My REST call doesn't run the page's javascript

Question

I'm using REST to POST (from Firefox's Poster) a url:

http://[ip]/page.jsp?paramater1=whatever&parameter2=whatever (Content Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded)

The page.jsp contains:

<body onload="onload()">
<script>
    document.forms["myform"].submit(); // just to be redundant
    function onload(){
        document.forms["myform"].submit(); // just to be redundant
    }
</script>
<form action="SessionTestDriver" method="post" id="myform">
    [form stuff]
</form>

But it doesn't seem to be submitting that form. If I manually load the page on a browser, everything works perfectly. It's just the REST call that does nothing.

Clearly I'm missing something. Advice?

SOLVED! Got it! The main jsp page just called a servlet on submit. I tried that servlet directly in the REST url instead of the jsp page and everything worked how I wanted!

Is that the actual HTML? If so, it shouldn't work, because the script runs before the `
` is loaded. — user2736012, Sep 13 '13 at 17:57
It's an approximation of the HTML, but it IS in that order. Do you think that it's worth trying with the reverse order? I guess I have nothing to lose! — user2391981, Sep 13 '13 at 18:15

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 13 '13 at 18:05

2

It sounds like you're making a request to a page that contains javascript, and you're concerned that the javascript on the requested page isn't running.

This is expected. When you request that page, the response is returned as a string, and that's it. The page isn't parsed, and javascript isn't evaluated. When you make an AJAX call, don't expect javascript in the page you're POSTing to to run.

(Sorry for explaining something so elementary if I've misunderstood your question.)

answered Sep 13 '13 at 18:05

Trevor Dixon

23,216
12
72
109

No no, I'm at a pretty elementary level. I was under the impression that the javascript would be executed with a POST call. Thanks for the answer. That being said, is there some way that a javascript form submit can be executed from outside the webapp at all? – user2391981 Sep 13 '13 at 18:11
Do you control page.jsp? If so, you should change it to make a `POST` request using java instead of having javascript submit a form. Maybe http://stackoverflow.com/a/4206094/711902 will help. – Trevor Dixon Sep 13 '13 at 18:29
Got it! The main jsp page just called a servlet on submit. I tried that servlet directly in the REST url instead of the jsp page and everything worked how I wanted! – user2391981 Sep 13 '13 at 20:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 13 '13 at 17:50

0

Not sure how HTML form and REST are being used, but you might want to make sure the document is loaded entirely first:

Try (if using jQuery)

<script>
    $(document).ready( function() { 
       $("#myform").submit();
    });
</script>

answered Sep 13 '13 at 17:50

JGreenwood

21
1

Where in the OP's question does it indicate jQuery is an option? – jfriend00 Sep 13 '13 at 17:51
You can't give an example of waiting for the DOM to load without using jQuery? – user2736012 Sep 13 '13 at 17:54
Sorry I should have added that in addition to the direct submit call, I also have function onload(){ document.forms["myform"].submit(); } – user2391981 Sep 13 '13 at 17:58

My REST call doesn't run the page's javascript

2 Answers2