$Id: notes.html,v 1.4 2001/01/09 22:37:49 edburns%acm.org Exp $
Notes
- 9 January 2001
-
The past
The past 6 months have been without status updates, but not without progress. Here is a detailed summary of all the changes and bug fixes made to the code between the last release and now, starting with the changes just after 5 June. If you want to see the actual checkin messages, use this bonsai query.
- 40330:
1. Correctly populates the java.awt.event.MouseEvent subclass with the correct modifiers, x, y, and clickCount for the mozilla mouse event. 2. Adds a performance optimization: previously, every mouse event was causing a new instance of java.util.Properties to be created. Now, only one Properties instance is created per-page, and it is cleared on each mouse event.
- Checked in nascent "select the current node in the tree view when the user shift-clicks on a node" feature.
- Bug 44279: make it work with M16.
- Automatically_generate_JAVAH_headers
- Misc bug fixes: 44327 44328 44774 44775 41780 41871 44774 47026 45127 48356 51326 51280 46068 55004 54129 58466 50282 44330 53397 58791 57725 49126 52239 59521 58971
- Make it build on unix with the mozilla build system.
- Automated creation of runem script.
- 41977: Insert parameter checks for all webclient methods.
- Implemented RemoveListener
- 47357:
This change creates a new directory, java/webclient/src_share, that contains the code that will be used in both src_moz and src_ie, and any other native browser wrapping implementations.
- Kept it working on Solaris.
- 48227: Listener type introspection broken.
- Make it so the jni headers are built in src_share.
- First checkin of Webclient/IE
- 47357: Webclient not ready for multiple native browser implementations.
- Kept up BAL layer
- 49293: IE implementation of webclient doesn't support listeners.
- 52183: enables webclient to be built and run under JDK1.1.x. Note that JavaDOM does not work under jdk1.1.x.
- 52883: Make webclient work with the tip.
- Include w3c Copyright notice.
- Make it so it compiles on linux.
- 52883: enables Webclient to work with PR3 on Solaris
- Removing all features that dont work for PR3 solaris from EMWindow.java
- 58167:
This fix does two things: 1. Remove nsSetupRegistry.cpp from the build process. 2. Don't cal NS_AutoRegisterComponents, since it's doen in NS_InitEmbedding.
- Tree maintainence
- 55004:
This fix makes it so bookmarks work with the tip of the branch as of 11/01/00. This fix removes the necessity to modify xpcom/base/nsDebug.cpp to remove the thread safety assertions.
- 59079:
This checkin adds a method to Navigation: loadFromStream(). This method enables the custom app to give mozilla a java.io.InputStream to load
- Cosmetic changes to EMWindow.
- 47464: This fix removes gHistory, and makes it so History.getURLForIndex() works, thanks to sva@sparc.spb.su (Vladimir Strigun).
- 59851: This change is mostly cosmetic. It adds a history menu that exercises the History API. The non-cosmetic change is in wsGoToEvent(). This was commented out since M15, now it works.
- 59866:
This fix adds basic authentication capability to webclient. Please note that due to bug 61669">http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=61669 you must disable the cache to have this work. Put these lines in your prefs file: user_pref("browser.cache.disk_cache_size", 0); user_pref("browser.cache.enabled", false); - 45231: This fix enables the adding of bookmarks and bookmark folders.
- Pop up warn dialog if prefs say to warn about cookies and the browser gets a cookie.
- 62436: Add the ability to set string, int, and bool prefs. Needs more functionality.
- 62853: This fix implements getPrefs() and adds a new method, public void registerPrefChangedCallback(PrefChangedCallback cb, String prefName, Object closure); to preferences.
- 64445: This checkin corrects an earlier omission of the proper policy of having all maor actions take place using nsActionEvents. This is necessary to avoid thread safety assertions.
- Keep up with mozilla API changes and milestones.
The present
We will release webclient 1.0 in source and binary formats for use with Netscape 6.0 on Windows, Solaris and Linux on 22 February 2001. We are currently working on showstopper bugs for this release. Please see the issues page for the bugs we're working on.
The future
We will work on performance for the forseeable future, then do a 1.1 release to fix performance bugs.
- 40330:
- 26 June 2000
-
The past
Webclient Milestone 2 was released in March. Since March, we've been working with constrained resources and fighting mozilla embedding API changes. This has seriously impacted our ability to add new webclient features, since it takes work just to keep the old ones working.
The present
We now have a webclient Milestone 3 (M3) release that works with Mozilla M13. This release features DOM access, FindInPage, SelectAll, Bookmarks, Navigation, History, and java.awt.event.MouseListener support.
