mozdev.org - multizilla: features/js-console

JavaScript Console

MultiZilla replaces the original JavaScript Console (JS Console) with a more enhanced version that allows filtering by protocol, type, language, origin and a search filter. A new improved context menu also allows you to open the corresponding source in either the current tab, a new tab or the usual view source window.

Being Innovative:

HJ's original idea of JS Console Filtering was submitted by Neil Pryde† as a Mozilla RFE back in 2002 because we like to be able to filter stuff out. So do others, as indicated by extensions such as Console Filtering and Console2, which first saw light after they were implemented in MultiZilla.

Disclaimer

The screenshots on this page are reduced in size and have a limited quality; they are provided as examples only and may vary from release to release. Please note that other operating systems and browser themes might also affect the layout and colors.

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Main Window

The JS Console can be opened by clicking on the

button on the MultiZilla Toolbar, with the keyboard shortcut Accel+Shift+J and from the menu with Menu Tools → Web Development → JS Console. The JS Console window looks similar to the one below (see disclaimer):

Type Filters

All: Click on this button to show all available Errors, Warnings and Messages.
Errors: Click on this button to show all Errors exclusively.
Warnings: Click on this button to show all Warnings exclusively.
Messages: Click on this button to show all Messages exclusively.; Note: Entries filtered out with one of the language filters (JavaScript/XML/CSS) will, of course, still not be shown.

Miscellaneous

Clear: Click on this button to delete all Errors, Warnings and Messages until they re-occur.
Options: Click on this button to open the Settings window, which has two tabs from which you can change preferences and set/remove filters.

Language Filters

JavaScript: Click on this button to toggle (show ↔ hide) JavaScript entries.
XML: Click on this button to toggle (show ↔ hide) XML entries.
CSS: Click on this button to toggle (show ↔ hide) CSS entries.; Note: Entries filtered out by one of the type filters (Errors/Warnings/Messages) will not be shown.

Enter Search Term

Enter a search term in the live box (no Enter required) to lookup or futher narrow down the list of entries in the tree.

Enter JavaScript to Evaluate

Enter some JavaScript, such as: alert("Hi Chief"); Then either press Enter/Return or click on the Evaluate button. The result is below:

Context Menu

The Context Menu in MultiZilla's version of the JS Console has a few extra (View Source) menu items and it looks like the one below:

Note: the Context Menu can only be opened by mouse, with a right click in the tree.

Status Bar

The status bar in MultiZilla's version of the JS Console shows the number of Errors, Warnings, Messages and the active filter. The background of these boxes also represents the state of the type filters. A white background means that the corresponding type category will be displayed, and a gray background, or the color of your status bar, means that it will be hidden.

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JS Console Options - Protocol Filter Panel:

Protocol Filter

Block from Web: If this is checked, any output to the JS Console from websites will not be shown.
Block from File: If this is checked, any output to the JS Console from local files will not be shown.
Block from Chrome: If this is checked, any output to the JS Console from chrome; either in the application itself or the installed extension(s) will not be shown.

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JS Console Options - Settings Panel:

Preferences

Enable JavaScript: If this is checked, JavaScript for websites is enabled; otherwise it is disabled.
Show Chrome Warnings and Errors: If this is checked, errors and warnings in the application itself (in chrome:) will be shown; otherwise they will not.
Show Strict Warnings: If this is checked, strict warnings (those that do not necessarily mean that a problem has occured) will be shown; otherwise they will not.
Show CSS Errors: If this is checked, CSS rules that cannot be parsed or other errors in CSS will be shown in the JS Console; otherwise they will not.

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MultiZilla, OSXilla and QuickPrefs are Trademarks of HJ van Rantwijk.
Copyright © 2000-2008 - By HJ van Rantwijk - All Rights Reserved. All text (website design/graphics excluded) is licensed under a Creative Commons License This page was last modified on: 13 October 2007 Pacific Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -8 hours).