[jawsscripts] Re: Introducing HomerJax script library for accessing Internet data
- From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:10:14 -0400 (EDT)
Hi Don,
Let me know if you have particular questions about how something might
be accomplished. This helps give me ideas about capabilities and
documentation.
Jamal
On Tue, 4 Aug 2009, Donald Marang wrote:
> Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 14:29:58 -0400
> From: Donald Marang <donald.marang@xxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [jawsscripts] Re: Introducing HomerJax script library for
> accessing Internet data
>
> It might take me a while to get my head around this package. I can imagine
> a few examples I want to tackle where these functions would come in handy.
> I will probably try to understand Webrequest functions first. Thanks for
> making this package available!
>
> Don Marang
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <JAWSScripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 3:27 PM
> 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.
> >
> > ...
> >
> >
> > __________
> > Visit and contribute to The JAWS Script Repository http://jawsscripts.com
> >
> > View the list's information and change your settings at
> > http://www.freelists.org/list/jawsscripts
> >
>
> __________
> Visit and contribute to The JAWS Script Repository http://jawsscripts.com
>
> View the list's information and change your settings at
> http://www.freelists.org/list/jawsscripts
>
__________
Visit and contribute to The JAWS Script Repository http://jawsscripts.com
View the list's information and change your settings at
http://www.freelists.org/list/jawsscripts
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