Michael Jay Lissner

Script to Rid Thyself of Autocomplete = Off in Firefox

2009-12-15T17:41:27-08:00

I took some time today and wrote up a script that can be run to eliminate autocomplete=off in Firefox. It basically does the same thing as is described here, but it automates it.

The script can be run with one of five arguments:

You can choose to use find (--find) or locate (--locate) to find the files that need to be changed on your system;
You can dictate the location of the file if you want to modify a specific one or know exactly where it’s located (--dictate);
You can choose to use the Ubuntu default location (--default); or
You can print the help information (--help)

Once the program is run, it will make a back up, and modify it the original versions of the file. Once that’s complete, all you have to do is restart Firefox.

It has been pointed out to me by some security folks that removing a utocomplete’s functionality from the browser might not be the best thing, since it will allow you to save your passwords in the browser. There’s some truth to that: Anything that’s on your computer can be hacked. So, if you’re going to use this script, use it wisely.

Here’s the code. I’ve attached it to this message as well. Any bugs or comments are greatly appreciated.

#!/bin/bash
# a simple script to destroy autocomplete in linux installations.


##############
# We begin with our functions, it's not efficient, but it works
##############

# a function to print the help message.
function printHelp {
cat <<EOF
NAME
    autocompleteDestroyer.sh

SYNOPSIS
    autocompleteDestroyer.sh [ --find | --default | --help | --locate | --dictate ]

OPTIONS
    This program will find the nsLoginManager.js file on your computer, and will fix it so that autocomplete is disabled in your installation of Firefox. Since this program will be altering your installation of Firefox, it will require your root password.

    --help     Print this help file

    --default  Attempt to use the default location of the files (/usr/lib/xulrunner*/components/nsLoginManager.js)

    --locate   Use the locate database, if installed, to find the files. This will only find the files that were added before the last time the locate database was updated (which is typically once a day). It is faster than the --find option, but might not find all versions.

    --find     Use the find command to locate the nsLoginManager.js files. This will search in /usr/lib by default. Edit the script if you would like to change this. This is the slowest, but most thorough option.

    --dictate  Allows input of a known location.

EXIT STATUS
    autocompleteDestroyer.sh exists with a status of 0 if it encounters no problems. An exit status of 1 means incorrect usage. An exit status of 2 indicates it was unable to find your files. An exit status of 3 indicates the user terminated the program. An exit status of 4 means it encountered problems editing your file.

BUGS
    If any bugs are encountered, please see http://michaeljaylissner.com/contact/

AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT
    This script was authored by Michael Lissner and is released under GNU GPLv3.

EOF
}

# takes an argument, and creates an array containing the files to be modified.
function identifyEvilFiles {
    if [ $1 == "find" ]
    then
        files=$(find /usr/lib -name nsLoginManager.js 2> /dev/null)
        if [[ ! $files ]]
        then
            # Test if files has been set.
            echo "autocompleteDestroyer.sh: No files found. Try loosening the find parameter in the script, per the help file."
            exit 2
        fi
    elif [ $1 == "default" ]
    then
        # We assume the default location of nsLoginManager.js
        files=$(ls /usr/lib/xulrunner*/components/nsLoginManager.js 2> /dev/null)
        if [[ ! $files ]]
        then
            # We didn't have any hits. Exit.
            echo "autocompleteDestroyer.sh: We didn't find anything at the default locations. Perhaps try the --locate or --find arguments."
            exit 2
        fi
    elif [ $1 == "locate" ]
    then
        # We run the locate command, see if we have any hits.
        files=$(locate -b '\nsLoginManager.js' 2> /dev/null)
        if [[ ! $files ]]
        then
            # No hits. Exit.
            echo "autocompleteDestroyer.sh: We didn't find anything using the locate command. Perhaps try the --find argument."
            exit 2
        fi
    elif [ $1 == "dictate" ]
    then
        # "Why don't you just tell me what movie you'd like to see?" --Kramer.
        read -p "Where is the file nsLoginManager.js located on your machine: " files
        if [ -f $files ]
        then
            # Good. The file exists. We press on.
            echo "Thank you. That file exists, and we will modify it."
        else
            echo "autocomplete.sh: That file doesn't seem to exist. Please try again."
            exit 2
        fi
     fi
}



