[RFE] Auto-line-wrap ABE Deny message and convert to overlay

[Tom T.]

I'm runnig Firefox 10.0.1 with Noscript 2.3.5.

I've just started using ABE.

When ABE denies, e.g., facebook.com on a non-ABE whitelisted site, it puts up a message "Request {GET https://www.facebook.com/dialog/oath=.....} filtered by ABE: <facebook.com *.facebook.com> DENY" which gets split into multiple lines according to rules I don't understand. I'm not concerned about where the message wraps, but when I'm using Firefox full screen, the ABE message is sized wider than my screen - and suddenly all of Firefox is pushed wider than my screen, and I can no longer see the right two inches (gross guess) of what Firefox seems to think it's displaying.

The problem can go away temporarily when I (a) tell the window manager to stop making firefox fullscreen then (b) kill the Firefox tab with the ABE message then (c) resize the screen smaller then (d) tell the window manager to make Firefox full screen again.

Aside from this (somewhat severe) cosmetic problem, ABE works for me as intended.

[Tom T.]

I'm runnig Firefox 10.0.1 with Noscript 2.3.5.

I've just started using ABE.

When ABE denies, e.g., facebook.com on a non-ABE whitelisted site, it puts up a message "Request {GET https://www.facebook.com/dialog/oath=.....} filtered by ABE: <facebook.com *.facebook.com> DENY" which gets split into multiple lines according to rules I don't understand. I'm not concerned about where the message wraps, but when I'm using Firefox full screen, the ABE message is sized wider than my screen - and suddenly all of Firefox is pushed wider than my screen, and I can no longer see the right two inches (gross guess) of what Firefox seems to think it's displaying.

The problem can go away temporarily when I (a) tell the window manager to stop making firefox fullscreen then (b) kill the Firefox tab with the ABE message then (c) resize the screen smaller then (d) tell the window manager to make Firefox full screen again.

Aside from this (somewhat severe) cosmetic problem, ABE works for me as intended.

Simplest solution: Disable ABE notifications in NoScript Options > Notifications, and uncheck ABE.

You'll still have access to the error message in the Error Console (Ctrl+Shift+J, or Firefox Tools > Web Developer > Error Console), click "Messages", and observe NoScript/ABE messages.

ETA: Fx 10.0.1 is two versions out of date. For your own safety. please update to Fx 11.0 at your earliest opportunity, thanks.

I don't use the Full Screen option. Would using the standard screen, with toolbars, etc., solve this, and would it harm your browsing very much? Just a thought.

[GµårÐïåñ]

As Tom suggested, open the error console and give us a copy of the exact and complete ABE message that is in there so we can analyze and see why it triggered and if you have any rules besides the default ones that come with NS, I suggest you include them as well so we can see if its due to a poorly written rule or something else. Millions are using it without issue, so chances are its something more specific than DENY is too wide.

[Guest]

I'll update to Firefox 11; then I'll try turning off messages, and report back. The exact message was this (cut and paste from Ctrl-Shift-J), indicating that Facebook was denied on a page where I did want it denied (i.e., ABE *is* working as intended, except for the screen too wide issue):

Code: Select all

[ABE] <facebook.com *.facebook.com> Deny on {GET https://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?api_key=178263507018&channel_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs-static.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fconnect%2Fxd_proxy.php%23cb%3Dffc177b99a9aae%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fworkflowy.com%252Ff36bf48593c2172%26relation%3Dparent.parent%26transport%3Dpostmessage&extended_social_context=false&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.workflowy.com&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&node_type=link&sdk=joey&show_faces=false&width=90 <<< https://workflowy.com/ - 7}
USER rule:
Site facebook.com *.facebook.com
Accept from facebook.com *.facebook.com
Deny

[Stephen P. Schaefer]

Updating to Firefox 11.0 had no effect. Disabling ABE notifications solved the problem. Thanks!

- Stephen

[GµårÐïåñ]

Stephen, if you mean just the visual notification, then yeah, if the message is long and there isn't enough real estate (meaning screen width) it will get cut off but the content of that same notification are ALWAYS available in full in the error console, so you can always check the full message there.

What you did disabling the notification is probably the best way if that annoys you but I personally would suggest having it so you know when in fact it DOES block something, even if you don't see the whole message, so you know to go and check.

But to each their own and glad it got resolved and sorry not much else can be done other than making screens wide enough to cover any length message.

[Tom T.]

But to each their own and glad it got resolved and sorry not much else can be done other than making screens wide enough to cover any length message.

Do you think it would be too much trouble for Giorgio to cause the pop-up notification to automatically line-wrap as needed to the user's screen width?
about:config does this for me, with no difficulty, apparently. Tooltip on noscript.untrusted value is a perfect example: I get a box eight lines high, but exactly screen width, on a laptop.

