I am looking for a framework with which I can create browser extensions (namely a toolbar), for all browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome).
I have searched for a relevant solution, but none which I found were what I need:
CrossRider - no good since it can't be self-hosted. The same would apply to companies like Conduit, and nearly all other solutions I've encountered.
Kango - this does look exactly like what I need, but the license is too expensive IMHO.
Does anyone know a framework which will allow development - using js & html - of a cross-browser toolbar?
I've never tried it myself but I remember a colleague of mine talking about firebreath a while ago.
Related
I've found this nice article about the "injected Way", but the author never finished it :
http://hightechstartups.blogspot.ch/2012/05/different-way-of-developing-browser.html
I would like a bare bone cross browser extension, without any 3rd party extensions or framework (to be as light as possible and not dependant on a 3rd party) that would load Jquery and a JS from a distant server and the ability to load it before or after the page is fully loaded.
I've read a lot of topics about the subject, but since IE10, Chrome 26 and FF20 are out with their new cross-link limitations, i was wondering if somebody had ressources, source code or tutorial about the following requirements :
I need :
Cross browser extension supporting (IE 8+ or 9+ worse case, Chrome
26+, FF20+, Safari)
Ability to inject a single JS hosted on another server. Inserts a script tag that references a javascript file in the head of the HTML
page and then be executed
Not be dependant on a third party extension (greasmonkey) or framework (Kango, Crossrider)
Ability to load before or after the page is fully loaded
This method allows me to customise the browser extension depending on the user's location and it also avoid having updates as the JS is updated on each page refresh.
I'm aware of the downsides, but i would like to achieve this.
I'm aware of cross browser framework like Kango or crossrider, but both don't fit me needs.
The closest example i could find is this How can I run a <script> tag that I just inserted dynamically from a BHO
but it only covers IE and as i got very little Csharp experience, i would like to see a full example to understand it properly and learn from example.
I would LOVE to have a few examples, even if it's not cross-browser (IE being the worst part for me).
Thanks a lot for your support !
Update1:
About Kango and Crossrider, Kango is 2000$ if you want to use IE and for Crossrider you're required to be distributed and monetized by them.
I've managed to code for IE and Chrome, but i was looking for an "elegant" way and figured it was the best place to ask given the level of knowledge of people on this site.
For the installer i currently use NSIS, but i'll test Wix too.
Finally i guess the only way for me would be to learn C++ and .net to get it to work with IE, but if anyone could provide more source code it would be great to test speed and compatibility and discuss here what's the best solution.
Why do Kango or Crossrider not fit your needs? Both frameworks allow you to manipulate the page's DOM (which is what you want):
Kango: Adding content script
Crossrider: documentation, example code
If you want to code your own solution, take a look at the relevant documentation:
Content scripts (Chrome)
The Page mod Jetpack API (Firefox)
Injected scrips (Safari)
Injected scripts (Opera)
Internet Explorer does not natively support extensions. It took me about 80 hours to create a stable and reliable IE extension which supports cross-site AJAX, a (preference) storage method and injection of scripts as early as possible in any frames based on its URL. I developed and tested the extension with Visual Express 2010 on Windows XP and Windows 7, for IE 8-10 (the extension might work on IE6/7, but I decided to not support these ancient and rarely used browsers).
First, I wrote an extension in C# based on LiveReloadIEExtension (a sample IE extension, which in turn is based on this Stack Overflow answer - see also this blog post). It was functional, but it required .NET 4, lacked support of frames, and it's relatively slow.
So, I decided to write an IE extension from scratch in C++. A good starting point is available at http://www.wischik.com/lu/programmer/bho.html: Sample code for C++ BHO, which changes the document's background based on key/mouse events. I've also learned a lot by looking at other code samples on CodeProject, topics on the MSDN forums, questions and answers on Stack Overflow, lots of other blogs, and the MSDN documentation:
DWebBrowserEvents2 interface lists several events which you use to find an appropriate injection point.
Scripting Object Interfaces (MSHTML) lists even more interfaces. You'll be mainly interested in the iHTMLDocument, iHTMLDocument2, ... interfaces.
