Utilization of a Chrome Extension to Analyze the Web Browser Window

Abstract

While working as an intern at IBM, the author developed an application called Windex that was designed to search and monitor the global variables of a web browser. The goal of this paper is to outline the process of developing such a tool using a Chrome extension to search and monitor data from a browser's JSON window object. It explains the various concepts, tools, and terminology, needed to understand Chrome extensions and the browser window object. This paper then describes the process of developing Windex. Various algorithms used for the successful development of the application are outlined and analyzed in detail. Finally, possible improvements and the addition of new features are discussed.