Re: Caching and JS - Bug?

[Ed Kloskowski <edklosko@mars.superlink.net>]

Hey ANDY consider this a CLAM DOWN!!! message.  You took this WAY over 
board, and I stress way overboard!  

>> I just don't quite get what you're implying...  If you've got an
>>example of a page that loads JS code and won't free itself from the
>>Navigator when the user moves on to another page,

I didn't say OR imply anything of the kind, you took yourself there. All 
I said was a previous version of a JS (I used the word bad because in my 
case it was bad code that spit up when an onMouse over event occured) 
repeat: a previous version of a JS WILL stick around in the cache and 
will not always be overwritten when you think it would (i.e. you use an 
onMouse over event to update a the text in a text box, you change what 
the text says then reload your page a presto old text after the same 
page has loaded!! a simple example, but it illustrates the point.)

I have tested this so many times.  Our site contains over 100 new 
machines and 32 developement machines.... each has had the problem at 
one time or another.  It has threatened DEMOS to big wigs, users get 
frustrated OR worse they don't know what they are missing, and it makes 
us look bad.  GUESS WHAT THOUGH!?!? IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED ON THE ONE 
MACHINE YOU WOULD THINK IT WOULD HAVE... MINE! THE MACHINE ALL THE 
SCRIPTS WERE WRITTEN ON AND TESTED.   Since JS are part of a web page, 
changing a small part of your JS code does not mean NETSCAPE will 
automatically load the new version of that page, in fact with a sliggush 
connection i have found NS to more often than not defaults to loading 
the cached version of a page first, thus your new JS code IS NOT loaded 
and problems if any will persist until the user (or yourself) clears the 
cache (in sever cases I have even had to manually delete the files in 
the cache directory INCLUDING the DB file!!) We have taken to disabling 
cache on all user machines! its the only way to reliable performance.  
Face it: you don't know exactely what your users are seeing! even if you 
log onto to your pages remoteley if you are using the same machine you 
developed the pages on you may not see the errors, why? caching.

Don't get me wrong, I love JS and use it everyday, but it does still 
have limitations and small probs we need to make each other aware of, 
not berate fellow users as you did (what if I just rolled over and said 
"oh, I won't reply to that message Andy might scream at me" we may lose 
valuable insight by intimidation).

ed
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