How do I include a remote javascript file in a Greasemonkey script?
I'm trying to write a Greasemonkey script, and would like to use the jQuery library to do so, but I'm not quite sure how I would include jQuery from a web address to get rolling.
How would I include jQuery (from Google's web server) into the greasemonkey script so that I can just go:
$(document).ready(function(){
// Greasemonkey stuff here
});
I'd prefer to get it from this source:
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
Update: Thanks for the help, the answers were very informative. I did, however, utilize my GoogleFu a little more and came across this solution: http://joanpiedra.com/jquery/greasemonkey/
Works like a charm.. just update the source to google's hosted version of jQuery to complete.
Answer
The recommended way in recent versions of greasemonkey is to use the @require comment tag.
E.g.
// ==UserScript==
// @name Hello jQuery
// @namespace http://www.example.com/
// @description jQuery test script
// @include *
// @require http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js
// ==/UserScript==
However... be aware that jQuery 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 are incompatible with this method
Thanks Paul Tarjan, for pointing this out. See jQuery forum thread.
Also be aware of these @require semantics
At the time that the user script is installed, Greasemonkey will download and keep a locally cached copy of the remote file that can be read almost instantly. The cached copy is kept in the same folder as your installed user-script. The remote file is not monitored for changes.
Please be aware that, at the time of writing this answer, this @require tag is only read at install-time. If you edit an existing user script to add this tag, it will be ignored. You need to uninstall and re-install your user script to pick up the change.