DTM _satellite objects will be changing in 2017

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“_satellite” is the object in Dynamic Tag Management (DTM). Adobe announced that many of the objects in the _satellite will be changing in 2017. If you have been using _satellite objects in your DTM projects, you might need to replace them with JavaScript code.

e.g. _satellite.isString([param]) with typeof s === “string”

Personally, I have been using _satellite methods a lot because the methods are very useful just like jQuery’s methods. Adobe hasn’t determined which_satellite objects will be eliminated, however, the main methods will not change.

 

Below is a list of _satellite object references that will NOT change:

  • _satellite.notify()
  • _satellite.track()
  • _satellite.getVar()
  • _satellite.setVar()
  • _satellite.getVisitorId()
  • _satellite.setCookie()
  • _satellite.readCookie()
  • _satellite.removeCookie()
  • _satellite.isLinked()

 

 

_satellite.trim([string])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 10, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

According to Dynamic Tag Management Object Reference PDF (2013),

“Removes spaces from the beginning and end of a string and then returns the result”.

If non-string parameter is passed into this method, the JavaScript error will be occurred because “replace()” is String method. This method is very similar to jQuery.trim().

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a string (must be string type, otherwise the JavaScript error will be occurred.)

Return Value

  • a string without spaces in the beginning and end

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.trim” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e) {
return null==e?null:e.trim?e.trim():e.replace(/^ */,"").replace(/ *$/,"")
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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_satellite.trim("no-space"); // "no-space", unchaged string
_satellite.trim(" space "); // "space", removed the spaces
 
_satellite.trim("      hello     world        ");
// "hello     world", removed the spaces in the beginning and end,
// but not between the two words
 
 
// Non-string paramter will cause the JavaScript error:
// "e.replace is not a function"
_satellite.trim(123); // error
_satellite.trim(1.56); // error
_satellite.trim(["array"]); // error
_satellite.trim({obj:"obj"}); // error
_satellite.trim(true); // error
 
 
// Return null
_satellite.trim(null); // null
_satellite.trim(); // null

 

References

_satellite.contains([array], [object])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 9, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

According to Dynamic Tag Management Object Reference PDF (2013),

“Checks to see if an array contains an object”.

If an object is not found, return false. The first parameter can be a string.
Based on the codes found in Developer Console, it seems that _satellite.contains calls another function _satellite.indexOf.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • array: an array (can be string)
  • object: an object

Return Value

  • true / false (type = boolean)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.contains” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e,t) {
return-1!==P.indexOf(e,t)
}

 

Examples

Example 1
Search an object in an array.

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var fruits = ["orange", "apple", "strawberry","grape"];
_satellite.contains(fruits, "orange"); // true
_satellite.contains(fruits, "apple"); // true
_satellite.contains(fruits, "grape"); // true
_satellite.contains(fruits, "peach"); // false
var fruitsjuice = ["orange juice", "apple juice"];
_satellite.contains(fruitsjuice, "orange"); // false
_satellite.contains(fruitsjuice, "apple"); // false

Example 2
Search an object in a string.

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var s = "orange juice";
_satellite.contains(s, "juice"); // true
var s2 = "apple juice";
_satellite.contains(s2, "orange"); // false
_satellite.contains(s2, "apple"); // true

References

_satellite.parseQueryParams([string])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 8, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

According to Dynamic Tag Management Object Reference PDF (2013),

“Parses the designated URL query parameter”.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a string to be parsed

Return Value

  • parsed parameters as an object (type = object)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The function codes were partially shown when “_satellite.parseQueryParams” was typed on Developer Console.

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function(e){
var t=function(e){
var t=e;
try{t=decodeURIComponent(e)}
catch(n){}return t};
if(""===e||I.isString(e)===!1)return{};0===e.indexOf("?")&&(e=e.substring(1));
  var n={},i=e.split("&");return I.each.....
 
//codes continued....
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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// Parse search parameters
_satellite.parseQueryParams(window.location.search);
 
var url = "http://mysite.com/index.html?page=sitesection%3Ahome%3Aindex&time=4%3A02%20PM%7CMonday";
_satellite.parseQueryParams(url);
// {http://mysite.com/index.html?page: "sitesection:home:index", time: "4:02 PM|Monday"}
var str = "time=4%3A02%20PM%7CMonday";
_satellite.parseQueryParams(str); // {time: "4:02 PM|Monday"}
var str2 = "time=4%3A02%20PM%7CMonday&day=August%2008";
_satellite.parseQueryParams(str2); // {time: "4:02 PM|Monday", day: "August 08"}
 
_satellite.parseQueryParams(); // {} empty object

 

References

_satellite.dataElements

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 8, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

According to Dynamic Tag Management Object Reference PDF (2013),

“Listing of all the available data element definitions in the library regardless of their
availability in an instance”.

