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Alan

2006-Dec-25 09:09 UTC

Hiding contents of a js array in the view

Hi.

I am using the LocalAutocompleter and therefore the autocompleter object
needs to include an inlined javascript array that includes all the
possible results. I generate the array in the controller and pass it to
the view. The problem is that the whole array is included in the html
and users can see it if they look at the html source. I want to hide
this information from the user for 2 reasons: 1) it makes the html
source huge and 2) more important I want to only let users access it
through the autocomplete functionality. I don''t want them to see all
the
options.

Any help is appreciated!

Here is the relevant code:

Controller
   # rubyarray includes 2500 text entries
   rubyarray = array.inspect  # ''inspect'' makes array
''javascript-like''


View
   <javascript>
   var jsarray = new Array();
   jsarray = <%= @rubyarray %>  <-- here is where the array contents
get
exposed
   <javascript>

   ...

   <javascript>
    new Autocompleter.Local(..., ..., jsarray , {...} );
   <javascript>

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Alan

2006-Dec-26 08:15 UTC

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Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

bump. still interested in an answer if anyone has one!

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gaurav.v.bagga-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org

2006-Dec-26 08:39 UTC

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Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

hi,
  try json if it fits your need
  in my autocompleter I used it.
regards
gaurav

On Dec 26, 1:15 pm, Alan
<rails-mailing-l...-ARtvInVfO7ksV2N9l4h3zg@public.gmane.org>
wrote:> bump. still interested in an answer if anyone has one!
> 
> --
> Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/.

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Gustav Paul

2006-Dec-26 09:30 UTC

head link

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

Hi> The problem is that the whole array is included in the html
> and users can see it if they look at the html source. I want to hide
> this information from the user for 2 reasons: 
> 1) it makes the html source huge One way would be to simply define jsarray as a global variable in the
head of your HTML file on first page load. Then populate it with a
second ajax call after the page loads. I don''t know how the
Autocompleter handles that variable (I''ve never used
Autocompleter.Local
before), it looks as though updating jsarray after the page loads (with
the Autocompleter already initialized) won''t do much. If this is the
case, you could try setting the Autocompleter with the same rjs you''re
using to set jsarray.

Sadly, this approach will mean that you will have to spend two requests
per page load (the first being the actual page load, and the second an
ajax call to populate the array) If this is an in-house project or will
otherwise be receiving relatively little traffic this shouldn''t be much
of a problem. Also, this ajax call will take as long as typing something
in a regular Autocompleter would have taken to respond (if I''m correct)
so its not exactly blasphemous...

This could be done with something like the following

#view
<%=javascript_tag("var jsarray = new Array();")%>
<%=javascript_tag(remote_function(:url => {...}))%>

#controller
def foo
    some_array = #populate some_array

    render(:update) do |page|
       page.assign(''jsarray'', some_array.inspect)
       #cool use of inspect btw,
       #rails has ''array_or_string_for_javascript'',
       #but inspect is pretty cool

        page << "new Autocompleter.Local(..., ..., jsarray , {...} );
"
#the line from your view
    end
end> 2) more important I want to only let users access it through the
> autocomplete functionality. I don''t want them to see all the
options.If this is your greatest issue, you could try looking at encoding the
array so humans will have a difficult time seeing the values?

jsarray = [''f^o^o'', ''b^a^r'']
for (int i=0; i < jsarray.length; i++)
  jsarray[i].replace(/\^/, '''');

Of course you should use slightly better encryption ;)

You could have a hash that maps encoded letters to their real counterparts?

enc_hash = {b: "a",
                       c: "b",
                       ....}

jsarray = new Array();
//these are the ''encrypted'' values that the original jsarray
would have had
encoded_array = [''bc'', ''cb'']

for(int word=0; word < encoded_array.length; word++)
{
  endstr = "";
  for(int letter=0; letter < encoded_array[word].length; letter++)
    endstr += enc_hash[encoded_array[word][letter]];
  jsarray.push(enstr)
}

jsarray == [''ab'', ''ba''] // true

It''s been a while since I did anything with javascript so the above
might not work, but I got carried away and couldn''t stop ;)

A third possibility would be to look at the Unobtrusive Javascript
Plugin (http://ujs4rails.com). I''ve never used it, but it sounded like
they magically got all your regular JS out of the html file being served
to the client? I might have misunderstood what they do but it should
still be a good source of inspiration? This could let you define the
jsarray exactly as you do now, but have it somewhere (an automatically
generated .js file that gets served alongside the html without you
telling it to? I don''t know how they do it) other than the html source
of the page.

I can''t think of any other ways at the moment, but maybe someone else
in
here has faced a similar problem?

Cheery-o
Gustav Paul

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Alan

2006-Dec-26 14:02 UTC

head link

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

These are all excellent suggestions! I really like the encryption idea 
which could be simple enough to do and I''ll also check out ujs4rails 
which if it does just what you suggest could be perfect.
thanks for taking the time for the reply! very appreciated.

