Nvu, a web authoring system built on Gecko

Daniel Glazman

`http://disruptive-innovations.com`

What is Nvu?

Nvu is

a standalone HTML editor
a wysiwyg crossplatform editor
built upon Mozilla Composer
open-source

Why Nvu?

Netscape/AOL was ready to drop Composer
it started, and killed, the Anvil project
because I believed in Composer
that's a dirty job but something has got to do it
I firmly believe we need an editing tool

Why do we need an editing tool?

to prove Gecko can be used in non-browsing environments
to prove Gecko can be used as the ground for professionnal apps
because an editor is a perfect testcase for our too browser-oriented world of geeks!
because there is a market for it

How did it start?

feb-2003, Brian King's zibblings here at Fosdem
apr-2003, I become Composer's maintainer right after AOL drops Anvil
why?
jul-2003, Netscape black tuesday
aug-2003, Brian King and Pete Collins give my name to Lindows.com
sep-2003, Lindows.com knocks on my door asking if I am available for hiring or a one year contract
oct-2003, Disruptive Innovations

What's new in Nvu?

site manager
colorpicker
cleaner code
tabs!
forms
better CSS editing
XFN

customizable toolbars
new toolbar buttons
visible marks

13-oct-2003/04-feb-2003; ten packs of Lindt chocolate; dozens of oranginas; hundreds of visits to xulplanet and black magic spells; a few beers

What's immediately next?

frameset editor (chrome)
template editor and management (chrome + core)
direct link to CSS validator (chrome)
extended inline styles, only text and border properties for the moment (chrome)
class assignment (chrome + core)
preservation of PHP <? ... ?> (core)
cvs repository
Mac OS X version

How is it built?

it's a standalone chrome app just like Firefox and Thunderbird. It shares a lot of configuration with T'bird.
uses the "new toolkit"
MOZ_STANDALONE_COMPOSER=1
just replace mozilla/composer with Nvu's tarball and rebuild
I try to check in all core patches into Mozilla trunk to avoid a fork
avoid only?

#include "nsXULAppAPI.h"
#include "nsISoftwareUpdate.h"
#ifdef XP_WIN
#include 
#endif

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  nsXREAppData appData;
  appData.SetSplashEnabled(PR_FALSE);
  appData.SetProductName(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("Nvu"));
  appData.SetUseStartupPrefs(PR_TRUE);
  return xre_main(argc, argv, appData);
}

#if defined(MOZ_WIDGET_GTK) || defined(MOZ_WIDGET_GTK2)
char* splash_xpm[] = {0};
#endif

#ifdef XP_WIN
// We need WinMain in order to not be a console app.  This function is
// unused if we are a console application.
int WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR args, int )
{
    // Do the real work.
    return main( __argc, __argv );
}
#endif

pref("general.startup.browser",     false);
pref("general.startup.mail",        false);
pref("general.startup.news",        false);
pref("general.startup.editor",      true);
pref("general.startup.compose",     false);
pref("general.startup.addressbook", false);

Tweaking the chrome

Everything is done by the jar packager!

comm.jar:
+       content/editor/editor.xul          (content/editor.xul)
+       content/editor/editorOverlay.xul   (content/editorOverlay.xul)
        content/editor/about-composer.png  (content/about-composer.png)
*+      content/editor/mainCore.js         (content/mainCore.js)

+ = update

* = run through XUL preproc

So basically, we just launch Composer as always!!! We've just replaced some of its chrome files by new versions!

the XUL preprocessor

allows conditional statements in all chrome files

#ifdef MOZ_STANDALONE_COMPOSER
  <checkbox label="&makeNvuSystemDefaultEditor.label;"
            oncommand="MakeDefault()"; />
#endif

does not allow #if defined(FOO) || defined(BAR) conditions, and that has a strong impact on simplicity, readability and maintainance

the customizable toolbars

I had to hack the code for various reasons (explain!)

The FTP site manager

implied extending nsIFTPChannel.idl and nsFtpConnectionThread.cpp
- very easy to do
- but we need to rearchitecture the FTP channel if we want more FTP commands (already discussed with dougt and darin)
it's just a sidebar

Tabs

A deep modification of Composer's chrome made easy by Composer's architecture

replaced <editor> by <tabeditor> in editor.xul
implemented tabeditor.xml; that 450 lines XBL does 99% of the work
hacked editorUtilities.js to be able to select the active editor and not the first one
GetCurrentEditor(), bug 169029, checked in 15-nov-2002
minor hacks to editor.js, openLocation.js and ComposerCommands.js
new menus and buttons

You said heavy weight, heavy process?

we can get rid of a lot of useless modules
we can remove a lot of chrome dependencies to browser and mailer
we can cleanup the chrome
cooler checkin procedures into mozilla/composer

Directory structure

mozilla/composer
- app : application c++ main file, app icons, profile
- base : main app's chrome, including locale, skin and images
- components : preferences panel
- extensions : sitemanager

So what's hard or problematic here???

From a code's perspective? Almost nothing. Just takes time.
new toolkit's documentation is lighter than light. Sorry to say, but Mozilla.org sucks on documentation... Again. If we want embedders, we NEED documentation. Example: the autocomplete textbox
Firebird^H^H^H^Hfox and Thunderbird people ping me when they need a review with an editor's eye point of view but are almost unresponsive to my r/sr requests.
it's extremely hard to make evolve the standalone app AND Seamonkey at the same time. Standalone Apps move faster because of Seamonkey's checkin rules and decrease of number of r/sr!!!
Mozilla.org did not even announce Nvu's 1st release on its web site :-( Even with a short news on the side column... Right, it's not a Mozilla.org product, for the moment. So what? Does it help the spread of Mozilla or not?

What's next?

make Nvu becomes a good basic crossplatform alternative for personal (X)HTML web authoring
build a community of addon contributors (smart widgets)
make a few more professionnal addons (JS behaviors, timelines)
the longer-term goal is a RelaxNG-conformant XML editor based on Standalone Composer. It's not that hard to implement, we already have all the ground elements for that, it will only take time.

Questions?

yes, the Nvu logo is made of markup+CSS