Instead of using an extension that opens a linked browser window (such as Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.) "outside" of the VS Code "shell", is there a way to actually tightly-integrate or "embed" a fully functional browser window inside of VS Code, in a way similar to terminals? Does this question make sense?
I've searched the extensions library and other online resources but found no reference to my specific question.
Related
This requirement is on SAP Portal. The current version of Portal doesn't allow me to integrate SAP UI5 application on IE, primarily due to SAP Portal runs on Quirks mode, and UI5 runs on standards mode. We are on IE11, so no issues in Chrome/FF. So, the solution SAP proposes is to open the UI5 application in a new window, and the customer is not happy with this solution. So I was looking for ways to handle this using JQuery. As the Portal runs on Quirks mode (root) when I open the UI5 application (iframe/div) on a jquery dialog its resulting in opening in Quirks mode only.
I've read few posts in SO in similar context, so checking with the experts here to see if there is a way or solution to open/load ui5 application in standards mode using JQuery or JS, as it can't run in quirks mode in IE while on Portal.
Let me know if i need to provide any more details, as my earlier post was put on hold.
Unfortunately, the solution that SAP proposes is the only one available to you.
IE absolutely cannot render standards mode and quirks mode in the same page, not even if they are in different frames or iframes.
The only way you can mix between the two is by having them in separate windows.
It's worth adding here that anything still running in quirks mode is living on borrowed time. Quirks mode is not supported in Microsoft's new Edge browser. For now, you can still run IE11, but there will come a time when support for IE11 is dropped and Edge will become the only MS browser. At that point, you will not be able to use anything that requires quirks mode. I would urge you to plan to make the upgrade now while the transition will be easy, rather than waiting till it is forced on you.
Description of the Problem
As NPAPI plugins will be deprecated in Chrome (maybe in Firefox too soon) and being part of a project (WebChimera) that is based on an NPAPI plugin. I've been thinking of different solutions to keep NPAPI support in browsers. (as porting this plugin to NaCL is currently impossible, but the plugin can be used in a frozen version of node-webkit that currently supports NPAPIs)
So I was wondering if it is possible for a browser page to open a node-webkit app on the user's PC, then using JS with/without jQuery to send data about the html element where the Node-Webkit window (with always on top set) should be to the app (maybe through a websocket) to always position it there.
I know I can get a html element's size, position in JavaScript, I also know I can track the scroll of the user and browser tab changes to do the necessary changes to the window size, position and visibility.
The Question
The thing that truly stops me from even attempting this is how would I know when a browser is not fullscreen, and how would I know the browser's position on the screen if it is not fullscreen either from the on page JS or from node-webkit directly. Another thing that should be a concern is what screen is the browser window on.
Am I the only one that has thought of such an endeavor with node-webkit, are there any open source projects attempting this?
Any thoughts or comments on this would be greatly appreciated as a solution to this would not only save NPAPI plugins in the near future but will also open a world where Node-Webkit can also be used as a viable solution to build browser plugins too. :)
This would involve a lot of painful hackery. You'd have to solve most of these issues on all platforms independently and rely on a lot of implementation details.
As a possible alternative, check out the plans for FireBreath 2.0 which will support plugins which can be loaded via NPAPI, ActiveX, and Native Messaging via a new protocol called FireWyrm. Currently there is no drawing support when using the FireWyrm interface and only Native Messaging is supported. Additionally it's not quite finished, though I'm getting close =]
Now it's possible to use libvlc to play video directly on NW.js/Electron page: https://www.npmjs.com/package/webchimera.js
What this project is: it's low level (written in C++) addon which use libvlc and allow decode video frames to JS ArrayBuffer object. In turn this ArrayBuffer object could be drawn on HTML5 canvas directly or with WebGL. This project use Node.js/V8 API directly and not use NPAPI at all, so will live even after NPAPI deprecation. Another good thing - perfomance of this (espesially if use WebGL) is comparable with original VLC player perfomance.
Simple usage example available at: https://github.com/jaruba/wcjs-player
I want to add a button to my visual C++ form that will open with a specific browser. So far for links I've been using:
System::Diagnostics::Process::Start("UrlHere")
Which, as standard, opens with whatever your default browser is.
I'm wondering what the process would be to force the URL to open with a specific browser and if it's possible without the use of ShellExecute?
