soapdog/browser.html

Experimental browser built in HTML

Screencast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBzrCmGVDkA

Browser.html: an experimental Desktop browser, based on Firefox Desktop and Firefox OS. UI is built in HTML.

Setup

Install Firefox Nightly, then:

# Linux:
firefox -app $PWD/runtime/application.ini $PWD/apps/browser/manifest.webapp

# Mac:
open -n -a FirefoxNightly --args -app $PWD/runtime/application.ini $PWD/apps/browser/manifest.webapp

# Windows:
FIXME

Debugging

You can dubug application via WebIDE if you run an app with additional --debuger argument:

# Linux:
firefox -app $PWD/runtime/application.ini $PWD/apps/browser/manifest.webapp --debugger 6060

# Mac:
open -n -a FirefoxNightly --args -app $PWD/runtime/application.ini $PWD/apps/browser/manifest.webapp --debugger 6060

# Windows:
FIXME

Now you can connect with WebIDE to remote runtime on the port 6060.

Hacking

Frontend code is located in apps/browser. Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-R to reload the whole browser (no restart required).

The App

Browser.html is a HTML app (like any B2G app). It is based on the Browser API and works the same way Gaia's browser and system apps work. Even though it includes tags like vbox, hbox, spacer, …, it's all HTML (see layout.css to see how they mimic xul layout).

Current priority is to re-implement the basic features of Firefox Desktop to make Browser.html a usable browser, and understand what's missing at the platform level for a perfect integration to the OS.

The Runtime

Browser.html requires a runtime. As for now, we use Firefox Nightly and a wrapper (see runtime directory).

It uses a xul:window that loads the Browser.html app into an iframe. The xul:window is still required to build a native window (draw in title bar, support opening animations, native colors, …). Eventually, we want to kill this window and bring these native features to HTML. This window is nothing but a window with window controls (close, minimize, maximize).