grab javascript function arguments

Question

how can i grab the arguments of a javascript function?

below is my code,

<script type="text/javascript"> 
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-45-9");
pageTracker._trackPageview();pageTracker._addTrans("3128", "", "20.4600", "0.0000", "8.1900", "SFO", "CA", "US");
pageTracker._addItem("3128", "23317", "Cheese ", "", "6.2900", "1");
pageTracker._addItem("3128", "23318", "Lazzaroni", "", "1.9900", "1");
pageTracker._addItem("3128", "23316", "Italian Food", "", "3.9900", "1");
pageTracker._trackTrans();
</script>

For the code above, I want to grab the arguments of the functions pageTracker._addItem() to use it in my javascript code. How would i do that?

The problem is I do not have access to the complete source code, but only i can add some javascript and html to it, this site is hosted at network solutions, and they do not provide access to their code for some plans.... so i need to grab the arguments of the javascript function above and use it my javascript, which i can add to the code...

Thanks

You want to dynamically grab these from the page? Didn't you set this up in your site? I don't really understand the question. — spinon
– spinon, Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 19:22
Neither do I. What do you mean by "Grab" here? Who is supposed to do the grabbing, another Javascript? — Pekka
– Pekka, Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 19:23
One solution is to replace pageTracker.__addItem with a wrapper that records, and then calls the actual function, but without knowing more about the intentions of OP, there's no point attempting a solution that just might not be. — Anurag
– Anurag, Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 19:27
The problem is I do not have access to the complete source code, but only i can add some javascript and html to it, this site is hosted at network solutions, and they do not provide access to their code for some plans.... so i need to grab the arguments of the javascript function above and use it my javascript, which i can add to the code... — texpert
– texpert, Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 19:29
@tecks - is the Network Solutions source contained in an iframe? If yes, do the protocol, domain, and ports match for where your script lives, and where the NS script comes from? Reason being that if they don't, you won't be able to access it. — Anurag
– Anurag, Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 19:34

gblazex · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-13 19:31:44Z

3

Use this:

GAitems = [];
GAitems.oldAdd = pageTracker._addItem;
pageTracker._addItem = function() {
  GAitems.push(arguments);
  GAitems.oldAdd.apply(pageTracker, arguments)
}

And all the added items will be available in the GAitems array for you (and they are also added to Google Analytics correctly).

answered Jul 13, 2010 at 19:31

gblazex

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8 Comments

Pekka Over a year ago

Sweet! But he says in the comment to my answer that he can't change the tracker code. You would have to override _addItem itself. Can that be done in Javascript while preserving the ancestor functionality (something like parent::methodname()?) If that is possible - maybe by saving the old method in _addTrans_old()? - this is definitely the way to go.

texpert Over a year ago

hmmm big problem.... anyways... thanks a lot galamblazz and pekka... if there is any other way out, please let me know....

gblazex Over a year ago

what is big problem? I've updated the code. Paste it to the top after you include GA, and it will be fine.

Sean Vieira Over a year ago

+1 for an excellent use of the duck-punching pattern! (paulirish.com/2010/duck-punching-with-jquery)

gblazex Over a year ago

it is called wrapper/decorator pattern, but, you know, whatever... :)

|

Anurag · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-13 20:21:53Z

Based on the new information, it makes more sense to answer this thing now.

Is the Network Solutions source contained in an iframe? If yes, do the protocol, domain, and ports match for where your script lives, and where the Network Solutions script comes from? If it does not, then you won't be able to access any part of it.

If it's not in an iframe, and not hidden inside closures, then you can get access to the arguments of pageTracker._addItem(..), but there's one more problem with that. Since I am guessing that you can't arbitrarily insert your code in the middle of their code, you can't do this:

var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-45-9");
// with a swift ninja move, replace pageTracker._addItem with your
// own implementation here before its first usage
// but after it has been created
..
pageTracker._addItem("3128", "23317", "Cheese ", "", "6.2900", "1");
..

So I think you will have to go one step higher here, and swap out the implementation of _gat._getTracker(..) itself to return a modified pageTracker object. However, the order of things must be:

Google Analytics is included (so _gat gets defined)
Your code comes here which swaps out the implementation of ._getTracker and modifies the resulting object's _addItem method.
Network Solutions code follows

If you cannot place your code between Google Analytics <script>, and Network Solutions code, then there's little that you can do. However, if that were possible, here's how you could do the intercept:

(function(_getTracker) { // _getTracker refers to the original method
    _gat._getTracker = function() { // swap out the original _gat._getTracker
        var _pageTracker = _getTracker.apply(_gat, arguments);
        var _addItem = _pageTracker._addItem; // original _addItem
        _pageTracker._addItem = function() { // swap out the original _addItem
            console.log(arguments); // record the arguments here
            _addItem.apply(_pageTracker, arguments); // send to original method
        };
        return _pageTracker; // return the modified pageTracker
    };
})(_gat.getTracker);

Pekka · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-13 19:24:46Z

0

Assuming you mean you want to analyze above code in some JavaScript that comes after, I would say there is no really easy way to do this. You may be able to get the added item entries back out of the pageTracker object but that sounds hard.

If at all possible, I would recommend keeping track of the added items in an own array.

answered Jul 13, 2010 at 19:24

Pekka

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texpert Over a year ago

The problem is I do not have access to the complete source code, but only i can add some javascript and html to it, this site is hosted at network solutions, and they do not provide access to their code for some plans.... so i need to grab the arguments of the javascript function above and use it my javascript, which i can add to the code...

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