I'm changing this to an RFE, so that Giorgio will at least look at it. If it can't be done, or it's too complex, OK, but if there's an easy code fix, it does as you said and encourages getting the visible notification.

Giorgio?

[therube]

(I believe there was a similar request, from that bug finding maven - who hasn't been here of late, where some dialog was overly large - at times, & from what I recall Giorgio had a reason why it was left as it was.)

[Tom T.]

(I believe there was a similar request, from that bug finding maven - who hasn't been here of late, where some dialog was overly large - at times, & from what I recall Giorgio had a reason why it was left as it was.)

Well, since this may very well be a different dialog, and you can't recall what Giorgio said about the earlier one, seems that we should find out whether this one can be fixed.

[GµårÐïåñ]

Can it be done, in short yes. But would it be advisable, probably not. As you know, the notification API that is used to show that, is a built-in function and designed to offset the page minimally but enough to get attention. If you wrap it and force it to show EVERYTHING, you can conceivably have it shift down the WHOLE screen to show a really long message and THAT would piss even me off to have everything go down off my whole screen just so a message can display and then have it disappear on a timer and then everything shifting back up again. You can see how that would be even more disruptive, just saying.

[Tom T.]

Can it be done, in short yes. But would it be advisable, probably not. As you know, the notification API that is used to show that, is a built-in function and designed to offset the page minimally but enough to get attention. If you wrap it and force it to show EVERYTHING, you can conceivably have it shift down the WHOLE screen to show a really long message and THAT would piss even me off to have everything go down off my whole screen just so a message can display and then have it disappear on a timer and then everything shifting back up again. You can see how that would be even more disruptive, just saying.

Not really. Having parts of it missing, and more of it blocking other things... all you have to do to make it go away is to click the X. Might as well get a chance to read the whole message before doing so.

Yes, can always go to Error Console instead, but then what's the purpose of having the Notification option, if that option is illegible?

Is a notification of a denied GET request really likely to be that long? Or of *any* ABE notice?

See above posts re: tooltip notification of about:config noscript.untrusted fitting perfectly. Perhaps show the brief details of the message, and a tooltip with the entire message?

"ABE blocked a GET request to evil.com. Hover mouse over this message for full message contents."

... or something like that?

[GµårÐïåñ]

Ok, I failed in my explanation I think, let me try this again. The notification is not some DIV or hovering container that just shows up on TOP of the DOM container (the page) and can be read and dismissed, like a message box pop up. It ACTUALLY generates and shifts down the page container by a certain pixel amount and using that method, it would shift the ENTIRE page down when its painted and then you click close or go away by timer, it will shift the whole page back up again. See the difference now?

If he did an injected hovering container (combination of HTML/CSS) then yeah it would just overlay and you can get rid of it, but if using the built-in API for the notification done by the browser, then it would actually shift the content and wouldn't just overlay. You can test this by playing with say NoScript notification or BetterPrivacy notification, know your rights notification from mozilla, Abine, and any other addon that uses the notification system and see what I mean about the shift.

[Tom T.]

Ok, I failed in my explanation I think, let me try this again. The notification is not some DIV or hovering container that just shows up on TOP of the DOM container (the page) and can be read and dismissed, like a message box pop up. It ACTUALLY generates and shifts down the page container by a certain pixel amount and using that method, it would shift the ENTIRE page down when its painted and then you click close or go away by timer, it will shift the whole page back up again. See the difference now?

Yes, I've seen that with certain things blocked at Yahoo. But still, why would an ABE message be a whole page long? ... or more than a few lines?

If he did an injected hovering container (combination of HTML/CSS) then yeah it would just overlay and you can get rid of it, but if using the built-in API for the notification done by the browser, then it would actually shift the content and wouldn't just overlay.

Sounds like a good argument for the overlay. Will change the RFE accordingly.

[GµårÐïåñ]

I am not saying that it will be necessarily a whole page, but I am saying depending on the length of the URL and the message composition, a really long one can end up taking up a lot of real estate, specially if you are on a machine like mine that is 10.1" widescreen laptop, or my other 13.3" widescreen laptop, but probably not on my 24" widescreen desktop monitor or even the 19" standard desktop monitor. I was just giving the worst case scenario.

[Tom T.]

I am not saying that it will be necessarily a whole page, but I am saying depending on the length of the URL and the message composition, a really long one can end up taking up a lot of real estate, specially if you are on a machine like mine that is 10.1" widescreen laptop, or my other 13.3" widescreen laptop, but probably not on my 24" widescreen desktop monitor or even the 19" standard desktop monitor. I was just giving the worst case scenario.

Understood. Lending even more support to having a legible, tooltip overlay vs. bumping the page drastically while also truncating the message -- the worst of both worlds.