A few other handy extensions besides “Reload All Tabs” are: JavaScript Beautifer, jQuery API browser, and Lorem Ipsum Generator.

The JavaScript Beautifier extension will “beautify” a long, hard to read JavaScript file that looks like this:

if(typeof deconcept==”undefined”){var deconcept=new Object();}if(typeof deconcept.util==”undefined”){deconcept.util=new Object();}if(typeof deconcept.SWFObjectUtil==”undefined”){deconcept.SWFObjectUtil=new Object();}deconcept.SWFObject=function(_1,id,w,h,_5,c,_7,_8,_9,_a){if(!document.getElementById){return;}this.DETECT_KEY=_a?_a:”detectflash”;this.skipDetect=deconcept.util.getRequestParameter(this.DETECT_KEY);  …

and make it look like this:

For anyone that likes jQuery, the jQuery API browser will also come in handy. It provides a quick search through the API documentation. Simply type in what you want to search for and you’ll receive your results.

A lot of times while testing an application you’ll need some generic text to populate text fields. The Lorem Ipsum Generator will provide you with random “Lorem Ipsum” text. You can specify how many paragraphs and words per paragraph you would like.

The first scenario occurred after reloading a page via JavaScript using location.reload().  The page displayed messages for a particular user and for each message there was a field indicating if the message had been read or not.  It was an image of a closed envelope (if not read) and an open envelope (if it was read).  The location.reload() was called after a successful AJAX call to update the “IsRead” flag in the database, but the image was not being updated from the closed envelope to the open envelope.  The problem, IE was caching the User Control.  The solution was to use the OutputCacheAttribute class in the System.Web.Mvc namespace.

The second scenario came about when loading a jQuery modal with a list of items that were sortable.  A Web User Control contained an unordered list of items that was populated from a database table.  When the modal is opened, the items are displayed in an order according to a field in the database table.  After a user sets the desired order the new order is saved and the database field is updated accordingly.  This was working fine, but opening the modal after an update displayed the incorrect order.  The items were still in the same order as before the update.  The solution was to concatenate a random number (via the JavaScript Math object) to what was being loaded so that IE would think it was loading a new page and thus not display the cached version of the list.