You could try to use getters for that, which you create for all existing global variables. Run this before the page is started:
Object.keys(window) // or
Object.getOwnPropertyNames(window).concat(
Object.getOwnPropertyNames(Object.getPrototypeOf(window))
) // or whatever
.forEach(function(name) {
var d = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(window, name),
def = Object.defineProperty,
log = console.log.bind(console);
if (d && !d.configurable)
return log("cannot detect accessing of "+name);
def(window, name, {
configurable: true,
get: function() {
log("window."+name+" was used by this page!");
if (d) {
def(window, name, d);
return d.get ? d.get() : d.value;
} else { // it was not an own property
delete window[name];
return window[name];
}
},
set: function(x) {
log("Ugh, they're overwriting window."+name+"! Something's gonna crash.");
}
});
});
Of course property descriptors etc. are not compatible with older browsers. And notice that there are some global variables / window properties that might not be programmatically listable (like on* handlers), if you need them you will have to explicitly list them in the array. See the related questions List all properties of window object? and Cross Browser Valid JavaScript Names for that.
Yet I guess running a code coverage tool that whinges about undeclared global variables, like @stackErro suggested, is more helpful.
You can try using JetBrains PhpStorm that's what I do, you can get a trial of 30 days for free for any system. Then you check on JSLint or JSHint or both I cant remember and then all your unused variables are underlined, highlighted with different color (according to theme) and visible on the scrollbar and when you hover over them it says unused variable;
Since this question is the first in google when searching for a way how to list global javascript variables, I will add my own answer for that. Sometimes you need to list global variables to see if your code does not have a variable leaked outside the scope (defined without 'var'). For that, use this in the debug console:
(function ()
{
var keys=Object.keys( window );
for (var i in keys)
{
if (typeof window[keys[i]] != 'function')
console.log(keys[i], window[keys[i]]);
}
})();
It will list the standard global variables, like window, document, location, etc. Those are just few. So you can find your leaked vars in the list easily.
Easy way to list your globals I use sometimes.
First put this code as early as possible, before any of your scripts executed.
var WINDOW_PROPS = Object.keys(window);
Then at the moment when you need to discover your globals just do something like this:
var GLOBALS = Object.keys(window)
// filter the props which your code did not declare
.filter(prop => WINDOW_PROPS.indexOf(prop) < 0)
// prettify output a bit :) It's up to you...
.map(prop => `${typeof window[prop]} ${prop} ${window[prop]}`)
// sort by types and names to find easier what you need
.sort();
console.log(GLOBALS.join("\n"));
I've used some ES6 features here to shorten the code. It's still not good for production, but good enough for debug purposes and should work in modern browsers.
What i did was. I found a page with as little JavaScript / Frameworks as possible, logged all their keys in array.
Then iterated all the keys on the new page and logged only those which were not listed in the previous site.
You can try it or use my code snippet
var ks = ["postMessage","blur","focus","close","frames","self","window","parent","opener","top","length","closed","location","document","origin","name","history","locationbar","menubar","personalbar","scrollbars","statusbar","toolbar","status","frameElement","navigator","customElements","external","screen","innerWidth","innerHeight","scrollX","pageXOffset","scrollY","pageYOffset","screenX","screenY","outerWidth","outerHeight","devicePixelRatio","clientInformation","screenLeft","screenTop","defaultStatus","defaultstatus","styleMedia","onanimationend","onanimationiteration","onanimationstart","onsearch","ontransitionend","onwebkitanimationend","onwebkitanimationiteration","onwebkitanimationstart","onwebkittransitionend","isSecureContext","onabort","onblur","oncancel","oncanplay","oncanplaythrough","onchange","onclick","onclose","oncontextmenu","oncuechange","ondblclick","ondrag","ondragend","ondragenter","ondragleave","ondragover","ondragstart","ondrop","ondurationchange","onemptied","onended","onerror","onfocus","oninput","oninvalid","onkeydown","onkeypress","onkeyup","onload","onloadeddata","onloadedmetadata","onloadstart","onmousedown","onmouseenter","onmouseleave","onmousemove","onmouseout","onmouseover","onmouseup","onmousewheel","onpause","onplay","onplaying","onprogress","onratechange","onreset","onresize","onscroll","onseeked","onseeking","onselect","onstalled","onsubmit","onsuspend","ontimeupdate","ontoggle","onvolumechange","onwaiting","onwheel","onauxclick","ongotpointercapture","onlostpointercapture","onpointerdown","onpointermove","onpointerup","onpointercancel","onpointerover","onpointerout","onpointerenter","onpointerleave","onafterprint","onbeforeprint","onbeforeunload","onhashchange","onlanguagechange","onmessage","onmessageerror","onoffline","ononline","onpagehide","onpageshow","onpopstate","onrejectionhandled","onstorage","onunhandledrejection","onunload","performance","stop","open","alert","confirm","prompt","print","requestAnimationFrame","cancelAnimationFrame","requestIdleCallback","cancelIdleCallback","captureEvents","releaseEvents","getComputedStyle","matchMedia","moveTo","moveBy","resizeTo","resizeBy","getSelection","find","webkitRequestAnimationFrame","webkitCancelAnimationFrame","fetch","btoa","atob","setTimeout","clearTimeout","setInterval","clearInterval","createImageBitmap","scroll","scrollTo","scrollBy","onappinstalled","onbeforeinstallprompt","crypto","ondevicemotion","ondeviceorientation","ondeviceorientationabsolute","indexedDB","webkitStorageInfo","sessionStorage","localStorage","chrome","visualViewport","speechSynthesis","webkitRequestFileSystem","webkitResolveLocalFileSystemURL","addEventListener", "removeEventListener", "openDatabase", "dispatchEvent"]
var newKs = []
for (key in window) {
if(ks.indexOf(key) == -1 && key !== "ks" && key !=="newKs") {
newKs.push(key);
}
}
console.log(newKs);
It filters Object.keys(window) based on three principles:
Things that are null or undefined are usually not interesting to look at.
