Processing JavaScript in Java?

Question

Is it possible to process JavaScript in a Java application? Possibly utilizing WebKit libraries, or whatever browser libraries use to process JavaScript? A use case would be - how, in Java, can I determine the possible links this web page would go to?

<script>
function goToLink(){
 if(1==1){
   window.location='www.somesite.com'
 } else {
   window.location='www.nevergethere.com'
 }
}
</script>
<html>
<a href onClick='javascript:goToLink()'>CLICK HERE!!</a>
</html>

Typically, you would just search all of the code for a link regular expression, but you will never actually have the chance of going to: 'www.nevergetthere.com'

See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem

David Gelhar
– David Gelhar

2010-12-22 17:50:46 +00:00
Commented Dec 22, 2010 at 17:50 — David Gelhar
– David Gelhar, Commented Dec 22, 2010 at 17:50

Spike Williams · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-22 17:47:54Z

3

I've had some luck in tracing down JavaScript-based page links with HTML Unit. It basically acts like a browser that you have access to inside a Java program, so you can simulate a click on a link, and then figure out where it goes.

answered Dec 22, 2010 at 17:47

Spike Williams

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SLaks · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-22 17:41:03Z

3

You might be looking for Rhino.

answered Dec 22, 2010 at 17:41

SLaks

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2 Comments

Pointy Over a year ago

He had also better be looking for a good HTML parser, because that's going to be Step 1 :-)

Ivo Wetzel Over a year ago

@Pointy Java has Regex, doesn't it? /sarcasm

StriplingWarrior · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-22 17:50:15Z

1

If the objective is to look at a website, without knowing beforehand what the javascript or HTML will look like, and try to figure out where you would end up by clicking on various anchor tags, you could use something like WebDriver to actually load up the page in a browser (either real or virtual), click on various DOM elements, and see where you end up.

Web scraping is tricky business, though. There are a hundred little things that could make your code not read the page correctly. A hundred little expectations you may have that the website in question might not abide by.

answered Dec 22, 2010 at 17:50

StriplingWarrior

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