function modifyFiles {
    echo  "The following files will be modified: 
$files "
    echo 
    read -p "Shall we proceed (y/n): " proceed

    if [ $proceed == "y" -o $proceed == "Y" ]
    then
        # Here we go!
        while read -r line
        do
            echo Now processing $line
            #find the function in the file, label it with FILLERWORD, then replace the first line, and delete the rest. A messy approach, but functional
            sed -i.bak '/[[:space:]]*_isAutocompleteDisabled[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*function.*{[[:space:]]*$/,/^[[:space:]]*},[[:space:]]*$/s/^/FILLERWORD/' $line
            sed -r -i 's/FILLERWORD.*_isAutocomplete.*/    _isAutocompleteDisabled :  function (element) { return false; },/' $line
            sed -i '/FILLERWORD/d' $line

            # test if it worked
            grep -i -q 'isautocompletedisabled.*return false' $line
            if [ $? != 0 ]
            then
                # something failed...probably. Tell the user
                echo "Unable to successfully edit the file. Exiting"
                exit 4
            fi
        done <<< "$files"
        echo "All the files have been processed properly. Please restart Firefox, and thanks for using this script."
        exit 0
    else
        # It appears they'd like to abort. Let's exit.
        echo "OK. You know what to do if you change your mind."
        exit 3
    fi

}


#initiation sequence
if [ $# -eq 0 -o $# -gt 1 ]
then 
    # We need to give them help using the program. 
    echo "autocompleteDestroyer.sh:  Invalid number of arguments."
    echo "Usage: autocompleteDestroyer.sh [ --help | --default | --locate | --find | --dictate ] "
    exit 1
elif [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; 
then
    echo "autoCompleteDestroyer.sh: This script must be run as root" 1>&2
    exit 1
else
    case $1 in
        --help) printHelp;;
        --find) identifyEvilFiles find; modifyFiles;;
        --default) identifyEvilFiles default; modifyFiles;;
        --locate) identifyEvilFiles locate; modifyFiles;;
        --dictate)identifyEvilFiles dictate; modifyFiles;;
        *) echo "autocompleteDestroyer.sh: Invalid argument. Try the --help argument."
           exit 1;
    esac
fi

Script to Clean Up F-Spot Database

2009-10-14T00:30:12-07:00

One of the more popular photo management applications for Linux is f-spot, but unfortunately it has a rather glaring bug. It uses a sqlite3 database internally to track which pictures you’ve imported into it, what tags they have, etc. However, if you delete, move or rename any of the files that f-spot is tracking, the next time you browse to that photo within f-spot, it will crash the program. It’s annoying, and there’s no particularly easy way to deal with it…until now.

The script below simply iterates through all of the photos that are in f-spot’s database, and checks to see if those photos exist on your hard drive. If you run it in demo-mode, it will show you which files look problematic, and if you run it in normal mode, it will delete those database entries so that your database is cleaned up (but not before backing up your database, just in case).

In my very limited testing, it works very well, any additional feedback or bug reporting is more than welcome.

#!/bin/bash

# A script to find missing files in the f-spot database, and then delete them.
# At present these files crash f-spot. It's frustrating as all hell.

echo "Welcome to the f-spot database cleaner. All the usual disclaimers apply, as you might imagine."
echo "What would you like to do: " 
echo "  1) Run in demo-mode " 
echo "  2) Clean up your f-spot database" 
echo "  3) Quit" 
read -p "Your choice: " choice

case $choice in 
    1) demomode="true";;
    2) demomode="false";;
    3) exit 0;;
esac

# With that beginning stuff out of the way, let us do some functions
# First, a function to gather the database contents and to print out the ones that are orphans

function findAndFixOrphans {
    # find our db, and set a var. Checking for XDG path first, since it's the more recent location of the db
    if [ -f $XDG_CONFIG_DIR/f-spot/photos.db ] #checks if the $XDG_CONFIG_DIR variable is in use
    then
        DBPATH=$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/f-spot/photos.db
    elif [ -f $HOME/.config/f-spot/photos.db ] #uses the default $XDG location, if that's being used.
    then
        DBPATH=$HOME/.config/f-spot/photos.db
    elif [ -f $HOME/.gnome2/f-spot/photos.db ] #uses the old location of the DB, if the former aren't in use.
    then
        DBPATH=$HOME/.gnome2/f-spot/photos.db
    else
        echo "Error: Could not find database. Damn." 
        exit 1
    fi

