Get request parameters through JavaScript

This is not original content, I'm just a reciting information I found elsewhere (see original), but with more processing done on the client side in JavaScript for Ajax, it's sometimes necessary to be able to process parameters passed on the URL with JavaScript as you would with PHP, JSP, etc. on the server. So since I found a method to do it, I'm posting it here for my own benefit so I don't have to find it again. You can also download it here.

function getParameter ( queryString, parameterName ) {
   // Add "=" to the parameter name (i.e. parameterName=value)
   var parameterName = parameterName + "=";
   if ( queryString.length > 0 ) {
      // Find the beginning of the string
      begin = queryString.indexOf ( parameterName );
      // If the parameter name is not found, skip it, otherwise return the value
      if ( begin != -1 ) {
         // Add the length (integer) to the beginning
         begin += parameterName.length;
         // Multiple parameters are separated by the "&" sign
         end = queryString.indexOf ( "&" , begin );
      if ( end == -1 ) {
         end = queryString.length
      }
      // Return the string
      return unescape ( queryString.substring ( begin, end ) );
   }
   // Return "null" if no parameter has been found
   return "null";
   }
}

The queryString is obtained via var queryString = window.top.location.search.substring(1);

Follow up on inline SVG

This is just a brief follow-up to my previous request for help.

I had built my XSLT to render the SVG as described in the article, Render dynamic graphs in SVG and my mouseover coloring events was modeled after the article, Add interactivity to your SVG, which were both articles from developerWorks.

So, my generated code for a bar in my graph looked like:

<svg:rect x="35" y="272.88" height="57.12" width="109" style="fill:rgb(49,0,0)">
<set attributeName="fill" from="rgb(49,0,0)" to="red" begin="mouseover" end="mouseout" />
</svg:rect>

However, after taking the advice from Martin Honnen (SVG Developers Yahoo! Group) my generated code for the same bar in the graph looks like:

<svg:rect x="35" y="272.88" height="57.12" width="109" fill="rgb(49,0,0)" onmouseover="evt.target.setAttribute('fill', 'red');" onmouseout="evt.target.setAttribute('fill','rgb(49,0,0)');"/>

The result is that the correct colorings are now displayed when rendered inline in IE, and the mouseover events work correctly in Firefox.

The only thing still not working is the mouseover events when rendered inline in IE.

Martin Honnen further suggested to start with a blank SVG placed in the page with the embed tag, and then access it to manipulate it with the getSVGDocument method (which should work in IE, Firefox 1.5+, and Opera 9) to add the content. However, my attempts at this method have not been successful to date.

IBM's Death Spiral

Robert X. Cringley has a very interesting article on Why IBM is in Trouble.

"[IBM] has entered a death spiral of under-bidding and then under-delivering."

"decades no longer matter to publicly traded American companies. All that really matter are fiscal quarters."

I'm tempted to add my own personal editorial on the subject, but I don't want to put my job in jeopardy.