CustomBrowser, Inc.
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Creating Gecko Centric Web Applications |
Agenda
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Company Overview |
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About CustomBrowser |
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Products |
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Building a Customized Web Application
with Gecko |
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Gecko: Best Practices |
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Summary |
About CustomBrowser
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Custom Browser, Inc. offers a suite of
products that allow home users and corporate users alike to customize and
brand their Internet browser to better server their needs. |
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Custom Browser is currently marketing
itself as a technology provider to Internet service providers, both local and
national. Several large Internet service providers could benefit from the
branding of their own product through the use of Custom Browser. |
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Custom Browser is also marketing itself
to existing Internet content providers that could leverage the Custom Browser
application to link into their large content reserves. This would create a
true Internet based client-server application suited to the exact needs of
the end user while locking them into a particular Internet content provider
at the same time. |
Products
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CustomBrowser develops custom browser
solutions for home and corporate users.
These applications use an html layout component, which displays the
web page, and any UI built around the layout component. Currently these applications use both
Internet Explorer’s layout component and “Gecko’s” layout component (in the
form of an ActiveX Control). |
Agenda
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Company Overview |
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Building a Customized Web Application
with Gecko |
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Using Gecko: Key Success Factors |
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Adding Features and Functionality to
Gecko |
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Integrating and Deploying the Final
Application |
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Gecko: Best Practices |
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Summary |
Using Gecko: Key Success
Factors
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The key to developing successful web
applications is utilizing Gecko technology such that a context is applied to
the resulting browser based application. |
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The user interface and underlying
functionality of the web application must allow the browser to differentiate
itself from standard off the shelf products. |
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The end result is that the user’s
experience is vastly facilitated by the browser. The browser should be able
to conform to the user’s tasks and help structure the content being delivered
to the end user whether it is standard HTML from the Internet or XML
formatted data. |
Adding Features and
Functionality to Gecko
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Graphical User Interface Components |
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Extending the DOM |
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API 1 (Theater Mode) |
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API 2 (Printing) |
Graphical User Interface
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Using a layout component allows us to
build custom GUIs around it. Allowing
us to add common Windows features, to a browser using Gecko. Features such as Toolbars, Chevron List
Bars, Combo Box Integration, and MDI Implementations. |
Extending the DOM
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CustomBrowser can extend the DOM, by
adding a Custom Object Model implementation.
This is achieved by using variables and Object Models within the
application. |
API 1 (Theater Mode)
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CustomBrowsers can add functionality to
the layout component, such as a Theater Mode, using the Windows API. |
API 2 (Printing)
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Custom Browsers can also take advantage
of printing functionality. |
Integrating and Deploying
the Final Application
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The advantages of using Gecko as
opposed to Internet Explore are most noted in final file sizes. Instead of a
40+MB download (including IE), a browser made with Gecko could be a
comfortable 4-5MB download. |
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Application Executable must be located
in a bin directory along with any Gecko DLLs. |
Agenda
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Company Overview |
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Building a Customized Web Application
with Gecko |
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Gecko: Best Practices |
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Using the Registry to Maintain State
with Gecko |
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Using ADO |
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Utilizing XML |
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Versionless Software |
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Summary |
Using the Registry to
Maintain State with Gecko
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Store Gecko related property values in
the registry |
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Default home pages. |
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Links |
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Passwords |
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Settings |
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User Profiles |
Using ADO
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Advantages |
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Adds strong Database support to Gecko
based web applications. |
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Use databases to store encrypted
passwords, store and index data coming from the Internet and also data
entered by the user on the client side. |
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Disadvantages |
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Increases final deployment size. |
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Compatibility Issues and additional
requirements. |
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Microsoft Centric Data Access
Technologies |
Utilizing XML
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CGI scripts allow structured XML data
to be sent to the client, which can then be parsed with an HTTP based XML
parser. |
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Client side data can be stored in XML
rather than the unstructured *.ini format. |
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Integration with ADO 2.1 can make even
more powerful applications. |
Structured XML Document
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<favorites>
<favorite>
<name>Mozilla.org</name>
<description>Open Source!</description>
<url>http://www.mozilla.org/</url>
</favorite>
<favorite>
<name>Custom Browser</name>
<description>Browsers</description>
<url>http://www.custombrowser.com/</url>
</favorite>
</favorites> |
Versionless Software
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Create Functions in the Applications
that can receive parameters from HTML pages and then be executed by the
application. |
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This is accomplished through the
extended DOM. |
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Everything except layout component and
extended DOM is based on dynamically created XML from the server, allowing
the application to do virtually anything. |
Summary
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CustomBrowser is developing custom
solutions based on Gecko technology. |
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What’s coming… |
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Messaging System |
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Based on Gecko XML parsing, Gecko
Layout engine and Editor, and Jabber.org. |
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Fully Customizable Browser |
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Accomplished with Gecko, CDOM, and XML |