Question

Is it possible to add or remove files from a cache manifest using Javascript after the page has loaded?

Alternatively, is it possible to change the source and trigger a reload of the cache manifest after the page has loaded? I am thinking that since my manifest it dynamic, I can use javascript to store a list of required files and send them to php to list in an updated manifest file.

Answer 1

It is not possible to add/remove individual files from JavaScript. The current implementation of app cache is all or nothing. If the cache manifest is updated, all files referenced in that file will be downloaded.

It is possible to trigger a reload if new cached files are downloaded with the following code:

if (window.applicationCache) {
    applicationCache.addEventListener('updateready', function() {
        if (confirm('An update is available. Reload now?')) {
            window.location.reload();
        }
    });
}

I have some other details in a recent blog post on HTML5 app cache – http://gregsramblings.com/2012/05/28/html5-application-cache-how-to/

Greg