script warning

[shakushinnen]

Hi all,
I often get this popup window asking me to 'allow script/stop script/debug script'. Why is this, and what should I do about it?
Thanks,
...... john

[Frank Lion]

.. Why is this

Because some scripts are written really badly.

... and what should I do about it?

Usually hit 'Continue'.

If it then drags on for ages then hit 'Stop', some site functionality may result, but that's better than endless 'Not Responding' locking up the browser.

[Peter Creasey]

I usually just stop the script.

[shakushinnen]

Hi Frank/Peter,
Well, I've been stopping, but I know nothing about them, so.....
....... john

[n0spam]

What I usually do, "in order of appearance" (page reloading implied inbetween each list item):
1) stop the script
2) block the script with adblocker
3) write a stub/workaround userscript
4) leave the site.

[shakushinnen]

Hi n0spam,
Thanks for you suggestions.
What are these scripts usually designed to do?
....... john

[Rob_S]

So the question remains why does Seamonkey script engine have problems with so many current website scripts, when other browsers do not?

Is the script engine a separate component that needs to be updated? Can such updates be imported or borrowed from elsewhere with minimal effort??

Or is the scripting totally integral to the gecko version that we are still using? In which case little hope for solution until 2.57+ becomes useable????

Is it conceivably possible to add an optional automatic "on-error stop-script" routine when it fails or chokes - whether due to bad script or newer stuff?

[shakushinnen]

Hi Rob,
I'm sure that you're thinking out loud, wrt to how to fix the issue; because I know nothing about scripts, nor how to remedy them, if indeed that's the problem.
..... john

[trevoz]

I generally use SeaMonkey on FreeBSD (2011 Mac mini) and very occasionally run into the script stop/continue dialogue popup - I always choose stop and nothing bad ever happens with website functionality.

I recently revisited a page that caused the issue with Safari on macOS (2018 Mac mini) - the result was one CPU core maxing out at 100% and, unlike SeaMonkey, no ability to stop the rogue script.

I consider SeaMonkey's stop/continue script a valuable feature, especially for older hardware.

[shakushinnen]

Hi trevoz,
Thanks for the help. I have been generally stopping scripts, without problem, but I admittedly do no know what I'm doing, so thanks for the advice.
..... john

[n0spam]

What are these scripts usually designed to do?

They're different for each web site. As to why this happens, the answer is the usual (and kinda obvious) - shitty coding.
If the offending script is a so-called "content" script, i.e. a script in a web page (its URL starts with http), you can stop those without hesitation. This won't break the browser.
But if it's a so-called "chrome" script, i.e. it's part of the browser (its URL starts with chrome or resource), I'd let it continue at least once before stopping it. Then I'd increase the quota in about:config.
The quota is measured in seconds, and it's controlled by two different prefs:
(*) dom.max_chrome_script_run_time for chrome scripts.
(*) dom.max_script_run_time for content scripts.

Because sometimes you just have to, e.g. I once had a session with 3 windows having 4k+ tabs in total, so saving/restoring the session was taking several minutes which triggered this "slow script" prompt which broke the process even if I let it continue, so I lost some tabs.

[shakushinnen]

Thanks n0spam. That helps a lot!
...... john