[jbosstools-issues] [JBoss JIRA] (JBIDE-13364) Consider changing the way in which BrowserSim uses WebKit engine

[Gorkem Ercan (JIRA)]

    [ https://issues.jboss.org/browse/JBIDE-13364?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12746050#comment-12746050 ] 

Gorkem Ercan commented on JBIDE-13364:
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I think the ability to launch the WebKit web Inspector[1] UI should also be a requirement. I think web inspector is a good way to provide debugging on BrowserSim. This is one case where the current SWT bindings fail to satisfy. When I look at the studied alternates other than Google Chrome Frame others are either already able to have the inspector or can be enabled easily.

[1]http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/WebInspector
                
> Consider changing the way in which BrowserSim uses WebKit engine
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: JBIDE-13364
>                 URL: https://issues.jboss.org/browse/JBIDE-13364
>             Project: Tools (JBoss Tools)
>          Issue Type: Feature Request
>          Components: Visual Page Editor core
>            Reporter: Yahor Radtsevich
>            Assignee: Yahor Radtsevich
>             Fix For: 4.1.x
>
>
> A perfect solution for BrowserSim must match the following criteria:
> * Be Java-based
> * Allow to fully customize the application window [skinning]
> * Work on every supported platform (Windows, Mac and Linux)
> * Use browser already installed in the system [to avoid library conflicts and reduce the size of our plugins]
> * Allow to execute JavaScript and/or modify DOM [to simulate some mobile * JavaScript events and Cordova API]
> * Allow to change User-Agent header
> * Allow to disable web security or support extensions [for Cordova cross-domain requests]
> * Support debugging protocol or support extensions [for better LiveEdit/LiveReload and JavaScript debugging capabilities]
> Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution, at least I do not know any.
> This is the list of the libraries I consider for BrowserSim (+=Pros, -=Cons, ?=questionable):
> * Java wrapper for [Chromium Embedded Framework|http://code.google.com/p/javachromiumembedded/]
> ** + I was able to run it on Windows
> ** - It failed in a half of a minute :)
> ** - Not supported since 2010
> ** ? probably will work better with the most recent version of CEF
> ** ? looks like there is no Linux support
> * [Qt WebKit bindings for SWT|http://code.google.com/p/qtwidgetsinswt/]
> ** + I was able successfully run on Windows (32-bit) with Qt 4.8 and MinGW
> ** + At least during my smoketesting it did not fail
> ** - The plugin page claims that only win32 and cocoa32 are supported
> ** - requires Qt (and MSVC or MinGW for Windows) libraries to be bundled with it
> ** - Does not have existing API for invoking JavaScript.
> ** - Not supported since 2010
> ** ? I do not know how easy it would be to run it on Linux
> ** ? I do not know if it will work with Qt 5
> * [AppJS|http://appjs.org/] - a JavaScript SDK for creating Chromium based desktop applications
> ** + Supports Windows, Mac and Linux!
> ** + Allows to disable web security
> ** + Has active community
> ** + Did not fail at my smoketest
> ** ? need to ensure that applications may be run without borders
> * [node-webkit|https://github.com/rogerwang/node-webkit#readme] - the idea is the same as with AppJS - allows to create desktop apps with JavaScript
> ** + supported by Intel in some way
> ** ? I did not try it yet
> * [Google Chrome Frame|http://www.google.com/chromeframe]
> ** + the only way to embed _already installed_ Chrome into our application (all other require libraries to be bundled)
> ** - Windows only
> ** - [no success to use it as Ole object|http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/attachmentText?id=25448&aid=7270863545245289566&name=JavaChromeIntegration.java]
> ** ? Probably will work if use it with Browser(SWT.NONE)
> * Stay with existing SWT bindings for WebKit
> ** + We already use it
> ** + Support all platforms
> ** + Allow JavaScript to be executed
> ** + Do not require to be bundled with our plugins
> ** + Allow skinning
> ** - Require Safari on Windows [no updates since May 9, 2012]
> ** - Web security cannot be disabled
> ** - Do not support extensions
> ** - Do not support remote debugging protocol
> *To conclude:*
> * Firstly, moving to a JavaScript SDK potentially could resolve all our problems, but now I do not think it is worth it.
> * Secondly, it would be great if we had good SWT bindings for Chromium, but they do not exist. The only way to get them is to implement them by ourself.
> * Thirdly, the last option does not look too bad. And probably it does not worth it to create Chromium bindings or to move to another non-Java language. Especially, if we would be able to create a good workaround for cross-domain requests for Cordova, then almost everything else is ok.
> * Fourthly, the biggest issue with existing SWT bindings is that Safari is not supported anymore on Windows. It is an OS specific issue and we could consider a replacement of SWT bindings on Windows only (e.g. use Chrome Frame or Qt on Windows).

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