localScheduler

A Javascript library to schedule the launching and communication of functions between tabs/windows.

Uses localStorage to store a queue of tasks to run after a given delay, even if the original tab is closed.

Usage

The localScheduler file must be included in the document, no other files or libraries are required

<script src="localscheduler.js"></script>

// Get the localScheduler object
var scheduler = localScheduler.getNamespace('example');

// Register functions against task names
scheduler.register('test', function (message) {
	var div = document.createElement('div');
    div.innerHTML = message;
    document.body.appendChild(div);
});

// Connect to the localScheduler session over localStorage
// If tasks are currently queued this will pick them up
// For this reason you should register your tasks before connecting
scheduler.connect();

// .local runs the task in the local tab only when the delay expires
scheduler.local('test', 500, ["Function run on this tab only"]);

// .broadcast runs the task in all tab that are connected when the delay expires
scheduler.broadcast('test', 1000, ["Function run on all open tabs when delay expires"]);

// .run runs the task in one tab that is connected when the delay expires
scheduler.run('test', 1000, ["Function run on only one open tab when delay expires"]);

All task launchers (.local,.broadcast,.run) accept the task name, the delay (milliseconds) before running, and an array of arguments to pass to the task. Arguments must be JSON serializable to be transfered over localStorage.

More

All task launchers (.local,.broadcast,.run) return a string which can be given to .cancel to cancel the task on all tabs.

There is also the .disconnect function to stop the current tab service requests for localScheduler.

Notes

Please consider this library as experimental for now as there may be some small bugs and garbage collection parts missing. Specifically the .run method may run in more than one tab in Chrome when using separate windows due to what I believe is a bug in their localStorage implementation.