This guide is about Gecko, and about creating XPCOM components for Gecko-based applications. Though the emphasis is on the practical steps you take to make your C++ code into a component that can be used in Gecko, we hope that these steps will also give us an occasion to discuss all of the tools, techniques, and technologies that make up XPCOM. Accordingly, the book is arranged so that you can follow along and create your own components or learn about different XPCOM topics individually, as in a reference work. For example, the introduction includes a discussion of components and what they are, and the first chapter - in which you compile the basic code and register it with Mozilla - prompts a discussion of the relationship between components and modules, of XPCOM interfaces, and of the registration process in general.
Note: In general, you should try to avoid having to create XPCOM components. Add-ons should try to use the new Add-on SDK as much as possible; however, there may be cases when it's unavoidable.
Preface
- Who Should Read This Book
- Organization of the Tutorial
- Following Along with the Examples
- Conventions
- Acknowledgements
An Overview of XPCOM
- The XPCOM Solution
- Gecko
- Components
- Interfaces
- XPCOM Identifiers
- Factories
- XPCOM Services
- XPCOM Types
Using XPCOM Components
Component Internals
Creating the Component Code
- What We'll Be Working On
- Component Registration
- Overview of the WebLock Module Source
- Digging In: Required Includes and Constants
webLock1.cpp
Using XPCOM Utilities to Make Things Easier
Starting WebLock
- Getting Called at Startup
- Providing Access to WebLock
- Creating the WebLock Programming Interface
- Defining the WebLock Interface in XPIDL
- Implementing WebLock
- Declaration Macros
- Representing Return Values in XPCOM
- XPIDL Code Generation
- Getting the WebLock Service from a Client
- Implementing the
iWebLockInterface - The Directory Service
- Modifying Paths with
nsIFile - Manipulating Files with
nsIFile - Using
nsILocalFilefor Reading Data - Processing the White List Data
iWebLockMethod By Method
Finishing the Component
Building the WebLock UI
- User Interface Package List
- Client Code Overview
- XUL
- Overlaying New User Interface Into Mozilla
- Other Resources
Packaging WebLock
- Component Installation Overview
- Archiving Resources
- The WebLock Installation Script
- The WebLock Trigger Script
- Distributing Your Component
Appendix A - Setting up the Gecko SDK
- Downloading and Setting the SDK
- Building a Microsoft Visual Cpp Project
- Building a Windows Project
- A Makefile for Unix
Appendix B - Resources
Copyright (c) 2003 by Doug Turner and Ian Oeschger. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.02 or later. Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard (paper) book form is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.