Remote Scripting with Hidden IFrame

Back button has probs in Firefox

[webdevsf]

Hi I'm trying Remote Scripting as in this article on Apple's site: [developer.apple.com...]

The problem is that the back button solution does not work with Firefox.

MOre generally, the back button problem seems endemic to some browsers and there doesn't seem to be a good solution.

Anyone have experience with this, or able to accomplish the same thing with a different technique?

[edited by: BlobFisk at 1:54 pm (utc) on June 29, 2004]
[edit reason] Fixed link [/edit]

[BlobFisk]

This is a common problem and when dealing with iFrames the behaviour of the back button depends on where the focus is set.

You can accomplish this with the likes of Java Applets, Flash, ActiveX plugins etc. But iFrames are the easiest way to do this.

[webdevsf]

I think I'm going to use XMLHTTP, which is supported in IE, Safari, and Firefox. It is faster and cleaner than hidden Iframes, and doesn't affect the back button.

Additionally, gmail uses it, so those browsers that are behind the times (ie, Opera) will most likely catch up soon.

[Joshie76returns]

A different approach to remote scripting that I use a lot is to dynamically create <script src="myasp.asp?param=value&param=value" type="text/javascript"> elements... the script src file is then dynamically generated to do whatever it needs to do:

var oRsElm = document.createElement("script");
oRsElm.src = "myasp.asp?param=" + sValue;
oRsElm.type = "text/javascript";
document.body.appendChild(oRsElm);

Works fine in IE5+ and should work in Mozilla etc.

The main limitation is that you can only use the GET protocol and therefore are limited in the amount of data you can send to the server. It can also be a little difficult to debug.

Josh