Fast way to redirect tab when new page is loading

Question

I'm trying to redirect a tab to a new page when the URL matches my pattern before it's done loading. The method I came up with does the redirection after a good part of the page is done loading yet.

var tabs = require("sdk/tabs");
var tab_utils = require("sdk/tabs/utils");

function logShow(tab) {
    console.log(tab.url + " is loaded; " + pattern.test(tab.url));
    if (pattern.test(tab.url)) {
        var lowLevelTab = viewFor(tab);
        console.log(tab_utils.setTabURL (lowLevelTab, newURL(tab.url)));

        // also simply replacing this bit with
        // tab.url = "foo" doesn't speed things up
    }
}

tabs.on('load', logShow);

Is there a good way of calling setTabURL (...) earlier?

just any fast sdk-friendly redirection _at all_? – yspreen Jul 20 '14 at 13:49 — yspreen, Jul 20 '14 at 13:49

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:57

3

I finally found the best way to do it:

function listener(event) {
    var channel = event.subject.QueryInterface(Ci.nsIHttpChannel);
    var url = event.subject.URI.spec;

    // Here you should evaluate the url and decide if make a redirect or not.
    if (pattern.test(url)) {
        // If you want to redirect to another url,
        // you have to abort current request, see: [1] (links below)
        channel.cancel(Cr.NS_BINDING_ABORTED);

        // Set the current gbrowser object (since
        // the user may have several windows/tabs)
        var goodies = loadContextGoodies(channel);
        var domWin = goodies.aDOMWindow;       // method suggested by
        var gBrowser = goodies.gBrowser;       // Noitidart [2] (links below)
        var browser = goodies.browser;         // for reference see comment below
        var htmlWindow = goodies.contentWindow;

        // and load the fixed URI
        browser.loadURI(newUrl(url));
    } else {
        // do nothing, let Firefox keep going on the normal flow
    }
}

exports.main = function() {
    events.on("http-on-modify-request", listener);
}

credit where credit is due: answer by matagus (on question asked by Andrew)

[1]: Link: Intercepting Page Loads
[2]: Noitidart: 'from topics: How can I change the User Agent in just one tab of Firefox? and Is it possible to know the target DOMWindow for an HTTPRequest?'

edited May 23 '17 at 11:57

Community

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answered Jul 20 '14 at 16:39

yspreen

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2

Nice to share the solution. However this line: `var gBrowser = utils.getMostRecentBrowserWindow().gBrowser;` is not the correct way, because it gets selected tab of the most recent window (assuming only 1 win). So do this instead: `var goodies = loadContextGoodies(channel); var domWin = goodies.aDOMWindow; var gBrowser = goodies.gBrowser; var browser = goodies.browser; var htmlWindow = goodies.contentWindow;` from topics: How can I change the User Agent in just one tab of Firefox? and [Is it possible to know the target DOMWindow for an HTTPRequest?](http://stackoverflow.com/a/10719827/1828637) – Noitidart Jul 21 '14 at 02:53
Thanks for the tip, I'll adjust my solution. The second link also seems pretty useful for me, since I want to check if the request is made from the address bar.. Wouldn't a response different to null indicate such? – yspreen Jul 21 '14 at 13:54
I guess thats just rubbish. Since we get the DOMWindow through the goodies object. But seriously, is there any way to seperate addressbar request from in-page-request? At all? – yspreen Jul 21 '14 at 14:34
Hm make a seperate topic on that question. It's a good question. (The identify if from address bar) – Noitidart Jul 21 '14 at 21:14
[there](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24886858/determine-http-request-location-origin-address-bar) you go – yspreen Jul 22 '14 at 13:46
1

Also instead of `cancel`ing and then `browser.loadURI`ing you can just use `channel.redirectTo`: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Tech/XPCOM/Reference/Interface/nsIHttpChannel#redirectTo%28%29 +1 for nice edits to your solution so it can help out people in future – Blagoh Jul 22 '14 at 17:22
1

At [this](http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2787479) post it looks like this doesnt really work flawlessly.. – yspreen Jul 22 '14 at 17:52
That looks like a bug with the FireBug add-on. It doesn't look like it's a problem with `redirectTo`. – Noitidart Jul 22 '14 at 21:22

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 20 '14 at 10:14

0

Never used sdk/tabs before, but you could load your content hidden.

Once your page has loaded your logShow function will run.

Then build into this function some "reveal body" functionality.

answered Jul 20 '14 at 10:14

But how would this get me to redirect the tab to a different location before the old url is done loading? I'm just trying to redirect the tab, not displaying any additional content.. Or did I get you wrong entirely here? – yspreen Jul 20 '14 at 10:18

Fast way to redirect tab when new page is loading

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