Anyone know how to extract the version that is inside the "manifest.json" dynamically at runtime?

Eg is it possible to do this?
alert("Version: "+extension.version);

I found a way. Post if you find a simpler way. Using this technique you can read data from any txt file.

Code:

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();     
req.open('GET', "manifest.json");
req.onreadystatechange = function()
{
	if (req.readyState == 4)
	{
		var txt = req.responseText;
		// Note: In the extension, chrome reorders it with version last like this:
		//   "version": "0.13"
		//}
		txt = txt.substring(txt.indexOf("version"));
		if (txt.indexOf(",")!=-1)
		{
			// If you put version earlier in the manifest this cuts everything 
			// after the ",". This only applies if you open it directly and 
			// not via the extension.
			txt = txt.substring(0,txt.indexOf(","));
		}
		txt = txt.replace("version","");
		txt = txt.replace(/\"/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/:/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/}/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/\s/g,"");
		g_version = parseFloat(txt);
		alert(g_version);
	}
}
req.send("");

Originally Posted by twinsen

I found a way. Post if you find a simpler way. Using this technique you can read data from any txt file.

Code:

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();     
req.open('GET', "manifest.json");
req.onreadystatechange = function()
{
	if (req.readyState == 4)
	{
		var txt = req.responseText;
		// Note: In the extension, chrome reorders it with version last like this:
		//   "version": "0.13"
		//}
		txt = txt.substring(txt.indexOf("version"));
		if (txt.indexOf(",")!=-1)
		{
			// If you put version earlier in the manifest this cuts everything 
			// after the ",". This only applies if you open it directly and 
			// not via the extension.
			txt = txt.substring(0,txt.indexOf(","));
		}
		txt = txt.replace("version","");
		txt = txt.replace(/\"/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/:/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/}/g,"");
		txt = txt.replace(/\s/g,"");
		g_version = parseFloat(txt);
		alert(g_version);
	}
}
req.send("");

a better way would be to evaluate the manifest ( it's Json ):

Code:

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();     
req.open('GET', "manifest.json");
req.onreadystatechange = function()
{
	if (req.readyState == 4)
	{
		var manifest = eval('(' + req.responseText + ')' );
                alert(manifest.version);
        }
}

req.send("");