autocomplete.js can iterate over functions in Array objects

The actual issue is on line 205 -- the foreach loop:

for (key in matches) {
...
}

This type of problem is described in this blog post, but basically the issue is that the auto-complete code uses the array object like an associative array, but that leaves it wide open to iterate over anything in the array namespace, which can be prototype functions, etc. This explains why when there are no results, it will spit-out javascript text, because it's literally iterating over functions in the Array object.

Attached is a fix for this issue, though I'm not necessarily crazy about it only because this doesn't fix the fact that autocomplete.js abuses the properties of the object like it's an associative array.

Forgot to set "needs review".

Re-submitted.

Re-submitting...

Please use the generic $.each() function here:

$.each(matches, function(key, element) {
  var li = document.createElement('li');
  $(li)
    .html('<div>'+ element +'</div>')
    .mousedown(function () { ac.select(this); })
    .mouseover(function () { ac.highlight(this); })
    .mouseout(function () { ac.unhighlight(this); });
  li.autocompleteValue = key;
  $(ul).append(li);
});

I checked, this is buggy in D7 too. We need to fix it there first.

When using autocomplete in Drupal 6.19, when I select a matching word, the text field is populated with the number coresponding with the word found in 'matches' array and not with the selected word as it should be.

If i change line:
     li.autocompleteValue = key;
with:
     li.autocompleteValue = matches[key];
it seems to work fine.

Is this a bug, or am I missing something?

Original Code (in autocomplete.js):

var ul = document.createElement('ul');
var ac = this;
for (key in matches) {
var li = document.createElement('li');
$(li)
.html('

')
.mousedown(function () { ac.select(this); })
.mouseover(function () { ac.highlight(this); })
.mouseout(function () { ac.unhighlight(this); });
li.autocompleteValue = key; //------------------------ here is the line (212)---------------
$(ul).append(li);
}

I've also just reported this as a bug with autocomplete feature.

I found why the text field is populated with the number coresponding with the word found in 'matches' array and not with the selected word. It was my mistake. You can see why here.

Here's a patch that follows Damien's suggestion from #6.

Basically, the change is replacing the use of for() iteration to iterate over the properties of an object with the jQuery $.each() approach.

[bumping status]

#175361: autocomplete shows users errors & code was marked as a duplicate of this issue.

For reference, there are patches there with a different approach in #175361-12: autocomplete shows users errors & code.

Patch #11 works for me.

Updating patch for Drupal 8.x.

I think this applies to Drupal 7 too.

And Drupal 5/6. Marked #590148: Autocomplete.js errors with Mozilla based browsers, due to a namespace conflicts between search terms and object properties as a duplicate

This needs a good issue summary. Thanks.

From the original queue:

This is a namespace clash with Mozilla browsers within the core Drupal autocomplete.js

Browsers:
FireFox 3.5
SeaMonkey 1.1.17
Galeon 2.04

So far the following name cause logical error during the auto-complete process:

no autocomplete AJAX, no drop-down
constructor

no autocomplete AJAX and [object Object] is shown in the dropdown and prototype is returned when selected

# Some methods inherited from Function.prototype
toSource
toString
valueOf

# All methods / properties inherited from Object.prototype
propertyIsEnumerable
hasOwnProperty
watch
unwatch
__defineGetter__
etc

However, some keywords appear to pass, like some methods / properties inherited from Function.prototype: apply, call, name, caller, length, ...

Note that the problem is significantly less with the latter versions of FF, but I see that there is still some issues.

In FF8.01, the properties tend to fail to trigger the autocomplete, resulting in nothing happening. Just plug in one of the 9 listed properties into the project autocomplete and you can see this in action :)

#16: drupal-784670-16-fix_array_iteration.patch queued for re-testing.

Actually $.each() won't fix this, it's a simple for.

It needs to be done manually:

for (key in matches) {
  if (matches.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
    // rest of the code
  }
}

and that should fix the issue.

( edit ) don't forget #1363748: autocomplete.js is using global variable instead of local either.

This was committed to core through #1420798: autocomplete.js clean up can someone please test?

2 1/2 years in the queues and it gets committed in a code clean up! (Original issue was recorded Sep 2009.) One word, Awesome!

From a quick search of the net:

Object.hasOwnProperty() Checks whether a property is inherited.
IE 5.5+ (Issues with Form elements 7-, added support for Host objects from 8+)
Mozilla 1.0+
Netscape 6.0+
Opera 7.0+
Safari (?)2.0+

And this is used internally in many libraries, so it looks fine as far as I can see :)

Marking duplicate as the other thread has the commit and that appears to have the carrot needed to make progress on this matter.

I don't know what the status of either of these issues is, or whether it's wise to backport a cleanup patch or not. I'm attaching a simple hasOwnProperty fix for D6, that fixes the bug in this issue.

#28 Looks good.

The above patch also is looking good for 6.x... may be worth re-opening this?

trying to write an issue summary