Deprecate chrome.extension.sendRequest in favor of sendMessage, with a safer

chrome/common/extensions/api/tabs.json

 // Copyright (c) 2012 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
 [
   {
     "namespace": "tabs",
     "dependencies": [ "extension", "windows" ],
     "types": [
       {
@@ skipping 74 matching lines @@
             "optional": true
           }
         ],
         "returns": {
           "$ref": "Port",
           "description": "A port that can be used to communicate with the content scripts running in the specified tab. The port's <a href='extension.html#type-Port'>onDisconnect</a> event is fired if the tab closes or does not exist. "
         }
       },
       {
         "name": "sendRequest",
+        "nodoc": true,
         "nocompile": true,
         "type": "function",
-        "description": "Sends a single request to the content script(s) in the specified tab, with an optional callback to run when a response is sent back.  The <a href='extension.html#event-onRequest'>chrome.extension.onRequest</a> event is fired in each content script running in the specified tab for the current extension.",
+        "description": "Deprecated: Please use sendMessage.",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "type": "integer",
             "name": "tabId",
             "minimum": 0
           },
           {
             "type": "any",
             "name": "request"
           },
           {
             "type": "function",
             "name": "responseCallback",
             "optional": true,
             "parameters": [
               {
                 "name": "response",
                 "type": "any",
                 "description": "The JSON response object sent by the handler of the request. If an error occurs while connecting to the specified tab, the callback will be called with no arguments and <a href='extension.html#property-lastError'>chrome.extension.lastError</a> will be set to the error message."
               }
             ]
           }
         ]
       },
       {
+        "name": "sendMessage",
+        "nocompile": true,
+        "type": "function",
+        "description": "Sends a single message to the content script(s) in the specified tab, with an optional callback to run when a response is sent back.  The <a href='extension.html#event-onMessage'>chrome.extension.onMessage</a> event is fired in each content script running in the specified tab for the current extension.",
+        "parameters": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer",
+            "name": "tabId",
+            "minimum": 0
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "any",
+            "name": "message"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "function",
+            "name": "responseCallback",
+            "optional": true,
+            "parameters": [
+              {
+                "name": "response",
+                "type": "any",
+                "description": "The JSON response object sent by the handler of the message. If an error occurs while connecting to the specified tab, the callback will be called with no arguments and <a href='extension.html#property-lastError'>chrome.extension.lastError</a> will be set to the error message."
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      {
         "name": "getSelected",
         "nodoc": true,
         "type": "function",
         "description": "Deprecated. Please use query({'active': true}). Gets the tab that is selected in the specified window.",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "type": "integer",
             "name": "windowId",
             "minimum": -2,
             "optional": true,
@@ skipping 710 matching lines @@
             "name": "removeInfo",
             "properties": {
               "isWindowClosing": {"type": "boolean", "description": "True when the tab is being closed because its window is being closed." }
             }
           }
         ]
       }
     ]
   }
 ]