After creating the IE extension, you want to deploy it of course. I used Wix toolset to create a MSI.
I am creating a dashboard project for which i am using nvd3 but as we know svg is not supported in IE8 so it does not render graphs/charts in IE8..please suggest how i can make nvd3 work in IE8
I'm in the same situation and I think I may just ditch nvd3 (besides no ie8 support, I'm finding other bugs). I'm wondering, has anyone successfully used r2d3 with nvd3?
My concern is that r2d3 uses d3v3 now, which nvd3 is not presently supporting (currently d3v2... d3v3 support in the works as of writing this).
For an alternative to nvd3, I'm considering:
MorrisJS!
- Works on ie8 (Raphael-based), but a newer project and less flexibility/options with the charts comparatively.
Google Chart Engine!
- I think this may be the way to go (for my project), I don't like that its not open source, but I'm already working extensively with the Google Maps API and this solution is very stable and easy to use from my experiences thus far. In limited testing in ie8 it works very well.
Also, here's another stackoverflow question on this topic, [question]: nvd3.js rendering solution for Internet Explorer
...seems r2d3 was the accepted answer there, but no one really verified it.
The library r2d3 is "a customized build of D3 powered by RaphaelJS. The combination of D3 and Raphael enable developers to easily build data visualizations that work in IE7+ and all modern browsers." - it has its limitations (see the link for details), but it would be a good place to start
Google has taken up the implementation of WebRTC in Chrome very seriously as indicated by the frequent updates in the Canary and Beta channel of Chrome. Are there any other browsers who are upto implementing this?
Firefox/IE/Opera are working on it. No word from Apple/Safari or Microsoft/IE, although IE is unlikely at best, because they're working on their own standard unfortunately. Crazier things have happened, but I wouldn't count on it. Apple has been fairly mum on the subject.
If you want support for those other browsers, we built a solution for it # Frozen Mountain (I work there) using IceLink.
Opera Mobile does offer support to WebRTC. And according to this article, Mozilla isn't all that far behind either. Ericsson Labs has their own custom browser which supports WebRTC. But it runs only on Ubuntu as of now. WebRTC itself is still under development and I'm sure that we can see complete support from all major browsers in some time.
Mozilla is far along in implementing WebRTC, and we're leading the design and implementation of DataChannels within WebRTC, as well as Identity work. We're working on a project-specific repo right now (alder), but pieces have already moved over into mozilla-central, such as initial support for getUserMedia.
Currently I am coding my google-chrome-extensions using a combination of notepad and the chrome console. I am 100% sure that there is a better way of programming these extensions. What environments are people using?
I'm using Notepad++ which works beautifully.
You might consider trying the crossrider beta to build cross-browser extensions. I've found the experience on Chrome superb so far.
Your preferred IDE (eg. NetBeans) and Google Chrome (you have to test on something, right?).
You might want to check:
NetBean 7.0 (They have a great version for web development that let you write HTML,CSS and JS with all the great code sniff/highlight/complete stuff)
Eclipse got some good version for web dev (PDT and others).
Notepad++ , UltraEdit, TextPad or any other good editor you like.
As for the debug, profile and test mode - you have the developers tool in Chrome that are excellent. You might want to check out this short video that give lots of useful tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOEw9iiopwI
Good luck!
I would like to know what the members of this great community think of developing and adjusting their web apps and sites in general to recent Google Chrome beta browsers on Linux and Mac OS X and of course Google ChromeOS.
Do you think it's too early and I shouldn't waste my time adjusting myself to something that might change due to bugs resolutions?
Thank you.
Since Google Chrome uses Webkit you could also (as an alternative) test against Safari or Konqueror instead. Chances are your test results will be very portable across these browsers.
I think you answered your own question. While it is good to test against multiple browsers, there is very little point in testing against a beta browser - especially one with as little marketshare as Chrome.
With that said, the only reason I could see testing against a beta browser, is that you want your website to look good in it as soon as it is released and becomes mainstream. But, I really only see this need arising for the browsers that, again, are more popular.
Code against the standard, if you code it right the browsers will move toward you - rather than you constantly playing catchup.