Beyond Hovering: Techniques for Inspecting Popovers in Chrome DevTools

• Chrome DevTools: This is a built-in set of tools within Google Chrome to inspect and debug webpages.
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): CSS defines the visual presentation of a webpage, including layout, fonts, and colors. It wouldn't be used to freeze the screen.
• Freeze Screen: This functionality isn't directly available in DevTools.

However, there are alternative ways to inspect popovers:

// This code pauses script execution after 3 seconds. 
// In those 3 seconds, you can focus the element you want to inspect.
setTimeout(() => { debugger; }, 3000);

This code runs in the browser's console (accessible under the Sources tab in DevTools). It uses setTimeout to delay triggering the debugger statement by 3 seconds. While it doesn't freeze the screen entirely, it gives you a window to focus the element you want to inspect before the script pauses.

Using a keypress to trigger pause:

console.log("Ready, focus the page and press F to freeze it");

document.body.addEventListener('keydown', (event) => {
  if (event.code === 'KeyF') {
    debugger;
  }
});

This code also runs in the console. It first logs a message indicating you should focus the page. Then it adds an event listener to the document body that checks for the 'F' keypress. When you press 'F', the debugger statement pauses script execution, allowing you to inspect the current state of the page.

Remember:

• Open DevTools before running these code snippets.
• In both examples, you'll need to switch to the Elements tab in DevTools to inspect the specific element.

1. Simulate hover with DevTools:

   • Open the webpage and locate the element that triggers the popover.
   • In DevTools, go to the Elements tab.
   • Find the element in the DOM tree and right-click on it.
   • From the context menu, select "Inspect".
   • In the Styles panel, look for properties related to the popover, such as visibility. You can try modifying these properties (e.g., setting visibility: visible) to see the popover without hovering.

2. Use the "Forced Layout" mode:

   • In DevTools, go to the More tools menu (three vertical dots) and select "Rendering".
   • Under the Rendering settings, enable the "Force Layout for element selection" checkbox.
   • Now, when you hover over elements on the webpage, DevTools will highlight them even if they are hidden by default (like popovers). This can help you target the popover element for inspection.

3. Inspect the computed styles:

   • In DevTools, go to the Elements tab and right-click on the element.
   • Select "Inspect".
   • In the Styles panel, switch to the Computed tab. This view shows the actual styles applied to the element based on CSS rules and inheritance. Look for properties that might be affecting the popover's visibility or positioning.