    # Select the filenames, and put them in a variable.
    filenames=$(sqlite3 $DBPATH "SELECT URI FROM PHOTOS")
    filenames_versions=$(sqlite3 $DBPATH "SELECT URI FROM PHOTO_VERSIONS")

    # Chomp off the first instance of file://, and replace the rest with newlines.
    filenames=$(echo $filenames | sed 's/file:\/\///' | sed 's/file:\/\//\n/g'  )
    filenames_versions=$(echo $filenames_versions | sed 's/file:\/\///' | sed 's/file:\/\//\n/g' )

    if [ $demomode == "true" ]
    then            
        while read -r line
        do
            # Decode the filename
            decodedLine=$(echo -e "${line//\%/\\x}")
            if [ ! -f  "$decodedLine" ] 
            then
                # If the file doesn't exist, we output the filename, if in demomode, or we fix it if we are not in demomode.
                echo  "Errant record found in the photos table: $decodedLine"
            fi
        done <<< "$filenames"

        # We do the same for the photo_versions table
        while read -r line
        do
            # Decode filename
            decodedLine=$(echo -e "${line//\%/\\x}")
            if [ ! -f "$decodedLine" ]
            then
                # If the file doesn't exist, we output the filename
                echo "Errant record found in the photo_versions table: $decodedLine"
            fi
        done <<< "$filenames_versions"

    else
        # We backup the database, and make the correction
        cp $DBPATH $DBPATH.`date -I`.bak
        if [ $? -eq 0 ]
        then
            #The backup worked, tell the user.
            echo "Your database has been backed up to $DBPATH.`date -I`.bak"
        else
            echo "Error backing up your database."
            exit 3
        fi

        # First we do the photos table
        while read -r line
        do
            # Decode the filename
            decodedLine=$(echo -e "${line//\%/\\x}")

            if [ ! -f "$decodedLine" ]
            then
                # Do some sql here.
                foo="file://${line}"
                echo -n "Deleting URI $line from the database table photos..."
                sqlite3 $DBPATH "DELETE FROM PHOTOS WHERE uri = '$foo'"
                echo "done."
            fi
        done <<< "$filenames"

        # Then we do the photo_versions table
        while read -r line
        do
            # Decode the filename
            decodedLine=$(echo -e "${line//\%/\\x}")

            if [ ! -f "$decodedLine" ]
            then
                #Do some sql stuff
                foo="file://${line}"
                echo -n "Deleting URI $line from the database table photo_versions..."
                sqlite3 $DBPATH "DELETE FROM PHOTO_VERSIONS WHERE uri = '$foo'"
                echo "done."
            fi
        done <<< "$filenames_versions"

    fi

}

if [ "$demomode" == "true" ]
then
    echo "Great. Proceeding in demomode."

    findAndFixOrphans

    echo "Demomode successfully finished. Exiting."
    exit 0;
elif [ "$demomode" == "false" ]
then
    echo "Great. Cleaning up your database."

    findAndFixOrphans

    echo "Database cleaned successfully."
    exit 0;
else
    echo "Something strange happened. See the script for details. Exiting."
    exit 2;
fi

A Script to Kill Evolution

2008-10-13T17:36:05-07:00

I use Evolution as my mail reader, and I like it. It has a lot of good features including a calendar, address book, memos and mail, as well as a number of others. One problem though is that it gets caught up when processing mail, and sometimes just won’t come back.

The other problem is that it has several helper apps that are behind the scenes making things work properly, so if you try to just kill the application itself, those will still be running and your problem may not be solved.

My solution was to write a short script to kill all of Evolution and its helper apps. Hope this helps somebody else someday:

% more bin/evokill 
#!/bin/bash

ps aux | grep evolution
kill `ps aux | grep evolution | awk -F' ' '{print $2}'`

This script just looks for any application that has the word evolution in its name, and then sends it the kill signal. Not too sophisticated, but it gets the job done. You could easily substitute the word evolution for something else as well.