[jawsscripts] Re: Introducing HomerJax script library for accessing Internet data
- From: "Homme, James" <james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 09:50:15 -0400
Hi Jamal,
I'm asking this because I don't understand how this works. Do you anticipate
that EdSharp would inherit any of this technology?
Thanks.
Jim
----------
Jim Homme
Usability Services
412-544-1810
james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable
will." -- Mahatma Gandhi
-----Original Message-----
From: jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jamal Mazrui
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 3:28 PM
To: JAWSScripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jawsscripts] Introducing HomerJax script library for accessing
Internet data
I have created a JAWS script library for accessing Internet resources
called HomerJax, available at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/HomerJax.zip
It is a collection of JavaScript functions that become available to JAWS
scripts via the files HomerJax.jsb and HomerJax.wsc. No COM server has to
be registered to access the HomerJax object and its many methods.
HomerJax.jss currently contains two functions: CreateHomerJax() for
creating the object, and HomerJaxDemo() for running an interactive demo of
its capabilities. The demo shows how you can get the content type, source
HTML, or plain text of a web page; download a file to disk; get public
messages from Twitter.com, or post a tweet if you have an account. The
code accesses data in JSON format (JavaScript Object Notation) as well as
in XML. The demo may be run by launching Notepad and pressing
Alt+JAWSKey+D.
Documentation is in the files HomerJax.txt and HomerJax.htm. For ease of
learning more via this email message, I am pasting the initial sections of
documentation below.
I credit list members: Bryan Garaventa for information on the
MSXml2.XMLHTTP object, and Martin Slack for information on the
System.Collections.ArrayList object.
Jamal
HomerJax
Beta 0.6
August 3, 2009
Copyright 2009 by Jamal Mazrui
GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)
Contents
Introduction
Overview
COM Exchange Format
Dialog Methods
File Methods
Folder Methods
HTML Methods
JScript Data Methods
Path Methods
Regular Expression Methods
Registry Methods
Shell Methods
String Methods
Variant Data Methods
Web Request Methods
XML Methods
Development Notes
----------
Introduction
HomerJax is a library of convenience functions for accessing Internet
resources. It is written in JScript, the Microsoft version of JavaScript,
and is dependent on several COM servers distributed with Windows. The
word "Homer" is a brand name I sometimes use for developer tools I create.
The word "Jax" derives from Ajax, which originally meant "Asynchronous
JavaScript and XML." Ajax technologies focus on building dynamic user
interfaces in web browsers. HomerJax functions use some of these core
technologies, but focus on reading, interpreting, and writing data from
the Internet.
Since the Internet is a great source of accessible information for people
with visual disabilities who cannot readily read the printed word, my hope
is that this library makes it easier for developers, including blind ones
like myself, to build applications that take advantage of new social
networking sites such as Twitter, FaceBook, and many others. I intend for
HomerJax to be accessible via various programming environments, including
the Windows Script Host, screen reader scripting languages, and other
programming languages via a COM server interface.
A demonstration program is included that shows how you can easily get the
content type, source HTML, or plain text of a web page; how you can
download a file to disk, how you can get messages from the public timeline
of Twitter.com, or poast a tweet if you have a Twitter account. The demo
shows how data is converted from JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to what
I call COM exchange format, and how XML data may be conveniently accessed
as well.
The functionality and documentation of HomerJax will improve over time in
response to comments, questions, and suggestions. Code contributions are
also welcome.
----------
Overview
HomerJax methods are divided into categories indicated by a prefix at the
beginning of their names: Dialog, File, Folder, Html, Js, Path, RegExp,
Registry, String, Vt, Web, and Xml. By convention, HomerJax variable
names use lower case prefixes to indicate the data type: s for string, i
for integer, n for floating point number, l for list, d for dictionary,
and o for other COM object. Method and variable names use upper camel
case (like the .NET Framework), e.g., XmlGetValue rather than XMLGetValue.
JavaScript is a case-sensitive language, so methods need to be called with
appropriate capitalization.
----------
COM Exchange Format
The Component Object Model (COM) is a set of Windows standards by which
different programming languages and applications can communicate. COM
uses a flexible data type called a variant, which can be an individual
value, array of values, or complex object with methods, properties, and
events. In general, any COM client can use string, numeric, and COM
objects as the data types of parameters or return values. Some, however,
cannot use arrays. COM exchange format is intended to support
collections, as well as primitive data types, for use by any COM client.
Rather than an array, a list COM object is used from the .NET Framework
(any version). A COM object dictionary is also used from the Windows
Script Host.
HomerJax includes a method called JsToVt, which converts data in JSON
format to variant types understood by JAWS Script (or any COM client
language). JavaScript arrays are converted to COM objects with the progID
"System.Collections.ArrayList." The methods and properties of this object
are documented at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.collections.arraylist.aspx
JavaScript objects, which are like dictionaries, are converted to COM
objects with the progID "Scripting.Dictionary." This object is documented
at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x4k5wbx4(VS.85).aspx
In Visual Basic and other languages, either of these types of object
collections may be iterated with the "For Each" statement. These objects
have an "Item" method, which is the default COM method of the object, so
syntax can succinctly referr to items without even using the "Item"
keyword (just using an integer element of a list or string key of a
dictionary enclosed in parentheses). The code of the demo program
illustrates this in getting public messages from Twitter.
HomerJax includes various methods for converting between JavaScript Object
Notation (JSON), variant data types, and COM exchange format. This
provides much flexibility for accessing data on the Internet.
...
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