The future
Travis Bogard, Mozilla's embedding honcho, has left the mozilla project, and Adam Lock, the author of the Mozilla ActiveX control has joined the mozilla project. More embedding API changes are expected. These will heavily impact webclient.. Please follow the newsgroup
netscape.public.mozilla.embedding
We hope to release webclient M4 by mid-July. This will work with the latest released mozilla milestone.
- 03 March 2000
-
The past
Webclient is now working on win32 and solaris, thanks to our new engineer Ashutosh Kulkarni <ashuk@eng.sun.com>. Ashu has written the documents for the webclient Milestone 2 release, which runs with mozilla Milestone 13. He'll be checking the documents into this website shortly. After he does, you can download both the source, and binary of the webclient M2 release.
The present
I've been working on a spec-compliant version of the code, which is currently about as functional as the existing webclient M2. After Ashu get the docs checked in, and we can verify that end users can follow the instructions and run webclient, I'll be checking in the new webclient implementation, and making it work with M14. Once we've got it working with M14 on win32 and solaris, we'll do another webclient milestone release, M3.
I've started an issues page in an attempt to keep track of issues as they come up. If you have a webclient issue you want addressed, please mail me and I'll consider them for adding to the list.
The future
Travis Bogard is making some major changes to the way apps embed mozilla. These will heavily impact us. Please follow the newsgroup
netscape.public.mozilla.embedding
- 7 January 2000
- Recent changes to the way in which mozilla uses its UNIX window toolkit (GTK) have repeatedly broken webclient. This has made it difficult to keep webclient working on Solaris. The plan is to push hard to have it working by M13, then stick with depending only on milestone releases of Mozilla. After M13, webclient will only depend on milestone releases. Depending on daily builds is error prone and makes webclient progress nearly impossible, since we continually have to fight fires just to get webclient to run.
- 03 December 1999
- webclient: planning update
This message intends to convey recent webclient news and future webclient plans.
News
I have submitted a paper for consideration in the next WWW conference about webclient. If you want to take a look at the paper, please visit http://www.mozilla.org/projects/blackwood/webclient/www9/webclient.html.
I recently discovered that webclient hasn't worked on Solaris since I integrated the change to fix "Registry Location" bug. We need to stay on top of testing on all platforms after this next webclient milestone release (see the planning section) to prevent this from happening again. Mark Lin is working hard to get webclient available on Solaris once again.
I've got some student programmers at the University of Illinois studet ACM chapter interested in providing an IE based implementation of webclient. They'll start working once the infrastructure to allow different browser implementations is in place (see the planning section, below).
We have an UNO based prototype. It's no longer current with the latest webclient, but doing the work was more a release engineering task than anything else. It won't be difficult to bring the UNO demo up to speed if necessary. This demo is simply the existing webclient implementation, with an UNO layer inserted.
Planning
Here are some of the webclient tasks on the horizon.
Webclient M2
Get webclient working on solaris, win32, and linux, then make a milestone release (webclient M2) of it with Mozilla M12. Webclient M2 will include: a fix for the "Focus Grab" bug on Unix, and the necessary infrastructure for external developers to wrap additional browsers. I would love to include the wrapped hotjava work that was done by Denis Antrushin in Russia. The task of finding the fix for the "Focus Grab" problem is currently blocked on the Solaris side. If it turns out that we can't use Mozilla M12 due to the necessity of adding some changes to mozilla after M12 is done, then we'll create and distribute our own mozilla milestone, say M12a. I think it's important to avoid depending on the absolute latest mozilla. We may have to figure out some distribution site for our M12a, but I think it's worth it. The completion date for webclient M2 depends on how soon Mark can get webclient working on Solaris.
Spec Activity
I'd like to go through another round of review on the requirements spec. After that's done, and after webclient M2 is done, I'd like to start the process of bringing webclient into compliance with the spec.
StarOffice integration
We're waiting for the UDK to be freely available on win32, Solaris and Linux. Once that's the case, we'll convert webclient over to using UNO. I intend this work to be done in concert with the spec compliance work, after the spec review process is done.
Macintosh work
Currently, we have no resources to get webclient working on the Mac. Once webclient M2 is out, I'll write up some more documentation and start soliciting help from the open source community.
Summary
The current big push is for webclient M2. After that, we'll move in parallel on several fronts: UNO integration, MSIE integration, and spec compliance. If the webclient paper gets accepted for WWW9, I'll update it with the M2 info. I hope to be able to point to working IE and hotjava support.
Ed Burns Created: Mon May 3 15:15:19 PDT 1999
Last modified: Tue Jan 9 14:07:08 PST 2001