possible 
within the limitation of browsers. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: L W (warp9pnt9)
Date: 2005-09-01 10:58

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I don't think it's up to the dynapi.  JavaScript can only do
what the browser allows.  If the browser does not allow it,
we can't do anything.

On the other hand, we /may/ be able to look at what the
functions are doing and devise a way to achieve what we want.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-09-01 10:14

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Thanks a lot, Andrew.  
I feel like being executed. But I do see how it's getting tricky 
when you try to control the contents of another window. 
Question is: Can be fixed theoretically? Will the dynapi 
development group formally abandon supporting frames?  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: Andrew Gillett (agillett)
Date: 2005-09-01 08:04

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The removeFromParent() function deletes the DIV element
associated with the DynLayer from the DOM. The addChild()
function creates a new element and inserts it into the
parents (layer1) DOM.

The problem is that the _create() function in dynlayer_ie.js
uses "document.createElement()" to create the new DIV
element. Because this action is initiated from your "Set
Desktop" button, the "document" variable refers to the menu
document, not the content document. You cannot add an
element created in one frame to the DOM of another frame.

One workaround is to remove the "if" statement on line 16 of
dynlayer_ie.js so that lines 17-18 are executed instead of
the "else" block (lines 21-50). This avoids using the
document.createElement function altogether and your code
seems to work.

However I'm not sure that is this is a good long term
solution. I've tried to get the code to use the parent
elements document object to create the new element, but that
has always failed with permission errors.

Another solution is to just stop using frames :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-09-01 00:58

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Please remove the first one (listed below). Thanks
	// redraw desktop content
	function OnLoadDesktop(){
		desktopContents.removeFromParent();
		desktop.addChild(desktopContents);
	};

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: Andrew Gillett (agillett)
Date: 2005-08-31 22:22

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They are not two copies of the same function, they are two
different functions with the same name:

        // redraw desktop content
        function OnLoadDesktop(){
                desktopContents.removeFromParent();
                desktop.addChild(desktopContents);
        };

        // show cached desktop content
        function OnLoadDesktop(){
                desktop = this.parent.desktop.content;
                desktop.addChild(desktopContents);
        };

I don't know how to correct this, you must do it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-08-31 22:14

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Sure, please correct - I put two copies of the same function 
by mistake. Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: Andrew Gillett (agillett)
Date: 2005-08-31 18:55

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The first thing I've noticed is that menu.html contains two
different definitions of the "OnLoadDesktop()" function.
This makes it hard to follow the logic. Would you mind
correcting this?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: L W (warp9pnt9)
Date: 2005-08-31 11:15

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Hi.  It was Andrew (agillett) who changed Resolution to
Works for Me, before the example was supplied.  Now I see
the problem as you describe.

========
In Firefox, if reload, I get this error in the JavaScript
console:

Error: this.parent.menu.OnLoadDesktop is not a function
Source File:
file:///path/to/dynapi-3.0.0-beta2/examples/test/content.html
Line: 22

If I then hold Shift and reload, I get this JavaScript error:

Error: this.parent.menu.OnUnloadDesktop is not a function

But the page loads properly otherwise.

This indicates that something is being destroyed and then
trying to use it after it's gone.

========
In IE 6, on pressing Set Desktop, I get a different error
from the one reported.  In an alert-style popup, in addition
to the script error popup:

An error has occured in this dialog.

Error: 84
Unspecified error.

And the odd thing, the IE script error popup has no content:

Line: 
Char: 
Error: 
Code: 
URL: 

But clicking "OK" on the alert-style popup closes the IE
script error popup as well.

Reloading the page AFTER clicking Set Desktop yields the
following script error:

Line: 198
Char: 19
Error: Can't execute code from a freed script
Code: 0
URL: file:///path/to/dynapi-3.0.0-beta2/examples/test/menu.html

Followed by:

Line: 22
Char: 4
Error: Object doesn't support this property or method
Code: 0
URL:
file:///path/to/dynapi-3.0.0-beta2/examples/test/content.html

Then the page reloads just fine.

I'll have to look into it some more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-08-31 10:20

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Still does not work for me - sorry I submitted "Works For Me" 
by mistake

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: ksj (skang)
Date: 2005-08-31 10:17

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First, thanks a lot for checking this problem. 

Your test code does work. To reproduce my problem, please 
unzip my attached file and put it in "test" folder under the 
dynapi's "examples" folder. "desktop.html" is the entrance 
page. Please follow steps below to see the problem:

==========================================
Problem for IE6:

Step 1: browse page: "desktop.html" and remember what's in 
the the lower frame of the screen.

Step 2: click "Set Desktop" button to redraw the lower frame 
of the screen. You can see how the yellow layer and blue 
layer disappear.

==========================================
BTW, I just found another problem for the same code when 
running it in firefox 1.0.1. Below are the steps to reproduce 
the problem:

Step 1: browse page: "desktop.html" and remember what's in 
the upper frame of the screen.

Step 2: click the browser's "reload" button to refresh the page.
You'll see that "toolbar1" disappears

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: L W (warp9pnt9)
Date: 2005-08-31 09:06

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Also, let us know what specific version of DynAPI you are
using.  I did not see the problem with dynapi-3.0.0-beta2. 
So provide a complete example of the failure, and the DynAPI
version you're using.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment By: Andrew Gillett (agillett)
Date: 2005-08-30 23:48

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I haven't been able to reproduce this error. My test case is
http://dynapi.sourceforge.net/releases/dynapi3x/test/006.Redraw.html

Can you supply the complete code for your example that fails?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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