'Delete a Twitter entry' dissected
The following code was copied from my Twitter home page, it shows how to delete a twitter entry on the server.
raw HTML code with embedded JavaScript code.
same code as above but with comments.
Note: Twitter needs JavaScript for the web page to work properly, I've tried and it is not possible to delete a record without JavaScript. The authenticity_token has been altered by me to prevent any malicious activity on my Twitter account.
raw HTML code with embedded JavaScript code.
<a href="/status/destroy/719423092" onclick="if (confirm('Sure you want to delete this update? There is NO undo!')) {var f = document.createElement('form'); f.style.display = 'none'; this.parentNode.appendChild(f); f.method = 'POST'; f.action = this.href;var m = document.createElement('input'); m.setAttribute('type', 'hidden'); m.setAttribute('name', '_method'); m.setAttribute('value', 'delete'); f.appendChild(m);var s = document.createElement('input'); s.setAttribute('type', 'hidden'); s.setAttribute('name', 'authenticity_token'); s.setAttribute('value', 'd0057265c3784d2a6dc6cdb2c26083f638152151'); f.appendChild(s);f.submit(); };return false;" title="Delete this update?">
same code as above but with comments.
<a href="/status/destroy/719423092" onclick=" // if the user clicks the 'OK' button the confirm function will return true if (confirm('Sure you want to delete this update? There is NO undo!')) { // -- dhtml: creating html elements on-the-fly ------------------------------- var f = document.createElement('form'); // create the dhtml 'form' (<form/>) element f.style.display = 'none'; // hide the form this.parentNode.appendChild(f); // append the form element to the parent of the current node (<a/>) f.method = 'POST'; // add the method to the form f.action = this.href; // add the action using the href of the current node (<a/>) var m = document.createElement('input'); // create the input (<input/>) 'element' m.setAttribute('type', 'hidden'); // set the input type to 'hidden' m.setAttribute('name', '_method'); // set the input name to '_method' m.setAttribute('value', 'delete'); // set the input value to 'delete' f.appendChild(m); // append the input element to the form element var s = document.createElement('input'); // create another input element s.setAttribute('type', 'hidden'); // set the type to 'hidden' s.setAttribute('name', 'authenticity_token'); // set the name to 'authenticity_token' // set the input element's value using a unique id. s.setAttribute('value', 'd0057265c3784d2a6dc6cdb2c26083f638152151'); f.appendChild(s); // apend the input element to the form element // -- end of dhtml: creating html elements on-the-fly ------------------------------- f.submit(); // post the form data back to the server to delete the record, // just as if the user had pressed the submit button. }; return false; // returning false cancels the default <a href="..."> request. // However if JavaScript had been disabled for some reason the // <a href="..."> would have acted normally, meaning the record // would have been deleted from following the URL request directly. "
Note: Twitter needs JavaScript for the web page to work properly, I've tried and it is not possible to delete a record without JavaScript. The authenticity_token has been altered by me to prevent any malicious activity on my Twitter account.
