October 22, 2010 at 19:11Chromeless: DIY browser interface (HTML, CSS, and JS)
Have you ever wanted to improve your familiar browser interface? Maybe you even tried to do this. If so, then you probably used technologies like XUL and XPCOM . For example, in Firefox, most of the interface is implemented using XUL, which is based on standard web technologies such as DOM and JavaScript. This is all done for the convenience of developing extensions to the browser, but at the same time it is some barrier that protects the interface from outside interference.
What if key UI elements were made using HTML, CSS and JavaScript? It’s hard to imagine what kind of design ideas and new concepts would be born if the browser interface could be shredded in the manner of web pages.
The screenshot shows an example of a very simple browser with small screenshots of pages instead of tabs.
This is the Chromeless browser , which is made solely for demonstration purposes, to show the possibilities of using HTML for the interface. Instead of XUL, browser elements are in the form of frames. The application is functional and designed to demonstrate the main idea of the project.
The current Chromeless implementation is a mix of the Cuddlefish Lab extension and Jetpack SDK along with XULRunner . Using these Mozilla technologies, you can create XULRunner-based applications from scratch.
Instead of loading XUL, the main executable file of the application is an HTML file. This page has various privileges, for example, it has access to Jetpack's CommonJS modules. Thus, the task is to ensure that the functionality of the browser can be described through these modules.
The possibility of such a solution is proved by the aforementioned prototype, capable of loading and rendering HTML pages. In the coming month, developers are going to add specific APIs for a more meaningful design. Security issues are also being studied.
Everyone is invited to take part in the experiment. Sources and instructions on github.com/mozilla/chromeless , communication in the Mozilla Labs Group and on the #labs IRC channel on irc.mozilla.org .
viaMozilla labs
What if key UI elements were made using HTML, CSS and JavaScript? It’s hard to imagine what kind of design ideas and new concepts would be born if the browser interface could be shredded in the manner of web pages.
The screenshot shows an example of a very simple browser with small screenshots of pages instead of tabs.
This is the Chromeless browser , which is made solely for demonstration purposes, to show the possibilities of using HTML for the interface. Instead of XUL, browser elements are in the form of frames. The application is functional and designed to demonstrate the main idea of the project.
The current Chromeless implementation is a mix of the Cuddlefish Lab extension and Jetpack SDK along with XULRunner . Using these Mozilla technologies, you can create XULRunner-based applications from scratch.
Instead of loading XUL, the main executable file of the application is an HTML file. This page has various privileges, for example, it has access to Jetpack's CommonJS modules. Thus, the task is to ensure that the functionality of the browser can be described through these modules.
The possibility of such a solution is proved by the aforementioned prototype, capable of loading and rendering HTML pages. In the coming month, developers are going to add specific APIs for a more meaningful design. Security issues are also being studied.
Everyone is invited to take part in the experiment. Sources and instructions on github.com/mozilla/chromeless , communication in the Mozilla Labs Group and on the #labs IRC channel on irc.mozilla.org .
viaMozilla labs
