I'm trying to make a Chrome extension. For that extension, I need some info that is dynamically created, but I want that data to be added even later on (on a different page).
This is some sort of data that i want to be always accessible (when the plugin runs):
var villages = new Array();
villages[0][0] = "village1";
villages[0][1] = "1325848";
villages[1][0] = "village2";
villages[1][1] = "8744351";
villages[2][0] = "village3";
villages[2][1] = "8952187";
As you can see, the array is multi-dimensional. This because I want to store the names [0] and the village id 1 together.
Does anybody knows a good way of handling this problem?
I've looked at this: jQuery Cookie
But don't know if that is a proper way of handling the problem.
Alternatively do I have to create some kind of XML file that will contain all the values?
UPDATE:
This is a skeleton example, if you want to store just village.id and village.name, just change the default data, that still works.
I have changed all code for you, you will see how to iterate array and get villages data below code.
At first I should say that It's really bad practice to save data in a multidimensional array.
You should use object, it makes your data tidy, than you can manipulate it easily.
Here is an example object for your situation,
var village = {
id: "1325848",
name : "village1"
};
console.log(village.id); //1325848
console.log(village.name); //village1
This was a basic get started example.
Here is the solution for your problem with localstorage and javascript object.
var ExtensionDataName = "myfirstextensiondata";
var ExtensionData = {
dataVersion: 3, //if you want to set a new default data, you must update "dataVersion".
villages: []
};
//default data
ExtensionData.villages.push(
{id: "1325848", name: "village1"},
{id: "8744351", name: "village2"},
{id: "8952187", name: "village3"}
);
function DB_setValue(name, value, callback) {
var obj = {};
obj[name] = value;
console.log("Data Saved!");
chrome.storage.local.set(obj, function() {
if(callback) callback();
});
}
function DB_load(callback) {
chrome.storage.local.get(ExtensionDataName, function(r) {
if (isEmpty(r[ExtensionDataName])) {
DB_setValue(ExtensionDataName, ExtensionData, callback);
} else if (r[ExtensionDataName].dataVersion != ExtensionData.dataVersion) {
DB_setValue(ExtensionDataName, ExtensionData, callback);
} else {
ExtensionData = r[ExtensionDataName];
callback();
}
});
}
function DB_save(callback) {
DB_setValue(ExtensionDataName, ExtensionData, function() {
if(callback) callback();
});
}
function DB_clear(callback) {
chrome.storage.local.remove(ExtensionDataName, function() {
if(callback) callback();
});
}
function isEmpty(obj) {
for(var prop in obj) {
if(obj.hasOwnProperty(prop))
return false;
}
return true;
}
DB_load(function() {
//YOUR MAIN CODE WILL BE HERE
console.log(ExtensionData);
console.log(ExtensionData.villages); //array of villages
console.log(ExtensionData.villages[0]); //first village object
console.log(ExtensionData.villages[0].id); //first village id
console.log(ExtensionData.villages[0].name); //first village name
//HOW TO ITERATE VILLAGES
for (var i = 0; i < ExtensionData.villages.length; i++) {
console.log(ExtensionData.villages[i].id); //village id
console.log(ExtensionData.villages[i].name); //village name
}
});
QUESTIONS:
- Does the ExtensionDataName to be the same? or can i change that?
ExtensionDataName is used as a name when your data is saved to localstorage, it's just a name of your data collection. Therefore of course you can change it, do what you want, it's up to you.
- what is the goal that you achief when you change the number of this line:
dataVersion: 3, //if you want to set a new default data, you must update "dataVersion"
?
At the first time when user run this extension there is no data in the localstorage. So default village list is used,
In my example default village list is,
[
{id: "1325848", name: "village1"},
{id: "8744351", name: "village2"},
{id: "8952187", name: "village3"}
]
this default list is saved to localstorage. After than when extension runs again(not first time), the default list is not important anymore, because there is a village list stored in localstorage, so it loads village list from localstorage.
For example if you want to add a new village during the runtime of extension you can do it like this,
ExtensionData.villages.push({id: "1215555", name: "village4"});
DB_save();
So what is the goal of dataVersion
?
If you look DB_load()
function, it's used there. It checks whether dataVersion is still same, If it's not same, It decides that
"There is a updated default data so I should clear localstorage and reload new data to localstorage"
So If you don't change this lines,
ExtensionData.villages.push(
{id: "1325848", name: "village1"},
{id: "8744351", name: "village2"},
{id: "8952187", name: "village3"}
);
Than you won't change dataVersion