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Jason Roelofs

2006-Dec-26 15:32 UTC

head link

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

On 12/26/06, Gustav Paul <gustav-PUm+PnBUKx7YkQIYctQFYw@public.gmane.org>
wrote:>
>
> Hi
> > The problem is that the whole array is included in the html
> > and users can see it if they look at the html source. I want to hide
> > this information from the user for 2 reasons:
> > 1) it makes the html source huge
> One way would be to simply define jsarray as a global variable in the
> head of your HTML file on first page load. Then populate it with a
> second ajax call after the page loads. I don''t know how the
> Autocompleter handles that variable (I''ve never used
Autocompleter.Local
> before), it looks as though updating jsarray after the page loads (with
> the Autocompleter already initialized) won''t do much. If this is
the
> case, you could try setting the Autocompleter with the same rjs
you''re
> using to set jsarray.
>
> Sadly, this approach will mean that you will have to spend two requests
> per page load (the first being the actual page load, and the second an
> ajax call to populate the array) If this is an in-house project or will
> otherwise be receiving relatively little traffic this shouldn''t be
much
> of a problem. Also, this ajax call will take as long as typing something
> in a regular Autocompleter would have taken to respond (if I''m
correct)
> so its not exactly blasphemous...
>
> This could be done with something like the following
>
> #view
> <%=javascript_tag("var jsarray = new Array();")%>
> <%=javascript_tag(remote_function(:url => {...}))%>
>
> #controller
> def foo
>     some_array = #populate some_array
>
>     render(:update) do |page|
>        page.assign(''jsarray'', some_array.inspect)
>        #cool use of inspect btw,
>        #rails has ''array_or_string_for_javascript'',
>        #but inspect is pretty cool
>
>         page << "new Autocompleter.Local(..., ..., jsarray ,
{...} ); "
> #the line from your view
>     end
> end
> > 2) more important I want to only let users access it through the
> > autocomplete functionality. I don''t want them to see all the
options.
> If this is your greatest issue, you could try looking at encoding the
> array so humans will have a difficult time seeing the values?
>
> jsarray = [''f^o^o'', ''b^a^r'']
> for (int i=0; i < jsarray.length; i++)
>   jsarray[i].replace(/\^/, '''');
>
> Of course you should use slightly better encryption ;)
>
> You could have a hash that maps encoded letters to their real
> counterparts?
>
> enc_hash = {b: "a",
>                        c: "b",
>                        ....}
>
> jsarray = new Array();
> //these are the ''encrypted'' values that the original
jsarray would have
> had
> encoded_array = [''bc'', ''cb'']
>
> for(int word=0; word < encoded_array.length; word++)
> {
>   endstr = "";
>   for(int letter=0; letter < encoded_array[word].length; letter++)
>     endstr += enc_hash[encoded_array[word][letter]];
>   jsarray.push(enstr)
> }
>
> jsarray == [''ab'', ''ba''] // true
>
> It''s been a while since I did anything with javascript so the
above
> might not work, but I got carried away and couldn''t stop ;)
>
> A third possibility would be to look at the Unobtrusive Javascript
> Plugin (http://ujs4rails.com). I''ve never used it, but it sounded
like
> they magically got all your regular JS out of the html file being served
> to the client? I might have misunderstood what they do but it should
> still be a good source of inspiration? This could let you define the
> jsarray exactly as you do now, but have it somewhere (an automatically
> generated .js file that gets served alongside the html without you
> telling it to? I don''t know how they do it) other than the html
source
> of the page.
>
> I can''t think of any other ways at the moment, but maybe someone
else in
> here has faced a similar problem?
>
> Cheery-o
> Gustav Paul
>
> >
>Unobtrusive JavaScript is simply for PrototypeHelper calls, it''s not
going
to magically move all Javascript out of the HTML. With this plugin, any call
to remote_form_for, etc gets an entry in ujs.js (something liek that) which
registers the associated DOM elements with AJAX calls, leaving your HTML
clean of JS with a bonus of being sure that your site works when javascript
is turned off.

As for hiding information from people, you *don''t* put it in
Javascript. It
doesn''t matter how hard you try, if you want something hidden, keep it
on
the server because JavaScript and HTML sources are impossible to
"hide".
Seeing as you want autocomplete, you''re going at it entirely wrong.
Autocomplete should be AJAX calls back to the server as the contents of the
text-field change for the reason you mentioned earlier: the list of possible
choices can be HUGE.

Besides, Rails already includes everything you need for autocomplete:
http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionController/Macros/AutoComplete/ClassMethods.html

Jason

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Alan

2006-Dec-30 21:18 UTC

head link

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

> As for hiding information from people, you *don''t* put it in
Javascript.
> It
> doesn''t matter how hard you try, if you want something hidden,
keep it
> on
> the server because JavaScript and HTML sources are impossible to
"hide".
> Seeing as you want autocomplete, you''re going at it entirely
wrong.
> Autocomplete should be AJAX calls back to the server as the contents of 
> the
> text-field change for the reason you mentioned earlier: the list of 
> possible
> choices can be HUGE.
> 
> Besides, Rails already includes everything you need for autocomplete:
>
http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionController/Macros/AutoComplete/ClassMethods.html
THanks Jason.

I already done it this way but it was slowwww. *Every key the user 
enters* contacts the server over the network, issues a query against the 
database (against about 2500 entries that pretty much don''t change) and
returns the results. The overhead is too much (At least for my use case) 
and therefore I chose to use the LocalAutocompleter which requires you 
to pass in a javascript array instead of querying the database on the 
server. And that''s where my problem comes from. According to you there 
is no solution to hiding it?

Alon.

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Rails - Dec 2006 - Hiding contents of a js array in the view

Hiding contents of a js array in the view

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view

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Re: Hiding contents of a js array in the view