I'm trying to understand how to properly handle a multiple-tab scenario for web extension that, through the native-messaging API, utilizes a locally stored application through a runtime communication port.
I have one set up and working; but I don't understand what is supposed to take place when more than one browser tab uses the native application. I was planning on opening the native application only once to handle requests from all tabs that can use it, but am uncertain now. I should probably state that the application remains open and listening for new requests rather than closing after each individual request. It's opened by the background script which handles the requests from each tab's content script.
What happens if a request to the native application from one tab is still processing and a user switches to another tab and sends an additional request to the same native application? Will both requests process, is the second blocked, or will the first cease mid way and the second begin?
I can alter the set up to open a separate instance of the native application for each tab. At least I can see multiple processes open in the task manager rather than one only, when I do this.
Even in the scenario of one instance of the native application per browser tab, what happens if the user clicks the button twice, so to speak, before the first request completes? Should there always be a native_app_busy check that ignores the second request if the first is still processing?
I have a lot of experimenting to do, of course, but thought it prudent to ask how it is supposed to work. Thank you.
Related
I'm making a client management system in Laravel and ReactJS. I use Laravel for the backend and the api and ReactJS (with Context API) for the frontend of course.
I want to add a tracking timer into my application so the idea is that you can click on a button and select a client and it will start a timer, when you click on the stop button it will stop the timer and the time passed, is how much you spend working for that client.
My question is when should I send the time spend to the backend API?
My ideas:
After the users clicked on the stop button.
Every single minute (but with this technique the client will send a lot of requests to the backend).
NOTE: When a user refreshes the page the timer needs to continue where it left off.
Does anyone have some advice on how to do this?
From your requirement, I guess that's fair enough when the stop button is clicked. In fact, you may capture the date-time
once start is clicked
once again when the stop button is clicked also find the difference between these two to identify the time consumed in your client application.
This way, refreshing the page will have no impact since these are loosely coupled.
Cortana background apps provide deep linking capabilities, which allow the developer to link to a specific page within her app. I'm wondering if it's possible to open a different application instead, for example a web browser.
My current work-around is to deep-link into my app, and then call Windows.System.Launcher.launchUriAsync as soon as my app is launched. However, this means that the app opens along of the web browser. I would like it to not open at all! Is that possible?
From the MSDN page for LaunchUriAsync:
Unless you are calling this API from a Classic Windows application, this API must be called from within an ASTA thread (also known as a UI thread).
Unfortunately, Cortana's background task is not a UI thread. You're running as a background task, and communicating to Cortana's UI via a set of APIs provided for that purpose, which are limited by design.
Anything you try to do that requires you to be in the UI thread is going to fail for the same reason. You could try hosting the web control in your app however to remove the chain-launched browser from the equation.
I could not think of a better title, Please suggest one.
I am planning to work on a large web application. It will take time to load the full application before application starts functioning.
Suppose its something like asana.com. If you have a link to the task and you open the link. It loads the application first and then shows the detail of the task.
Note: I have added another example in update 2
I want to do just the opposite. Suppose if I try to open the link directly. It should show me the tasks details first and then load the whole application in background.
What development strategy should I follow to implement such feature. Will angular be good for this? I have worked with angular for small projects and am capable of think in angular :)
I just wanted to be pointed in right direction.
Update 1:
I am using Apache2 PHP5 in backing as ReST API. I am thinking to change to GoLang http server. But that does not matter in this context :)
Update 2:
I have not yet started working on the application, but I know that its size is going to be big and its going to take time to load the application. This will be a javascript application, all the communication to web will be done mostly by API. APIs will be fast and it wont be slowing down the application. My main concern is the javascript library and the approach to the issue that I want to display the content of the page before the application is loaded and load the application in background.
As second example: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/a-journey-through-middle/gjgkjeheegjnnmheaflhdocglkiegoni?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
If you open this link in chrome, it will load the application and then load the specific content in a popup. I want to load the content of the popup first and then load the application in background. How should I write my application to achieve that.
My suggestion (and I say this as I start to do similar vs. having proven it successful) would be to make some level of framework fairly static so that users get an almost instant response to the site loaded and then start the angular app with something like this
angular.bootstrap(document.getElementById("container"), ["app"])
Ref for the api - https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng/function/angular.bootstrap
Ref for a demonstration of this - https://egghead.io/lessons/angularjs-angular-bootstrap-app-init
My expectation then is that you will be able to
Load your static elements quickly (which will just have placeholders for your content/material)
Access the data you want in the order you want to get it to present on the screen
Release any other part of the app you need to chrome it up/decorate or populate side items.
