Rails spinoffs - Jan 2006 - problem with xul/prototype experiment: "bind" method not found

Hi everyone,

I was playing around with xul + prototype, and everything seemed to be
going well until I ran into a wall - there seems to be some problem I
can''t explain with Function.prototype.bind, for instance when I run
this code:

               try {
			new Ajax.Request("http://localhost:3000/search/hello", {
				onComplete: this.onHelloComplete.bind(this)
			});
		} catch (e) {
			alert(e);
		}

I get an exception printed that says "TypeError:
this.onHelloComplete.bind is not a function".  I''ve done some more
experimenting and confirmed that my functions just don''t have bind
methods.

I''m a little fuzzy on the more advanced aspects of javascript like
this: can someone more knowledgable please give me a brief explanation
about why "bind" works?  In other words, how is it that
Function.prototype.bind is available on every function object?  I
can''t get my head wrapped around the "bind" implementation...

And if anyone has more direct ideas on what the problem could be (why
it''s not working in the xul environment specifically), I''d
love to
hear them.

Thanks,
Steve

Just for the record, I figured out the problem.  There is a bug in the
XUL JS engine (going WAY back) that prevents methods from being added
dynamically to Function or RegExp.  Apparently other classes should be
ok.

References:

http://groups.google.com/group/netscape.public.mozilla.jseng/browse_thread/thread/333a37784e94bfb1/a11efcdd083031e2?lnk=st&q=xul+function+prototype+group%3Anetscape.*&rnum=3&hl=en#a11efcdd083031e2

http://groups.google.com/group/netscape.public.mozilla.jseng/browse_thread/thread/89864da5f416b06a/5ca35cfd850cc006?lnk=st&q=xul+function+prototype+group%3Anetscape.*&rnum=1&hl=en#5ca35cfd850cc006

The bug:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=300079


Which means I''ll probably be making my own XUL-friendly
prototype.js...fun.

-Steve

On 1/28/06, Steve Conover
<sconover-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I was playing around with xul + prototype, and everything seemed to be
> going well until I ran into a wall - there seems to be some problem I
> can''t explain with Function.prototype.bind, for instance when I
run
> this code:
>
>                try {
>                         new
Ajax.Request("http://localhost:3000/search/hello", {
>                                 onComplete: this.onHelloComplete.bind(this)
>                         });
>                 } catch (e) {
>                         alert(e);
>                 }
>
> I get an exception printed that says "TypeError:
> this.onHelloComplete.bind is not a function".  I''ve done some
more
> experimenting and confirmed that my functions just don''t have bind
> methods.
>
> I''m a little fuzzy on the more advanced aspects of javascript like
> this: can someone more knowledgable please give me a brief explanation
> about why "bind" works?  In other words, how is it that
> Function.prototype.bind is available on every function object?  I
> can''t get my head wrapped around the "bind"
implementation...
>
> And if anyone has more direct ideas on what the problem could be (why
> it''s not working in the xul environment specifically),
I''d love to
> hear them.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>

Attached is my inital go at making prototype safe in XUL.  If anyone
has any followup questions or (later on) wants to get ahold of my latest
prototype.js for XUL, email me.

What I''ve done to get prototype to work is change bind from a
prototype method to a freestanding function that takes the necessary
params.  Decidedly unsexy, but it works (so far).

Regards,
Steve

On 1/29/06, Steve Conover
<sconover-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Just for the record, I figured out the problem.  There is a bug in the
> XUL JS engine (going WAY back) that prevents methods from being added
> dynamically to Function or RegExp.  Apparently other classes should be
> ok.
>
> References:
>
>
http://groups.google.com/group/netscape.public.mozilla.jseng/browse_thread/thread/333a37784e94bfb1/a11efcdd083031e2?lnk=st&q=xul+function+prototype+group%3Anetscape.*&rnum=3&hl=en#a11efcdd083031e2
>
>
http://groups.google.com/group/netscape.public.mozilla.jseng/browse_thread/thread/89864da5f416b06a/5ca35cfd850cc006?lnk=st&q=xul+function+prototype+group%3Anetscape.*&rnum=1&hl=en#5ca35cfd850cc006
>
> The bug:
>
> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=300079
>
>
> Which means I''ll probably be making my own XUL-friendly
prototype.js...fun.
>
> -Steve
>
> On 1/28/06, Steve Conover
<sconover-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I was playing around with xul + prototype, and everything seemed to be
> > going well until I ran into a wall - there seems to be some problem I
> > can''t explain with Function.prototype.bind, for instance when
I run
> > this code:
> >
> >                try {
> >                         new
Ajax.Request("http://localhost:3000/search/hello", {
> >                                 onComplete:
this.onHelloComplete.bind(this)
> >                         });
> >                 } catch (e) {
> >                         alert(e);
> >                 }
> >
> > I get an exception printed that says "TypeError:
> > this.onHelloComplete.bind is not a function".  I''ve done
some more
> > experimenting and confirmed that my functions just don''t have
bind
> > methods.
> >
> > I''m a little fuzzy on the more advanced aspects of javascript
like
> > this: can someone more knowledgable please give me a brief explanation
> > about why "bind" works?  In other words, how is it that
> > Function.prototype.bind is available on every function object?  I
> > can''t get my head wrapped around the "bind"
implementation...
> >
> > And if anyone has more direct ideas on what the problem could be (why
> > it''s not working in the xul environment specifically),
I''d love to
> > hear them.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Steve
> >
>

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