Edit - You are correct, this is C++/CLI. Removed the C++ Tag.
Edit Edit - Apologies if it came across as misleading. Some slight elaboration;
The buttons will launch to application URL's, some of which can only be used in Internet Explorer, others that CAN (and should) be used in Chrome. This is why I need to avoid using the default browser and have different buttons using different browsers when launching URLs
Before answering the 'how', I'd like to ask the question "should you be implementing this?"
By not launching the user's default browser, you are subverting the user's decision.
Perhaps the user prefers a particular interface, and is willing to live with the incorrect renderings that come with it.
Perhaps the user has a browser addon that they really need, such as a screen reader for the blind.
You are requiring additional software installed that the user may or may not want.
Perhaps the user doesn't want Chrome. Perhaps the user prefers FireFox.
You are saying that you know which browser is best, now and forever.
What if the next version of IE makes it work with the sites that are currently Chrome-only? What if the next version of Chrome fixes the sites that are currently IE-only?
What if the site changes so that it works in more browsers?
Do you go back and release a new version of your software that changes the browser for particular sites?
You're trying to solve a problem that may already be fixed.
Both Chrome and Firefox support a addon that will render a tab using the IE engine. It can be set to automatically activate when certain URLs are seen.
Perhaps there is a browser that already works with all your sites, that you don't know about.
Therefore, my recommendation is no, do not do this. The user has decided which browser they want to use, respect that decision and use the default browser.
That said, here's how you would do it: You could use the CreateProcess method, but you're in managed-land, so you might as well use it. Use the Process class to launch the new process for you.
Process^ browserProcess = gcnew Process();
browserProcess->StartInfo->UseShellExecute = false;
browserProcess->StartInfo->FileName = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe";
browserProcess->StartInfo->Arguments = "http://www.google.com";
browserProcess->Start();
I'm diving into the world of Chrome Extension development, primarily because there is a very small feature that is missing in Chrome that I miss dearly. The context-menu option to "Set as background/wallpaper" like that found in Firefox. Sounds trivial, but it's convenient.
I have most of the "basic" stuff worked out with the manifest file, am able to install it, even managed to get it to show up as a context menu item.
The problem obviously is that I am wanting to mess with a user's OS-level settings which is extremely difficult because of security issues (fully understand this).
I found an extension that allowed this in older versions of Chrome, and it looked like the developer used some type of .dll and C++ to accomplish this.
I'm not really sure how to make this work.
Since that Chrome doesn't allow these kind of manipulations (such as your PC's settings), you will need to create a native application that will run beside your extension. When the user chooses the image from your extension and selects "use as wallpaper", you will use the native messaging API to send a message to your desktop application, that will set the wallpaper (and do whatever else you can't do within a chrome extension) for you.
You can use the chrome.wallpaper app api to set the wallpaper after using the messaging api to send the image from your extension.
Here's the deal. I've animated + coded a variety of 'screensavers' in Actionscript3/Flash. They make extensive use of the timeline, AS3 code, the TweenLite library, and embedded fonts. That's the limit of my programming knowledge. I've tried, to no avail, to convert my .SWFs into screensaver files using a variety of software, such as InstantStorm. Somehow it never works, the code never executes properly, it's a disaster.
So, I'm wondering if it's possible to make a screensaver that simply contains an embedded browser, and have it point to my .SWF file, hosted on my web-server. Basically, imagine a full-screen website acting as a screensaver.
If this is possible, what is the EASIEST and FASTEST way for me to whip up a solution for both PCs and Macs? Language, etc. I'm hoping something that has a library I can simply draw from to embed the browser view :)
My startup is developing a product to do exactly this, it's called Screensaver Ninja and you can find it at https://Screensaver.Ninja.
You can set many different web pages with different timers. The configuration tool allows you log in and navigate to the page you want to display:
It uses WebKit, on Mac OS X it uses Safari's and on Windows it uses Chrome's and in both cases it has a separate session from any other browser installed on the computer.
Here's a small Windows-only solution:
https://github.com/cwc/web-page-screensaver/releases
You could modify this open-source one for the Mac so that it's hard-coded to your URL:
http://www.liquidx.net/blog/2010/11/13/webviewscreensaver-for-mac/
Modify hasConfigureSheet() to return NO and change the URL in kScreenSaverDefaultURL. And change the name!