Our application is a one-page application created using ExtJs. For any user action, the browser tab is never reloaded and all the actions are performed using ajax. A user can open/close multiple ExtJs windows/panels within the same browser tab, and this way everything remains confined to the same browser tab.
Now, we need to integrate payment gateway in the application, which involves redirecting the user to the bank website and having her brought back to our application.
The issue is that when browser redirects the user, then all the application javascript code along with panels and windows get destroyed, and when the user comes back to the application then she finds it to be different from one she left.
As a solution to this, we were thinking of using following two appraoches:
Option 1. Maintaining the state of application - When user leaves for the bank's website then somehow we maintain the state of application - like which windows are opened carrying what data, which variables have which values etc.. and when user returns back, we generate the same application state for her.
Option 2. Have a browser pop-up window for payment gateway - We intend to provide a button which will open a small pop-up window carrying the transaction details, and in this pop-up window the entire payment gateway process will take place taking care of redirection and everything.
Option 1 is proving to be very cumbersome and complicated as maintaining the exact state is not getting feasible.
For Option 2, we are not sure if this is safe and possible?
Has anyone implemented such an approach earlier. Otherwise, what are the other options which we can go for?
Thanks for any help in advance.
I faced the problem and I implemented it using websocket/polling in the main application while a new window pops up for the payment.
After the payment is successful the main application will be notified.
That way each payment runs in it own sandbox totally unbound from the main application which makes maintenance quite easy. Note that our backend create a new session for each payment using the existing one.
I think it is not uncommon to open new windows for payment that's why I decided to go this.
I have one problem with IE7. Let me explain the scenario
I have opened my web based application in IE7 browser in TAB1 by using normal login feature. After successful login, i entered to the application home page and i do with my normal transaction say Trans1. Now i want to open my application again in another tab TAB2 in the same browser window.. what happens IE7 won't allow me to login on my application in the login page, it directly enters to the home page and when i do one transaction say "Trans2" it is going smoothly. Now when i again went to the TAB1 and doing one transaction it is opening the TAB2 page that i opened in TAB2.
It seems IE7 is sharing same session cookie in multiple tabs. Is there a workaround for the same scenario.
Anyone have any solution for this problem.
Appreaciate your help in this regard.
Thanks,
Manoja Swaro
It seems IE7 is sharing same session cookie in multiple tabs. Is there a workaround for the same scenario.
Well no. Cookies are by design shared between all instances of the same browser, whether in multiple tabs or multiple windows. You can only get two separate sessions by using different browsers, like an instance of IE and one of Firefox.
This changes a little in IE8, but in quite a complicated way you probably don't want to rely on. See http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/05/06/session-cookies-sessionstorage-and-ie8.aspx
This is why you should generally not be using cookies/sessions for keeping track of partially-completed transactions; one transaction will always interfere with the other. Better to either:
keep track of all incomplete transaction data in page/form data, like hidden fields
if that's too much data to keep passing back and forth, create an ID for the transaction that is remembered through page data, and store the actual data in the database.
You can also use a unique ID tied to the page to generate more unique cookie names, eg. 'preference.1234=foo' instead of just 'preference=foo', so that each instance will have its own cookies.
Yes. IE shares session/cookie between tabs.
Try to run a new browser (i.e. from Start menu) -- it helped with older versions of IE
and it works with my IE7.
AFAIK This happens with all tabbed browsers (FF for example).
Indeed, this is how all tabbed browsers work. Cookies are shared among all tabs. However they are not shared among multiple instances of the same application, but I doubt this will help you.
This is actually a serious problem for many applications. It is very difficult to keep track of the tabs - which are open, which are closed, when a new tab opens, and when an existing one makes a request.
There is one workaround I have found, but it's pretty messy. The idea is that you have to assign a unique ID to every tab yourself. Then, when a tab performs some actions, this ID has to be posted back to the server. Depending on the architecture of your application, the ID can be passed around in URLs or hidden form fields. If you're doing AJAX, this can make it easier to find a common place to add the ID. ASP.NET also has just one form at all times, so the hidden field is easy to do.
Naturally, on the server side you must check this ID and implement your own "tab sessions" based on it.