[whatwg] SQL storage and onunload

[Geoffrey Garen]

> It seems to be a natural idea to save Web application state from an  
> unload event handler. But is it guaranteed that client-side database  
> API is still functional at this point? And if it is - can one queue  
> up more statements and/or transactions from statement callbacks?

I see two options here:

1. Delay leaving the page indefinitely, until all outstanding database  
operations have completed.

2. Leave the page immediately, canceling all outstanding database  
operations.

Option #1 seems undesirable because it allows a malicious or poorly  
programmed website to hijack the browser. That's a pretty bad user  
experience -- one that the database API's asynchronous callbacks were  
specifically designed to avoid.

Option #2 is not ideal, but it's workable. A beforeunload event  
handler can detect unsaved changes and prompt the user to cancel the  
navigation and save. Once the save succeeds, the page can update its  
UI to indicate that navigation is OK.

So, I recommend option #2.

Geoff

On Feb 8, 2008, at 1:44 AM, Alexey Proskuryakov wrote:

>
>  There needs to be some limits put on this, as otherwise a script  
> could continue to use resources indefinitely after a browser window  
> is closed. But I do not see where it is specified, explicitly or  
> implicitly.
>
> - WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov
>