Perl and Javascript

mattdeans has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello,all

I'm using perl to auto login a website(not public). I use firebug in Firefox to capture the login process:
1. post user=&pwd= to a fixed url.
2. this post return a javascript code. Some random stuff:
try{sso.gen(RANDOM_STUFF1,RANDOM_STUFF2)}catch(e){}
and sso.gen is defined in a single js file,almost 20K (cannot post here).
In this complex single js file, ----cannot fully understand.
Yet I see it use the RANDOM_STUFF and something in cookie, to generate a random url with some random params, and set cookies.
3. GET this new rand url. ( looks like request by javascript, within the js file )
I tried LWP::UserAgent and JE . It seems not possible...
so how could I auto login this website with perl? Any advice? Any other options?

Thanks

Comment on Perl and Javascript Download Code

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Re: Perl and Javascript by Corion (Patriarch) on Sep 27, 2011 at 06:48 UTC
Have you looked at WWW::Mechanize::Firefox? If you cannot reverse engineer what `sso.gen` does, you will have to use a Javascript interpreter.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Perl and Javascript by mattdeans (Novice) on Sep 27, 2011 at 07:00 UTC
It seems WWW::Mechanize::Firefox need firefox install? I cannot, its a server. Is JE - Pure-Perl ECMAScript (JavaScript) Engine a Javascript interpreter?	[reply]
Re^3: Perl and Javascript by Corion (Patriarch) on Sep 27, 2011 at 07:05 UTC
If it is a server, then yes, you will have to make-do with the other solutions (Javascript). I'm currently working on getting nodejs to do the same as WWW::Mechanize::Firefox does, except without the need for a display, but that is still very much a work in progress, so I recommend you look at the other methods. Alternatively, you could write a small Javascript wrapper for your `sso.gen` script and call it via `node sso.gen-wrapper.js $ARG1 $ARG2` via backticks.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Perl and Javascript by mattdeans (Novice) on Sep 27, 2011 at 07:48 UTC
Re^5: Perl and Javascript by Corion (Patriarch) on Sep 27, 2011 at 07:55 UTC
Re^3: Perl and Javascript by Anonymous Monk on Sep 27, 2011 at 07:05 UTC
Yeah, but unlike WWW::Mechanize::Firefox, WWW::Mechanize subclass WWW::Scripter::Plugin::JavaScript doesn't have the js reliability of Firefox (or the userbase) -- it might work, it might not	[reply]
Re: Perl and Javascript by technojosh (Priest) on Sep 28, 2011 at 17:02 UTC
With a little more info about the REQUEST/RESPONSE sequences, I think I can help. Your post is kind of unclear... (How do I post a question effectively?) 1. use WWW::Mechanize (no need for Firefox specifics, I don't think. Its ok to use Firebug to "discover" how to automate a process, but it doesnt' really tie you to firefox after that point) 2. you seem to indicate you are able to pull the new, random URL you need from sso.gen?? If #2 is true, or at least close to reality, you should be able to parse that random URL and load it through a second GET request (I think that is what you are asking for in #3??) If #2 is not true, then I think that will be your focus. If you get sso.gen successfully, are you able to successfully parse this random URL from the javascript? the "GET" method returns a HTTP::Response object, can you learn anything from that? -TJ	[reply]