Parse JavaScript code in C#

Question

I have the following JavaScript code as a string literal:

var $Page = new function()
{
    var _url= 'http://www.some.url.com';

    this.Download = function()
    {
        window.location = _url;
    }
}

Is there a way I could get the value of the _url variable from my C# code? An open source library perhaps? I did this using a Regular Expression, but I was hoping for a more elegant way.

Answer 1

I'd say go for a Regular Expression, because it works. Why is it not elegant?

Answer 2

You could execute the javascript function using the DLR and/or MyJScript.

Answer 3

If it's a string literal, why not just copy and paste the URL into a new string literal?

Or did I take your question too literally (ho ho), and the string is being read from somewhere else?

Answer 4

You could use a javascript parser, but parsing javascript for just that one value is probably way overkill.

Answer 5

There is an open-source JavaScript interpreter in C# at http://jint.codeplex.com, if you need more than just getting the value.

Answer 6

You should take a look at the open-source Javascript .NET (http://javascriptdotnet.codeplex.com/) on Codeplex.

This sample of code should help you:

Javascript context = new JavascriptContext();
context.Run("var _url= 'http://www.some.url.com';") // You put your javascript in the function run
String url = (String)context.GetParameter("_url"); // You get your url from javascript

That's it.