Most scripts will define a bunch of event handlers (i.e. functions) but they are also usually not interesting to dump out.
Properties on window that are set by the browser itself, are usually defined in a special way, and their property descriptors reflect that. Globals defined with the assignment operator (i.e. window.foo = 'bar') have a specific-looking property descriptor, and we can leverage that. Note, if the script defines properties using Object.defineProperty with a different descriptor, we'll miss them, but this is very rare in practice.
Take the list from Object.keys(window), remove the global variables the browser generates by default, you are left with only the global variables you declared on page. Note: functions you declared also count as global variables.
const listGlobal = ()=> { //for debugging purposes
//put this function inside your html or javascript. Go to the html page.
//In chrome console type listGlobal(); to see list of global vars
//Array of global variables that exist in chrome browser by default
var stdChromeVars = ["parent","opener","top","length","frames","closed","location","self","window","document","name","customElements","history","locationbar","menubar","personalbar","scrollbars","statusbar","toolbar","status","frameElement","navigator","origin","external","screen","innerWidth","innerHeight","scrollX","pageXOffset","scrollY","pageYOffset","visualViewport","screenX","screenY","outerWidth","outerHeight","devicePixelRatio","clientInformation","screenLeft","screenTop","defaultStatus","defaultstatus","styleMedia","onsearch","isSecureContext","onabort","onblur","oncancel","oncanplay","oncanplaythrough","onchange","onclick","onclose","oncontextmenu","oncuechange","ondblclick","ondrag","ondragend","ondragenter","ondragleave","ondragover","ondragstart","ondrop","ondurationchange","onemptied","onended","onerror","onfocus","onformdata","oninput","oninvalid","onkeydown","onkeypress","onkeyup","onload","onloadeddata","onloadedmetadata","onloadstart","onmousedown","onmouseenter","onmouseleave","onmousemove","onmouseout","onmouseover","onmouseup","onmousewheel","onpause","onplay","onplaying","onprogress","onratechange","onreset","onresize","onscroll","onseeked","onseeking","onselect","onstalled","onsubmit","onsuspend","ontimeupdate","ontoggle","onvolumechange","onwaiting","onwebkitanimationend","onwebkitanimationiteration","onwebkitanimationstart","onwebkittransitionend","onwheel","onauxclick","ongotpointercapture","onlostpointercapture","onpointerdown","onpointermove","onpointerup","onpointercancel","onpointerover","onpointerout","onpointerenter","onpointerleave","onselectstart","onselectionchange","onanimationend","onanimationiteration","onanimationstart","ontransitionend","onafterprint","onbeforeprint","onbeforeunload","onhashchange","onlanguagechange","onmessage","onmessageerror","onoffline","ononline","onpagehide","onpageshow","onpopstate","onrejectionhandled","onstorage","onunhandledrejection","onunload","performance","stop","open","alert","confirm","prompt","print","queueMicrotask","requestAnimationFrame","cancelAnimationFrame","captureEvents","releaseEvents","requestIdleCallback","cancelIdleCallback","getComputedStyle","matchMedia","moveTo","moveBy","resizeTo","resizeBy","scroll","scrollTo","scrollBy","getSelection","find","webkitRequestAnimationFrame","webkitCancelAnimationFrame","fetch","btoa","atob","setTimeout&q
uot;,"clearTimeout","setInterval","clearInterval","createImageBitmap","close","focus","blur","postMessage","onappinstalled","onbeforeinstallprompt","crypto","indexedDB","webkitStorageInfo","sessionStorage","localStorage","chrome","applicationCache","onpointerrawupdate","trustedTypes","speechSynthesis","webkitRequestFileSystem","webkitResolveLocalFileSystemURL","openDatabase","caches","ondevicemotion","ondeviceorientation","ondeviceorientationabsolute"];
//load the current list of global variables
let thisdocVars = Object.keys(window);
//remove from the current list any variables that's in the browser default list
stdChromeVars.forEach(DelFunc);
function DelFunc(item) {
thisdocVars.forEach((e,i)=>{if(e==item){thisdocVars.splice(i, 1);}});
}
//separate variables into functions and variables
let thisdocfunc = [];
let thisdocvar = [];
thisdocVars.forEach((e)=>{if(typeof window[e]=="function"){thisdocfunc.push(e);}else{thisdocvar.push(e);}});
console.log("Global Functions:\n" + thisdocfunc);
console.log("Global Variables:\n" + thisdocvar);
//Ctrl+Shift+i to see console in chrome
}