History.js and its plugins crash when combined into a single JavaScript file.

[garyv]

On websites that combine multiple JavaScript files into one, history.js crashes with "undefined method" errors.

I consider this a bug because:

• Their should (theoretically) be no difference between running the same javascript code as one file or a series of separate files, as each line of code is executed sequentially.
• Combining multiple files of the same type to reduce the number of HTTP requests is a common and widely accepted practice in web optimization. (ref: http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html)

Details:

• It can be reproduced on any site using history.js and its plugins by replacing the separate script tags with a single script tag referencing a file with the code from history.js and its plugins combined.
• I've reproduced it in Firefox 5, Safari 5, and Chrome, so believe the bug is browser independent

Quick and dirty fix:

Add a millisecond delay to each script file after the first one.

// contents of history.adapter.jquery.js
setTimeout(function(){
    // contents of history.js
}, 1);
setTimeout(function(){
    // contents of history.html4.js
}, 1);

This is clearly too hacky to be a permanent fix, but it illustrates the problem well: History.js is dependent on the delay normally caused by loading each script with a separate HTTP request.

[JasonBerry]

I'm pretty sure this is a duplicate of https://github.com/balupton/history.js/issues/46

[garyv]

Thanks Jason, not sure how I missed that other ticket.

I re-minified the files using Google Closure Compressor and YUI Compressor, and each one let me combine the files without causing a glitch.

My question now is, what compressor was used on the minified files in this repo, and why not switch it to YUI or Closure? But I suppose I should just create a pull request for that.

[JasonBerry]

UglifyJS is used to do the minification. There's a feature request ticket to not omit the trailing semicolons, but it hasn't been actioned as yet.

[balupton]

Fixed in v1.7.1. We now also include bundled files in the distro :) Thanks guys.

[Angelinsky7]

Still not working in 2017...