Programming Firefox: Building Applications in the Browser »

Ken Feldt is a systems engineer and software developer with background in bit-slice raster image processor design, real-time process control, USB development, digital video workflow, and consumer-grade video authoring techniques. He holds undergraduate degrees in electronics engineering technology and an MBA in marketing from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

On the technical side, Ken work with various XML applications for science and engineering, currently building a business utilizing XUL and SVG to facilitate technical communications. His broader focus includes exploitation of various XML vocabularies to move the IT world more closely to the disciplines of science and the arts.

He enjoys public speaking (once competing in a humorous speech contest for Toastmasters International and actually winning a few rounds), and takes particular pleasure in the 'old world' skills of oratory, rhetoric, and creative writing.

Ken's writing objectives focus on topics that help experienced engineers and software developers ramp up on new technologies, always trying to look at things from the perspective of the subject matter novice.

Ken also takes an interest in following the trail of how new technologies affect the social and industrial fabric of communities, and he is fully engaged in studying how innovation and entrepreneurship are both required in order to drive successful new business models.

This is the essential guide to building user interfaces and rich internet applications for the Firefox Web browser, the Thunderbird e-mail client, and independent projects using free development tools from the Mozilla Foundation.

Preface     ix
Firefox and Friends     1
Mozilla to Firefox and Thunderbird     1
XML Technologies     3
At the Top of It All: The DOM     6
Mixing Document Types     7
Getting Started     7
XUL Basics     12
File Structure     12
XUL Widgets     15
Introducing Input Controls     24
More Complex Containers     28
Managing the Display Space     35
Content Display Panels     38
Miscellaneous Widgets     39
Helper Features     40
Mozilla Style Declarations     42
Summary     44
Coding and Testing for the Real World     45
Defining a Target Application     45
Adding Logic     47
Simple Authentication Script     59
When Things Don't Work     68
Summary     73
Configuring for Chrome and a Server     76
Chrome Overview     76
Running as a Local Installation     78
XUL-to-Server Communications     80
Serving XUL Files     100
Summary     107
Multiframe XUL     109
Dividing the Display Area     109
Editing Documents     113
Adding Dialog Windows     138
Summary     152
Trees, Templates, and Datasources     154
Trees     154
Modifying Datasources     188
Summary     220
DOM Manipulation and Input/Output     221
A Design Review     221
Browser Elements     222
Moving Text Between Frames     227
Exporting Note Document Content     231
Adding Interactivity to DOM Elements     239
Summary     263
Graphics     264
A Sample Graphing Project     265
XHTML Review     266
SVG Overview     267
Data-to-Graphics Transformation     272
HTML Canvas
Summary     299
Extending the Interface     301
Overlay Files     301
Adding Logic     308
XBL     312
HTTP Request Widget     321
Summary     333
XForms     334
Basic XForms Structure     335
An Example Transfer to the Server     336
XForms Validation Features      341
XForms Events and Actions     359
User Interaction and Dynamic Presentation     363
What to Do When Things Go Wrong     373
Summary     373
Installation and Deployment     374
Deploying Standalone Applications     375
Deploying Themes and Skins     382
Adding Locales     386
Deploying Extensions     391
Deploying the Extension     395
What to Do When Things Go Wrong     400
Summary     403
XUL Widget Reference     405
Browser Package Files     405
Developer Reference     410
Glossary: XUL Widgets: Attributes, Properties, and Methods     463
Index     479