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Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

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Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#41

Post by jbr »

lftl wrote: post #28
jbr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you using for server side dom manipulation? jsdom? apricot? node-xml? libxmljs? I spent a lot of the weekend working on a webcrawler, but couldn't find a xml parser that didn't choke on the internet-at-large. Any chance you'd consider open-sourcing?

I haven't seen their code, but I'm not sure why you'd need server side DOM manipulation for this. I'd implement all of that in the browser, and just let the server handle passing events back and forth.

Since they're proxying the page, they replace all s with proxy s, as well as adding a and a with some content to the bottom. Try viewing source on http://starcraft2destroyedmymarrage.no.de:3000/app/4

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#42

Post by jbr »

defen wrote: post #36
jbr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you using for server side dom manipulation? jsdom? apricot? node-xml? libxmljs? I spent a lot of the weekend working on a webcrawler, but couldn't find a xml parser that didn't choke on the internet-at-large. Any chance you'd consider open-sourcing?

Do you have any examples of the kinds of things that libxmljs choked on?

I don't recall the urls - I was recursively crawling from a user-provided seed url and had trouble with apricot, node-xml, and libxmljs. I had the least time to play w/ libxmljs because of hassle w/ joyent --- I had to compile v8 and node to link against and scons wasn't playing nice w/ the build environment.

--

Edit: I should add that I'm using libxmljs in production (http://newsbasis.com/news) as an rss parser (streaming sax-push-parser) and it works quite well for that sort of xml.

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#43

Post by rictic »

benkant wrote: post #30
points wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fun, yes, but at the same time, it's nostalgic. We've had such technology for decades. There have been desktop sharing apps for years, in Java applets etc. So whilst it's cool that the browser wars are generating a ton of improvements, none of them so far are really things that will blow users minds. HTML5 is just catching up to where other platforms were 10 years ago.

Agreed. In some ways the browser actually lowered people's expectations of what "computers" can do. Perhaps the focus shifted. When I first saw Wolf3D as a kid I was amazed that the computer could do that. Same when I first used a GIS. These days when people get "excited" about something like Facebook, it's not because it's a technical achievement. It's something more human. Which perhaps is why I don't get it. Maybe…

I think that your final point has the most explanatory power.

Everyone knows that a sufficiently geeky person can make a computer do magical things.

However, apps (in the general sense) become much more exciting when they gain wide appeal, and the difficult discovery, install, setup, and maintenance experience of earlier approaches were an enormous drag on their wide success.

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#44

Post by CrabDude »

spyder wrote: post #39
mike-cardwell wrote: post #24

I'd love to be able to just add a script tag to my website, and then log into some web based service which shows me a list of the current sessions on my website allowing me to click on one of those sessions and monitor their progress through the site using this dom mirroring technique. There must be money to be made in this sort of service?

http://www.clicktale.com

Serrano is about something fundamentally different than this. We're not talking about viewing, we're talking about interacting with, guiding, troubleshooting, and participating with the users AS THEY VIEW YOUR SITE.

Also, I've used your API, and I'm not sure if you've updated it since then, but attaching attributes / classes to the elements to track was and is pretty awful.

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#45

Post by CrabDude »

Groxx wrote: post #31

Pretty cool, potentially very handy, though I wonder why they didn't synchronize scrolling.

10+ people on a site with scrolling synced would likely be a very frustrating experience, especially for people to demo, but it's likely something we'll add when we have the experience right. =)

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#46

Post by gbissett »

xtacy wrote: post #32
points wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fun, yes, but at the same time, it's nostalgic. We've had such technology for decades. There have been desktop sharing apps for years, in Java applets etc. So whilst it's cool that the browser wars are generating a ton of improvements, none of them so far are really things that will blow users minds. HTML5 is just catching up to where other platforms were 10 years ago.

What's even great is that all these technologies are more or less platform agnostic. What is developed on a PC will work instantly on a Mac/iPhone/tablet/what not!

Yeah it's sweet. The only problem is keeping up with the current definition of "work".

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#47

Post by mike-cardwell »

MisterWebz wrote: post #40
deskamess wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... or customer support.

Yes, with the user's permission.

I'm not sure why you'd need the users permission to view what they're doing on your site in real time? I don't feel like I need to gain permission before I tail my access log when people are viewing my website? How is this any different?

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#48

Post by MisterWebz »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #47
MisterWebz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, with the user's permission.

I'm not sure why you'd need the users permission to view what they're doing on your site in real time? I don't feel like I need to gain permission before I tail my access log when people are viewing my website? How is this any different?

So you're telling you wouldn't mind someone watching every single mouse click and every word you type on a website without your consent?

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#49

Post by mike-cardwell »

MisterWebz wrote: post #48
mike-cardwell wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why you'd need the users permission to view what they're doing on your site in real time? I don't feel like I need to gain permission before I tail my access log when people are viewing my website? How is this any different?

So you're telling you wouldn't mind someone watching every single mouse click and every word you type on a website without your consent?

The "someone" is the person running the website. So no, of course I don't mind. What is the danger?

I already leave a log of my IP address, the web browser I'm using, the links I click, the time/date of my visit and any data that I submit through forms. If they want to monitor my mouse position as well, then fine.

Re: Node.js used to mirror DOM across browsers

#50

Post by MisterWebz »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #49
MisterWebz wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're telling you wouldn't mind someone watching every single mouse click and every word you type on a website without your consent?

The "someone" is the person running the website. So no, of course I don't mind. What is the danger? I already leave a log of my IP address, the web browser I'm using, the links I click, the time/date of my visit and any data that I submit through forms. If they want to monitor my mouse position as well, then fine.

You're talking about small websites. I'm talking about websites with a lot of traffic and a lot of employees. You think only one person will be using that function? Not to mention the potential abuse by employees whose job is to monitor real-time user activity.
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