Hi all
I published packages called WebKit* to the Cincom public repository that
contain a first version of WebKit support for Visualworks, developed
currently for VW7.6. It is for the windows platform only in this initial
version, but hopefully will be extended to other platforms in the
future. A binding to MacOSX should be even simpler than that to Windows
(if you have access to a Mac), maybe even simpler with the new Obj-C
capabilities to come in the next version (?).
This project was inspired by Antony Blakey that built a "feasibility
study" on the Mac some time ago
(
http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/userblogs/antony/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=WebKit_in_VisualWorks_-_too_easy!&entry=3375627722).
I was highly impressed and interested in building a browser widget in vw
for my needs, but on windows. Antony generously gave me access to the
code he had written so far, so I grabbed it and invested some spare time
to develop the necessary binding for the windows platform. Overall it
took longer than I expected or wanted it to be. Now I decided to publish
this limited initial version, I'm curious for the possible feedback.
What is WebKit?
WebKit is the browser engine behind various browsers as Apple Safari,
several browsers on Linux and many mobile platforms. The engine itself
is open source and includes the rendering machinery only. Others then
have built browsers around it, as e.g. Safari, that are proprietary or
also open. The WebKit project is a very busy open source project with a
community that continuously adds new features and ports to new
platforms. WebKit allows for customization by the use of delegates that
you can implement to drive its behaviour. A brief documentation is
provided by Apple under
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/DisplayWebContent/DisplayWebContent.html.
What do these new packages offer?
WebKit support for Visualworks means there is now a "widget" that can be
used to integrate WebKit into a regular vw canvas. This widget can
display mainly HTML content (also svg and others, but not plugin
dependent content as PDF). Some restrictions should be considered
dealing with it, as it is not a totally regular widget, but it works.
Usage is based on COM interfaces provided by the webkit.dll, so no
ActiveX or alike is required.
What is necessary to test it?
You need either Safari installed on your system, then it will use the
webkit.dll that is provided there (it will try to find them
automatically by the installation directory of Safari in the registry).
Or you can get the cairo-based build of WebKit under
http://webkit.org.
This build does not require proprietary DLLs, which Safari e.g. relies
on (CoreGraphics, etc). Furthermore it is also possible to deploy which
is not possible with the use of the proprietary safari Apple libraries,
which is a point for me.
What examples do exist?
There is a WebKit Launcher that is a simplistic browser with just an
Input for the URL and the content itself, including a back and forth
button. You can invoke it from the VisualWorks Launcher menu under
"WebKit". A second demo is a tab in the browser called WebKit demo that
shows an HTML based prettyprint view of the current class definition.
So that's it. I'm interested in your feedback if you want to give it a
try. Although, I'm going to have a break in the next days, so I
apologize if answers do not come as quickly as you'd expect them. But I
wanted this version be out of the door, or it would take more time again
to do it later.
Have fun!
Thomas
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