Dean Edwards releases base2 and base2.DOM beta

<p>Dean Edwards has put base2 and base2.DOM out in beta:

From now on base2 will be served from a permanent URL on googlecode. The URL will reflect the version number of the library. You can find the current (beta) libraries here.

base2.DOM has had a few months to mature now and there are no outstanding defects logged at googlecode. Iâ€™ll keep the code in beta for a month or two before issuing a final release. The API remains pretty much the same as when I first released base2.DOM. I have added some standards support to the style object but thatâ€™s about all.

Iâ€™m also releasing the core library, base2. Iâ€™ll blog more about this library sometime in the future. In the meantime you can browse the API and read the skeletal documentation

Dean wrote up an introduction to base2 where he covers the problems that he is trying to solve:

Inconsistent enumeration across platforms
instanceof doesnâ€™t always work
typeof is inconsistent (RegExps identify as type â€œfunctionâ€ in Mozilla browsers)
Consistent object/platform detection
Other various bugs

And the sugar:

Take a bit of time to look at the code as it is a great way to learn.

I like this little ditty:

PLAIN TEXT

JAVASCRIPT:

detect: new function(_) {
// Two types of detection:
// 1. Object detection
// e.g. detect("(java)");
// e.g. detect("!(document.addEventListener)");
// 2. Platform detection (browser sniffing)
// e.g. detect("MSIE");
// e.g. detect("MSIE|opera");
var global = _;
var jscript = NaN/*@cc_on||@_jscript_version@*/; // http://dean.edwards.name/weblog/2007/03/sniff/#comment85164
var java = _.java ? true : false;
if (_.navigator) {
var element = document.createElement("span");
// Close up the space between name and version number.
// e.g. MSIE 6 -> MSIE6
var userAgent = navigator.platform + " " + navigator.userAgent.replace(/([a-z])[s/](d)/gi, "$1$2");
// Fix opera's (and others) user agent string.
if (!jscript) userAgent = userAgent.replace(/MSIE[d.]+/, "");
java &= navigator.javaEnabled();
}
return function(expression) {
var r = false;
var not = expression.charAt(0) == "!";
if (not) expression = expression.slice(1);
if (expression.charAt(0) == "(") {
// Object detection.
try {
eval("r=!!" + expression);
} catch (error) {
// the test failed
}
} else {
// Browser sniffing.
r = new RegExp("(" + expression + ")", "i").test(userAgent);
}
return !!(not ^ r);
};
}(this)

2 Comments »

Comments feed TrackBack URI

var element = document.createElement(“span”); ???

Comment by FredCK — December 21, 2007

@Dion: Here’s the documentation for the detect() method that you like:

http://base2.googlecode.com/svn/doc/base2.html#/doc/!base2.detect

Comment by deanedwards — December 21, 2007

Ajax Questions and Answers

Caching and dynamic views
My client does not want to change his cache settings on IE and I'm trying to figure out a way to dynamically update a view each time it is visited. I...

IE 8 Crashing Problem
Hello Everyone, Here\'s the situation: two iSeries boxes - Dev and Prod both V5R4M0 We\'re using AJAX to dynamically load content using a tabbed...

JQuery Function Not Defined?
[div]Hi there,[/div] [div][/div] [div]I\'m trying to set a php session variable from a radio button. The idea is that a jquery function is called...