# Which text browser support script-based verification page?

## XQZS

which text browser support javascript-based verification page?

Before browse to web pages on Internet outside, I have to input my netword ID and password on a javascript-based verification page.

firefox, chrome, IE, and other GUI browsers are ok of course.

But links, lynx, elinks, w3m and other text browsers can not work. When I link to this verification web page, these browers cannot show the input blank boxes for inputting ID and password. I guess the verification page just use javascript, and this script cannot run on text browsers, but I also know elinks or lynx support javascript--there is a "javascript" USE flag when emerging them. Thus I do not know how to do.

In my opinion, the verification page must have some scripts to be run when being opened. But these scripts cannot be run in text browsers envirement, so the blank input boxes cannot show on the browers after that.

How to make the text browers show this script-based verification page correctly?Last edited by XQZS on Sun May 18, 2014 5:17 am; edited 1 time in total

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## 1clue

I don't know about text-based browsers with javascript support, but you should change "java" in your subject to "javascript" to ovoid being misleading.  This is apples and oranges, and some people who know about the javascript part won't even read your thread if you say java.

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## XQZS

 *1clue wrote:*   

> I don't know about text-based browsers with javascript support, but you should change "java" in your subject to "javascript" to ovoid being misleading.  This is apples and oranges, and some people who know about the javascript part won't even read your thread if you say java.

 

Thank you. In fact, I do not know whether it is javascript, but it must be scripts.

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## 1clue

It must be javascript.

I'm pretty familiar with the server side of this.  The thing I don't know about here is the text-based browsers.

http://links.twibright.com/user_en.html#ap-javascript

This shows that links HAD javascript support at one point but it's now disabled because of problems.  So this topic might be a minefield for your case.

I can't imagine a browser being very useful these days without javascript support.  Just about every general-purpose site has it, and it's an integral part of html5 spec, although the implementation of the engine can vary.

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## Hu

 *1clue wrote:*   

> I can't imagine a browser being very useful these days without javascript support.  Just about every general-purpose site has it, and it's an integral part of html5 spec, although the implementation of the engine can vary.

 You'd be surprised how many well-designed sites work fine with Javascript zapped by NoScript.  Conversely, as you say, many poorly designed sites misuse Javascript to do something that is more easily done through other means, and therefore break when Javascript is restricted to run only on trusted sites.  The OP's problem sounds like a case of the latter.  Soliciting credentials is trivially done through plain HTML or even simple HTTP.  Validating the credentials must be done server-side to maintain integrity.  Based on the OP's description, I see nothing in what it does that would justify it using Javascript.  However, many would-be web developers think Javascript is the answer to everything, so I would also not be surprised if the OP is correct that the authentication page is designed to require Javascript.

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## 1clue

I can't really think of any reason why you would need javascript for a login screen either, but javascript does solve a lot of problems with web-based applications, and is indispensable for some of them.

For example, if you have an app like a web-based spreadsheet or word processor, there's just no way to do some things without some sort of client-side code which strict html does not handle.  The only reasonable solution is to use a script language, and frankly the only thing even close to robust enough is Javascript.

Here's a project for you:  Find a page on the Gentoo forum which has no javascript.  Including the login screen!  Better yet, click the 'reply' button and look at the page source.  This editor we're typing in has lots of javascript, and frankly needs it.  A WYSIWYG editor is even more javascript intensive.

For those of you who have learned to hate Javascript from years back, the advent of HTML5 has seen a lot of changes in Javascript to make it consistent and logical.  Better yet, it's now very consistent across browsers and operating systems.  In terms of putting Linux on an equal footing with Windows and Mac, this is awesome.

On the other hand, an exploit in Javascript will hit all operating systems and all browsers with equal ferocity.  Security is needed, and dynamic attention to the current requirements by the folks who make the web pages and the tools that make them is critical.

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