quixsilver :: blog

Yes we all know it… but I’ll say it again: Internet Explorer sucks! I had hoped IE7 would bring some change to that fact, but it hasn’t. As a normal user you might think it’s ok, but if you’re a developer that uses javascript on a webpage, then you know what I mean.My entire day was spent going through each page and functionality of an web application in IE7. This would be doable, if not for the javascript errors I got on every single page. I’m glad I got IE7 to tell me the errors with warning dialogs, but they’re not really helping at all:A runtime Error has occurred.Do you want to debug?Line: 109Error: expected identifierConsider this error when you don’t have a debugger… it really doesn’t tell me anything usefull. The error “expected identifier” can mean a lot in IE7. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, you find out that the line number isn’t the line in the original code, but the line in the IE7 parsed page source.So how did I fix it? Well, with lot’s of trial-and-error, I can just give some tips:

• NEVER EVER use the word ‘class‘ in your javascript code (not even as a parameter!) as IE will see it as the reserved word class. So basically, never use any reserved word!
• Don’t expect IE to do any smart type-casting, FireFox might get the right result in most cases but IE will never get it right. Just cast everything that might need casting to prevent IE suckage. (very important when using Script.aculo.us’s $(), $A() and H() functions)
• Make sure functions used in DOM objects (onclick="foo(bar);") are defined before the definition of the object. But be aware of backreferences in your code to an DOM object not yet defined! ( $('some_dom') in Script.aculo.us)
• Build your javascript code on top of some cross-browser framework (crossbrowser, Script.aculo.us, …) to prevent most common issues regarding cross-browser use of javascript
• Download a IE7 debugger (MS Script Debugger, MS Script Editor, …), in most cases this will show you the actual line of the error and some basic debugging
• Search for plugins for IE that can do:
  • Show you more information about imported javascript files
  • Real-time javascript parsing (for debugging variables)
  • Dom object browser (parsed page-sourcecode)
  • HTTP(S) viewer to see your AJAX calls
  • DebugBar, IE Dom Inspector, IEWatch
• Try to narrow down your error buy out-commenting blocks of code
• Search for people with the same problems on the Internet (might save you hours of trying)
• And most important: be very patient!

Good luck to all developers that need to debug JS in IE!

Every year the south of the Netherlands is transformed into a dutch Rio de Janeiro look-a-like. People dress up in costumes made of special fabrics and colored to be extreem. Those few days in February have just passed again, leaving an empty void in me.

I really love carnival, and await the preparations for next year with joy. The one thing I noticed this year was the change people go thru when carnival is coming. Suddenly you see people smiling and happy, wearing the most brightest colors they could find, while the rest of the year they pass you by in a grey mass of expressionless faces. Have we, as people, come to the point were we can only enjoy life on specified times? And do we feel obliged to do so? If so, how can we ever really enjoy ourselfs?

I caught myself being one of the people that sit in public transportation as a grey mass, and when I do, my face is just as expressionless. Still I hope to be different from the masses and, at least try to, always see the bright side of life. And with that thought in my head carnival won’t leave my life after it’s been celebrated, but only when I die…

When we were in Leipzig for the TMRA’06 conference, we were notified of another conference, to be held in Oslo in march 2007. So far, Morpheus has reported to be presenting two presentations concerning their work with educational and governmental organizations. We might be adding one to that list, to show the Topic Maps community a glimpse of our newly developed modules and technologies. Of course, I won’t tell you straight away what they are, but if you’re interested, join the Topic Maps 2007 conference and come see our presentations!

No, not my hair, and not my clothes… What’s changed is that strange thing resting on my nose, giving me a complete new look upon the world I thought I knew. Yes, I have glasses.

It all started when I noticed that I couldn’t read roadsigns when I was a navigator for someone. At some point I got annoyed with not being able to read them, because I’m planning to start my driving lessons soon. So, fearing the worst, I went to an optician to get my eyes measured. It turned out that I did need glasses to see thing far away. So from now on, I’m running around trying to get used to my glasses.

I’ll post a picture of me with glasses on my website as soon as I have one. For the time being, if you haven’t seen me yet with glasses, try to imagine…  As for the driving lessons? Well, Christmas and 2007 are coming soon now, so I made it into a good intention for the new year.

Well thats it, 2,5 days of conferencing gone in a blink of an eye. We started on tuesday after a 7,5 hour trip to Leipzig with some practical workshops. On wednesday the real conference presentations started. This year there were 35 presentations spread over 2 days and 2 tracks. So looking back I’ve seen about half of them, which is still a lot of complex information in a short time. However, hearing the other speakers present there work, ideas and reseach has had quite a possitve effect on me. We have seen many beautifull new technologies, products and ideas that we can use partitially or completely in our own work and research. So I think that when my brain settles down I will have some very nice new views and ideas on Topic Maps. I might publish some of them on this blog.

For now, I’m going to prepare myself for the 6 (hopefully less) hours of the trip back to Heerlen and have some fun in Walibi on friday.