your first xulrunner-based application

Your first XULrunner-based applicationDaniel Glazman

Disruptive Innovations

MAOW Berlin 28-mar-2009

MAOW Berlin 28-mar-2009 -- Daniel Glazman

Your first XULrunner-based application

What is XULrunner

• in short, Firefox without all its chrome

• more correctly, a runtime for Gecko and the toolkit

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Downloads

• You don’t need to build XULrunner if you already have Firefox 3 and limit yourself to chromefirefox -app path/to/application.ini

• or download and unzip XULrunner from ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/xulrunner/releases/

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Structure

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Top dir

chrome

defaults

main.xul

chrome.manifest

prefs.js

application.ini

content

preferences



application.ini• very simple file declaring your app’s

metadata

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[App]Name=MyFirstAppVendor=My Own OrganizationVersion=0.1BuildID=20090328ID=myfirstapp@myownorg.orgCopyright= Copyright 2009 My Own Organization

[Gecko]MinVersion=1.9MaxVersion=1.9.0.*

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Basic chrome.manifest

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content myfirstapp file:content/

• basically a mapping between chrome:// URLs and the filesystem

• you can also package and compress the files creating a jar

content myfirstapp jar:myfirstapp.jar!/content/



More chrome.manifest

• add a skinskin myfirstapp classic/1.0 jar:myfirstapp.jar!/skin/

• add a localelocale myfirstapp en-US jar:myfirstapp.jar!/locale/en-US/

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app’s preferences

• prefs for debugging

• prefs for user-agent or cache

• prefs for extension manager and XPInstall

• prefs for protocol handlers

• prefs for preferences window :-)

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pref("toolkit.defaultChromeURL", "chrome://myfirstapp/content/main.xul");



Your main window

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<?xml version="1.0"?><?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://global/skin/" type="text/css"?><?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://myfirstapp/skin/main.css" type="text/css"?>

<!DOCTYPE window SYSTEM "chrome://myfirstapp/locale/main.dtd">

<window id="main" title="&window.title;" width="600" height="400" xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul"> <label value="Guten Tag Berlin !"/> <button label="Danke" oncommand="window.close();"/></window>

http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul






Running your app

• Windowsxulrunner.exe application.ini

• Mac (with restrictions)/Library/Frameworks/XUL.framework/xulrunner-bin `pwd`/application.ini

• Linuxxulrunner application.ini

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Package your app

• Zip it into a *.app file

• callxulrunner -install-app `pwd`/myfirstapp.zip

• Installs inside c:\Program Files or /Library on Mac

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More complex stuff• Add jsm modules

• Add icon to application.ini

• Add Venkman and Document Inspector

• Build a single executable with xulrunner...

• Update your app like Firefox...

• Extensions management

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Links

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/XULRunner

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/XULRunner_tips

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/XULRunner/Deploying_XULRunner_1.8

• http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/XULRunner_Guide_Outline

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• Questions ?

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your first xulrunner-based application

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