Simply, listing all active data elements as an object including the data elements that are not used on the current page. The inactive data elements are not included in the list. If there is no active data elements, return an empty object {}.

Object Type

  • object

Parameters

  • none

Return Value

  • all active data elements (type = object)

JavaScript on Developer Console
List the active data elements when “_satellite.dataElements” was typed on Developer Console. Also, the data elements information is in the nested object.

data elements

Custom Script

data element with custom script

 

References

_satellite.indexOf([array], [object])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 7, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

According to Dynamic Tag Management Object Reference PDF (2013),

” Returns the index of an object within an array”.

If an object is not found, return -1. The first parameter can be a string, in this case, the result is the same as string.indexOf().

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • array: an array (can be string)
  • object: an object

Return Value

  • the index number (type = number)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.indexOf” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e,t){
if(e.indexOf)
   return e.indexOf(t);
for(var n=e.length;n--;)
   if(t===e[n])return n;
return-1
}

 

Examples

Example 1
Search an object in an array.

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var fruits = ["orange", "apple", "strawberry","grape"];
_satellite.indexOf(fruits, "orange"); // array index = 0
_satellite.indexOf(fruits, "apple"); // array index = 1
_satellite.indexOf(fruits, "grape"); // array index = 3
_satellite.indexOf(fruits, "peach"); // -1
 
var fruitsjuice = ["orange juice", "apple juice"];
_satellite.indexOf(fruitsjuice, "orange"); // -1
_satellite.indexOf(fruitsjuice, "apple"); // -1

Example 2
Search an object in a string. The returned index is same as string.indexOf().

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var s = "orange juice";
_satellite.indexOf(s, "juice"); // starting position = 7
s.indexOf("juice"); // starting position = 7
 
var s2 = "apple juice";
_satellite.indexOf(s2, "orange"); // -1
s2.indexOf("orange"); // -1

References

_satellite.isObject([param])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 6, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

Check if a type of parameter is an object or not. Return true if it is an object, otherwise false.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a/an number, string, object, array, null… any parameter to be tested

Return Value

  • true / false (type = boolean)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.isObject” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e) {
return null!=e&&!P.isArray(e)&&"object"==typeof e
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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_satellite.isObject({obj:"obj"}); // true
 
_satellite.isObject(["array"]); // false
_satellite.isObject("string"); // false
_satellite.isObject("123"); // false
_satellite.isObject(123); // false
_satellite.isObject(1.56); // false
_satellite.isObject(null); // false
_satellite.isObject(); // false

 

References

_satellite.isArray([param])

Mika Y Leave a comment

Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 6, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

Check if a type of parameter is an array or not. Return true if it is an array, otherwise false.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a/an number, string, object, array, null… any parameter to be tested

Return Value

  • true / false (type = boolean)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.isArray” was typed on Developer Console. The code seems not be accessible from the console.

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function isArray() {
[native code]
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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_satellite.isArray(["array"]); // true
 
_satellite.isArray("string"); // false
_satellite.isArray("123"); // false
_satellite.isArray(123); // false
_satellite.isArray(1.56); // false
_satellite.isArray({obj:"obj"}); // false
_satellite.isArray(null); // false
_satellite.isArray(); // false

 

References

_satellite.isString([param])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 6, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

Check if a type of parameter is a string or not. Return true if it is a string , otherwise false.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a/an number, string, object, array, null… any parameter to be tested

Return Value

  • true / false (type = boolean)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.isString” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e){
return"string"==typeof e
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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_satellite.isString("string"); // true
_satellite.isString("123"); // true
 
_satellite.isString(123); // false
_satellite.isString(1.56); // false
_satellite.isString(["array"]); // false
_satellite.isString({obj:"obj"}); // false
_satellite.isString(null); // false
_satellite.isString(); // false

 

References

_satellite.isNumber([param])

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Please read Limitations before using this reference. The object was tested on August 5, 2016. Other _satellite objects are on DTM _satellite Object List.

 

Description

Check if a type of parameter is a number or not. Return true if it is a number , otherwise false.

Object Type

  • function with parameters

Parameters

  • a/an number, string, object, array, null… any parameter to be tested

Return Value

  • true / false (type = boolean)

JavaScript on Developer Console
The following codes were found when “_satellite.isNumber” was typed on Developer Console.

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function (e){
return"[object Number]"===k.apply(e)&&!P.isNaN(e)
}

 

Examples

Example 1

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_satellite.isNumber(123); // true
_satellite.isNumber(1.56); // true
 
_satellite.isNumber("123"); // false
_satellite.isNumber("string"); // false
_satellite.isNumber(["array"]); // false
_satellite.isNumber({obj:"obj"}); // false
_satellite.isNumber(null); // false
_satellite.isNumber(); // false

 

References