Synchronizing Multiple WebDialogs

MartinRinehart

http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/webdialog.html#execute_script

I don't understand how this solves the problem.

I believe it's true that a WebDialog you instantiate via UI::WebDialog.new is unable to execute_script(). Only the WebDialog returned via an action callback can do so. This does not get an alert:


# t.rb

require 'sketchup'

wd = UI;;WebDialog.new "foo", true, "", 100, 100, 100, 100, true

wd.execute_script( 'alert( "hello from foo" );' )

If this is true, it's another thing to fix in the docs. Anyone care to confirm or contradict?

I have one idea, but it's a candidate for a Kolossal Kludge award.

thomthom

I've had no problems using .execute_script outside any event callbacks.

In that test of yours - there is no HTML. Maybe that prevents any scripts from executing..?

thomthom

Also - in that test - the dialog isn't shown...

thomthom

Yup - you need HTML content and show the dialog.


wd = UI;;WebDialog.new "foo", true, "", 100, 100, 100, 100, true
wd.set_html "<html><body>Hello World</body></html>"
wd.show
wd.execute_script( 'alert( "hello from foo" );' )

MartinRinehart

@thomthom said:

Yup - you need HTML content and show the dialog.


> wd = UI;;WebDialog.new "foo", true, "", 100, 100, 100, 100, true
> wd.set_html "<html><body>Hello World</body></html>"
> wd.show
> wd.execute_script( 'alert( "hello from foo" );' )
>

I get the dialog, but no alert. Do you get an alert?

thomthom

Yes - that exact sequence give me an alert box.

Mind you - I tried this in the console. Maybe the dialogue isn't immediately ready for execute_script is you run this as a continuous script. Maybe some delay is required. (Or have your webdialog JS send a "ready" message back to SU once it's loaded.)
sigh Webdialogs isn't smooth sailing... Even though I'm comfortable with HTML/CSS/JS - the communication between SU and webdialogs is .. well... bleh!

MartinRinehart

@thomthom said:

Yes - that exact sequence give me an alert box.

Mind you - I tried this in the console.

Bingo! In the console I get the alert. Now maybe I can bury my Kolossal Kludge.

Thanks.

thomthom

Ok - so when communicating with Webdialogs:

Initialize a Webdialog object.
Populate with HTML and display the dialog
Wait for a "ready" signal from the dialog before attempting any communication

This sounds like the check-list you have to follow in order to reliably establish communication? One for your Webdialog gotacha-thread.

RickW

One thing I've learned is to include a callback at the end of my html telling the script that the WebDialog is ready to receive communication, as you mentioned, and as I have mentioned in other threads.

chrisglasier

@rickw said:

One thing I've learned is to include a callback at the end of my html telling the script that the WebDialog is ready to receive communication, as you mentioned, and as I have mentioned in other threads.

Precisely, if you need a web dialog the web dialog has to run the show. Anything else is a pas de deux to nowhere.

MartinRinehart

@rickw said:

One thing I've learned is to include a callback at the end of my html telling the script that the WebDialog is ready

I don't understand. Maybe you are solving a different problem. Here's my situation, simplified to a single WebDialog.

User clicks button. (There is no button to click until the <body> is built, so calls from a button click can't happen prematurely - I think.) JS calls Ruby callback requesting data. Ruby fetches data and returns it to JS.

I think the "Ruby, data please" call also implies "Ruby, I'm ready". No? What am I missing?

thomthom

Ah! Didn't notice that the .show and .show_modal where block methods. That's useful to know. Saves that extra callback from the webdialog.

cjthompson

This gets an alert from a file, at least for me:

wd = UI;;WebDialog.new "foo", true, "", 100, 100, 100, 100, true
wd.set_html "<html><body>Hello World</body></html>"
wd.show{
wd.execute_script( 'alert( "hello from foo" );' )
}

What problem are you having, exactly?

MartinRinehart

@cjthompson said:

What problem are you having, exactly?

Thomthom didn't have a problem. I did.

The problem was that if you called wd.execute_script() after wd.show() (instead of in a block passed to wd.show() ) it failed.

Thank you for your clear code. Do you happen to know any more about when the show() block is actually executed than what the docs report?

Thanks.

cjthompson

not really. I pretty much just stumbled across it, and saw that it worked.

I don't really know much about DOM events or even html in general. Maybe you know how to execute a script that will show what state the browser is in, and execute that on show?

Jim

@martinrinehart said:

Do you happen to know any more about when the show() block is actually executed than what the docs report?

I assume it would be possible to devise some tests to track when it happens, using a javascript logger or something.

MartinRinehart

@jim said:

I assume it would be possible to devise some tests to track when it happens, using a javascript logger or something.

Jim, this is a sensitive and tender area! My VisMap did not originally support the Mac because of timing/thread issues. The simple answer was to postpone the start of Ruby/JS chat by forcing the user to click an otherwise unnecessary startup button.

If you find a tool that actually lets you step through the states of the browser, it would be invaluable.

chrisglasier

@martinrinehart said:

If you find a tool that actually lets you step through the states of the browser, it would be invaluable.

... for whom?

"This is commercial, for-profit work. At some point there will be a send-me-money feature added. At this point (mid-summer, 2009) that feature does not exist. The whole price right now is feedback. Tell me what works and what's unclear. Major mistakes and minor typos." [source]

Free content/editing from feedback seems as bad as free designs from competitions (much despised around here - example).