Guido Roeskens wrote:
>
>>* If I simply repackage my JAR file as a XPI file, will the install.js
>>in it work in Netscape 6? It use netscape.softupdate.VersionInfo and
>>netscape.softupdate.SoftwareUpdate objects as documented in the
>>Netscape 4.x documentation for creating installation packages. A call
>>to netscape.softupdate.SoftwareUpdate.Execute is what runs the
>>installer EXE that's inside the JAR file.
>>
>
> In the documentation mentioned above you see the new methods and semantics
> of SmartUpdate. You don't use netscape.softupdate.XXX anymore
> Most of the methods (functions) have the same name and semantics as before.
>
> netscape.softupdate.SoftwareUpdate.Execute -> File.execute
> netscape.softupdate.VersionInfo -> InstallVersion
File.execute() will execute a file that's already on the users system, the
closer analogue is simply "execute()"
>>* What's the "official" way in Netscape 6 of figuring out the Netscape
>>plugins directory (so my EXE can install the Netscape plugin in the
>>right place)?
In the windows registry, HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla contains a bunch of subkeys
representing each "Gecko" embedding product. Under each subkey will be a key
called "Extensions" with values "Components" and "Plugins". For example, the
latest Netscape release created the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Netscape 6 6.1\Extensions
The above was added along the way to 6.1 so that all mozilla-based products
would appear in one place. If for some reason you want to restrict your
plugin to Netscape's version of Mozilla (or must install into 6.0) there is
also a registry location similar to the Communicator one:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Netscape\Netscape 6\<ua>\Main
where you'll have to enumerate the <ua> for the various versions installed
If all you're doing is launching a native executable your script could be
simply:
initInstall("My Plugin Display Text","plugins/MyCompany/MyPlugin","1.2");
err = execute("myfile.exe");
if (err == SUCCESS)
performInstall();
else
cancelInstall();
If all you're doing is installing some files into the plugin directory, you
can save download size by using the XPInstall engine to do the install. Put
all the files you want in a subdirectory in the .xpi file, say "myfiles",
and then your script is
initInstall("My Plugin Display Text","plugins/MyCompany/MyPlugin","1.2");
err = addDirectory("myfiles");
if (err == SUCCESS)
performInstall();
else
cancelInstall();
If you stick with execute() there is an optional second boolean argument
that tells the install script to wait for the executable to finish. The
default is non-blocking, the 4.x behavior
execute("myfile.exe",true); // waits
-Dan Veditz
