The source code viewer in AppView got its biggest update yet. You can now search across every file of a Chrome extension, read minified bundles as normal code and send a colleague a link straight to the line you found. Viewing the current version's code is free with an AppView account.
What is new in the source code viewer?
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search in all files | Finds text in every JS, JSON, HTML, CSS and other text file of the extension; results are grouped by file |
| Regex and Match case | Switch the query to a regular expression or make it case-sensitive |
| File filter | Limit the search with masks such as *.js, js/** or !*.min.js, or one-click chips: JS, JSON, HTML, CSS, no _locales |
| Formatted view | Minified JS, CSS, HTML and JSON open laid out for reading; Original shows the file exactly as it ships |
| Find in file | Ctrl+F or ⌘F inside a file, with a match counter and previous/next |
| Links to a line | The address keeps the file, the line and the search, so a shared link opens the same match |
| Archive size | The version line shows the archive size and the number of files |
How does search work?
Type at least two characters and AppView looks through the whole extension. Results arrive file by file, each file as its own section you can fold, with a short preview around every match. Click a match and the file opens at that line, formatted if it was minified.
The file filter is there for big extensions. *.js keeps scripts only,
background keeps any path that contains the word, and ! in front of a mask
excludes it. The no _locales chip hides the translated copies of the
extension's text, which otherwise repeat every UI string dozens of times.
Why does it stay fast on big extensions?
Opening the archive, searching and formatting all run in the background of your browser, not on the page itself, so the tab keeps responding while a multi-megabyte bundle is processed. A new query cancels the old one, and only the lines on screen are drawn. Nothing is installed in your browser, and the extension never runs.
Is it free?
Yes. Open any extension in AppView and switch to the Source Code tab. The current version's code, search, formatting and links are free for every signed-in user.
To learn the ways to look at an extension's code, with and without AppView, read how to view the source code of a Chrome extension.