272003 - Contents of status bar not available to programs such as "AutoIt"

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[Jim Gurley]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0

With IE the word "Done" is viewable by AutoIt V3 with:

Statusbargettext("title","Done"); (returns "Done" when string contains word, 0
otherwise)

There is apparently a 6 parameter "Status Bar Text" record available to the
system for the active window.

I have many automated scripts to do searches, etc. that fail because they can't
determine when a page is completely loaded.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. You could download and run AutoIt Window Spy for an example.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

Extensions with chrome privs can access window properties.  Web pages can't, for
good reason.  I'm not sure what this is supposed to be.

Comment 2

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
highly unlikely to be the source of a fix to the code.

While your input is very important to us, our resources are limited and so we
are asking for your help in focussing our efforts. If you can still reproduce
this problem in the latest version of the product (see below for how to obtain a
copy) or, for feature requests, if it's not present in the latest version and
you still believe we should implement it, please visit the URL of this bug
(given at the top of this mail) and add a comment to that effect, giving more
reproduction information if you have it.

If it is not a problem any longer, you need take no action. If this bug is not
changed in any way in the next two weeks, it will be automatically resolved.
Thank you for your help in this matter.

The latest beta releases can be obtained from:
Firefox:     http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/
Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/1.5beta1.html
Seamonkey:   http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

Comment 3

[Jim Gurley]

I'm not a system programmer, but there is apparently an OS system call to return
the contents of the browser status bar.  In my case, I use AutoIt3 to automate
some web activity, and knowing when the page is loaded is crucial to operation.
 I'm currently using IE for such scripts.

AutoIt3 is a scripting language having no implicit connection to a browser - the
browser is just another window from which Autoit can send keystrokes, retrieve
status, and read contents.  It is able to access status information from many
windows including Eudora, Newsbin, CuteFTP,Crimson Editor, and all MS programs.
 It doesn't work for Photoshop or Autocad either.

I have no idea what chrome privileges are on a Windows PC, nor how to assign
them to my program.  I'm working under an administrator login.

Comment 4

[Jo Hermans]

External applications do not have access to internal structures, as used in the
statusbar. There is no such thing as a "OS system call" to achieve this.

Comment 5

[Jim Gurley]

I don't pretend to understand how this stuff works.  All I know is that an
application called AutoIt3 can read the contents of the status bar of a window.
 In the case of a blank IE window, status field one is "Done" ,two thru five are
blank, and six is "Internet".  For a blank WordPad window, field one is "Press
F1 for help" and 2-3 are blank.  So, not only can an application read the
contents of another windows' status bar, but it can determine how many fields
are available.

It's one thing to have a minor problem that needs addressing.  It's another to
get denial that the problem exists.  Just go to http://www.autoit3.com,
download/install the program, open "Window Spy", and look at the differences
between IE and Firefox.

Comment 6

[Jim Gurley]

It's really too bad this bug can't be addressed, as it forces me to use IE for a large fraction of my day.

Comment 7

[Samuel Sidler (old account; do not CC)]

Jim, do you have the same problem with Firefox 2.0.0.3? What about with the latest trunk nightly?

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/

Comment 8

[Jim Gurley]

It is still a problem with 2.0.0.3 and with 3.0a5pre

Comment 9

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

This bug was reported on Firefox 2.x or older, which is no longer supported and will not be receiving any more updates. I strongly suggest that you update to Firefox 3.6.3 or later, update your plugins (flash, adobe, etc.), and retest in a new profile. If you still see the issue with the updated Firefox, please post here. Otherwise, please close as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
http://www.mozilla.com
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+mode

Comment 10

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.x or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.