Node: URL to v8_inspector in the Windows console is inconvenient to copy

[vsemozhetbyt]

• Version: 7.0.0-nightly20160602aac79dfd78
• Platform: Windows 7
• Subsystem: v8_inspector

Selection in the default Windows console works in the block mode with line wrap replaced by line break in the copy.

A user can select a long URL with indentation only by selecting all the full lines:

On inserting in the address bar, the line break is replaced by %20 and the URL becomes invalid:

Currently a user has these workarounds:

1. Use not default console.
2. Expand screen buffer width up to URL width.
3. Redirect output to file and copy from it.
4. Manually clean each URL.

Is there a way to address this inconvenience? Maybe a flag can be added to open the URL in the Chrome automatically.

[MylesBorins]

/cc @ofrobots

[jasnell]

+1 for this. Having the option to have the inspector opened automatically would be very useful.

[vsemozhetbyt]

Very handy workaround from @cjihrig : https://github.com/continuationlabs/node-v8-inspector

[RReverser]

@vsemozhetbyt As a side note (since it's a generic problem when working with cmd in Windows): I'd recommend using ConEmu instead, as, among other things, it allows proper linear selection and copy and so on. Also, this is fixed in Windows 10 built-in console, but from the screenshots it looks like you're not using it, so might be not an option.

[vsemozhetbyt]

@RReverser Thank you. I weighed in adoption of other console, but there are some forethoughts for me:

1. I will just add another layer of potential bugs.
2. Somebody must be a test canary for the default console :)

[RReverser]

Somebody must be a test canary for the default console :)

True, but, as I said above, default console has been fixed already. The issue here is rather that you might be using outdated version of Windows :)

[vsemozhetbyt]

So, while Node.js supports Windows 7, somebody must be a test canary for the Windows 7 default console too :)

[orangemocha]

FWIW I use Console2 which provides better copy&paste across lines and has been working very reliably for me.

[Fishrock123]

Seems like a cmd.exe problem?

[jaridmargolin]

May not be the most elegant solution, but as I found the process of copying and pasting the url every time a little clumsy (as well as refreshing etc...), I put together a little project this weekend:

https://github.com/jaridmargolin/inspect-process

People following this thread may find it helpful.

[june07]

Addressed this in #2546 but it's a closed issue, also in #9185

The following plugin helps in this case:
chrome plugin

It gives you the option of auto opening and closing the DevTools window in a tab or window. Just change the toggle from Manual to Auto and then start a debugging session. DevTools should open. And once you end your debugging session, DevTools will close.

I was having the same issue a few days ago and wrote a Chrome extension to solve it. Would love any feedback.

[bmeck]

@jasnell there isn't a great way to find the Application Chrome/Chromium and fire it up across platforms. We could use open on OSX, start (and guess at dir to search) on Windows, and xdg-open on linux/bsd. However, these tools don't have the exact same behavior and things could get weird (particularly on linux/bsd if the url scheme is not registered).

[jaridmargolin]

@jasnell @bmeck - https://github.com/jaridmargolin/inspect-process uses selenium under the hood. Assuming there are a handful of reasons why you wouldn't want to put that into core.

Additionally as for open... chrome will not "open" to a chrome:// url. Perhaps this should be filed as a bug on there end.

[lacmuch]

use this .bat file for running your debug process:

mode con: cols=200 lines=25
node --inspect=5858 [source file]

[vsemozhetbyt]

@lacmuch Thank you. Personally, I've set something like that in default cmd window options.

[Trott]

@vsemozhetbyt Should this remain open?

[vsemozhetbyt]

I think not. The URL is shorter now and we have other ways to interact. Thank you.