Secret copy to clipboard JavaScript function in Chrome and Firefox?

Question

Update

Looks like browsers are starting to support copy natively in JS

In the console windows of both Chrome and Firefox on Mac I can execute

copy("party in your clipboard!");

and the text gets copied to my clipboard. I have searched SO and Google and can't seem to find anything on this.

Are these specific to each browser?
Where can I find more information on these JavaScript functions?

Browser versions:

alt text

JavaScript returned from Chrome console when executing 'copy'

function (object)
    {
        if (injectedScript._type(object) === "node") {
            var nodeId = InjectedScriptHost.pushNodePathToFrontend(object, false, false);
            InjectedScriptHost.copyNode(nodeId);
        } else
            InjectedScriptHost.copyText(object);
    }

What does this code mean?

Here are 2 screenshots of executing copy function in Chrome console with all chrome extensions disabled

alt text

I'm no C++ programmer, but I found `void InjectedScriptHost::copyText(const String& text)` in http://opensource.apple.com/source/WebCore/WebCore-7533.18.1/inspector/InjectedScriptHost.cpp — Kai, Dec 30 '10 at 01:36
@Kai, Hmmmmmm... looks like maybe it is built in to Apple's open source webkit then? — Mike Grace, Dec 30 '10 at 02:03
Unfortunately this command doesn't work from a Chrome extension, so it must be specific to the developer tools console in WebKit. — atomicules, Mar 23 '11 at 11:11
It looks like this works without Firebug as well. :D https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Web_Console/Helpers — Stefnotch, Apr 02 '16 at 15:52

Yi Jiang · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-30T01:33:44.623

I believe these are predefined Firebug console functions - at least that seems to be the case for Firebug. If you try calling window.copy for instance, you'll get a warning about function not defined, so it's definitely not a browser function, and cannot be used in normal JavaScript files. The following functions also seems to work in the JavaScript console, after playing around with it a bit:

clear()
profile()

Running these in the Chrome console reveals the source behind these functions in the Webkit console:

> profile
function ()
{
return console.profile.apply(console, arguments)
}

> clear
function ()
{
InjectedScriptHost.clearConsoleMessages();
}

> copy
function (object)
{
if (injectedScript._type(object) === "node")
object = object.outerHTML;
InjectedScriptHost.copyText(object);
}

While the Firebug source also defines a list of functions:

this.clear = function()  // no web page interaction
{
    Firebug.Console.clear(context);
};

this.inspect = function(obj, panelName)  // no web page interaction
{
    Firebug.chrome.select(obj, panelName);
};

this.keys = function(o)
{
    return FBL.keys(o);  // the object is from the page, unwrapped
};

this.values = function(o)
{
    return FBL.values(o); // the object is from the page, unwrapped
};

// etc...

Seems that this doesn't work in Chrome 44 when using node-inspector debugging console. `Clipboard is not enabled in hosted mode. Please inspect using chrome://inspect` — jcollum, Jul 28 '15 at 19:41
Nice. This works in Chrome Version 61.0.3163.100 (Official Build) (64-bit)! — Shanimal, Oct 14 '17 at 05:44
On my Chrome developer tool looks like it's working and also works `window.copy('content')` (on Firefox only with `copy('content')` works) — morhook, Jul 11 '18 at 21:33

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 20 '20 at 18:06

3

Here you can see the reference copy command of Chrome Dev tools: https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/console/utilities#copy

You shouldn't use this commands on real JS cross-browsers (just for debugging on the console so-to-speak).

edited Mar 20 '20 at 18:06

Bergi

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answered Jul 11 '18 at 21:40

morhook

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Secret copy to clipboard JavaScript function in Chrome and Firefox?

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