Hi @j.j/Moz-jeka, Thanks for your response - and sorry I couldn't get back to this issue earlier.. (I'll try to post from Launchpad.net, and see if the post makes it to Mozilla Bugzilla).
>> ... and it doesn't mention the '-app' command switch anywhere?! It just >> mentions "Remote XUL" - but the file I'm reading is local? > > it mentions file://URLs which are locale files Yes, but I'm not trying to load a local file in Firefox via file://URL - I'm trying to specify it on the command line as an argument - in a context where that file should be ran as a XUL application... > have you done this? > - type about:config in URL bar > - confirm the warning > - rightclick into the table of prefs > - select "new -> boolean" > - type in dom.allow_XUL_XBL_for_file > - select "true" Now I have - I also closed firefox (now v8), and tried again (with the same application code listed in the OP): $ firefox -no-remote -app xultestapp/application.ini ... and again, the -app switch is ignored; "application.ini" is not started - and instead the usual Firefox is started. Now, in the meantime, I decided to also try firefox 3 on Linux - and it behaves the exactly same way ! Which made me wander a bit about that ArsTechnica article ... then again, I remembered I have in fact used 'firefox -app' before - under Windows! So, I got the Windows release of Firefox 3: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6.24&os=win&lang=en-US ... and ran this installer under Wine - and installed to a custom directory. Finally, I call: $ ./firefox.exe -app /path/to/xultestapp/application.ini This starts up wine (and it even converts the absolute Unix path on the command line) - and what do you know, application.ini starts! ---- So, in brief - is it possible that the -app switch is implemented *only* for Windows? It could make sense, I guess - on Ubuntu, both Firefox and xulrunner are installed by default. But then, a Linux user of a XUL application would have to use this command to run it: xulrunner xultestapp/application.ini ... and a Windows user would typically not be expected to have xulrunner installed, so they would be expected to use: firefox.exe -app xultestapp\application.ini ... is that correct? If so, where is this documented? To confirm this, I just ran the install for the Windows Firefox 8 under wine too, and again I try: $ ./firefox.exe -app /path/to/xultestapp/application.ini ... and now I get an alert window, with title "XULRunner", and message: Error: Platform version '8.0' is not compatible with minVersion >= 1.8 maxVersion <= 2.* (which refers to the differing version numbers of latest xulrunner (2) vs. latest Firefox (8)) - and application.ini refuses to run; however, firefox doesn't start up either! Which for me confirms that the Windows version of Firefox does indeed acknowledge the '-app' switch (v3-8) - while the Linux one doesn't. By the way, neither the Windows nor the Linux version do not report the -app switch as existing - here is windows v3 (under wine): $ ./firefox3win/firefox.exe --help fixme:system:SetProcessDPIAware stub! fixme:process:SetProcessDEPPolicy (1): stub Usage: Z:\path\to\firefox3win\firefox.exe [ options ... ] [URL] where options include: -h or -help Print this message. -v or -version Print Firefox version. -P <profile> Start with <profile>. -migration Start with migration wizard. -ProfileManager Start with ProfileManager. -no-remote Open new instance, not a new window in running instance. -UILocale <locale> Start with <locale> resources as UI Locale. -safe-mode Disables extensions and themes for this session. -console Start Firefox with a debugging console. fixme:iphlpapi:NotifyAddrChange (Handle 0x12fe980, overlapped 0x12fe964): stub -jsconsole Open the Error console. -browser Open a browser window. -private Enable private browsing mode. -setDefaultBrowser Set this app as the default browser. ... and here is Linux v3: $ ./firefox3/firefox --help Usage: ./firefox3/firefox-bin [ options ... ] [URL] where options include: X11 options --display=DISPLAY X display to use --sync Make X calls synchronous --no-xshm Don't use X shared memory extension --xim-preedit=STYLE --xim-status=STYLE --g-fatal-warnings Make all warnings fatal Firefox options -h or -help Print this message. -v or -version Print Firefox version. -P <profile> Start with <profile>. -migration Start with migration wizard. -ProfileManager Start with ProfileManager. -no-remote Open new instance, not a new window in running instance. -UILocale <locale> Start with <locale> resources as UI Locale. -safe-mode Disables extensions and themes for this session. -jsconsole Open the Error console. -browser Open a browser window. -private Enable private browsing mode. -setDefaultBrowser Set this app as the default browser. Pretty much the same options for both --- and "-app" is reported nowhere! ---- Why this is relevant for me is that I'd like to develop a XUL application, and leave decent instructions on how to run it; especially since often I run different Linuxes which may not have neither Firefox (nor xulrunner) installed - and here I often download Firefox from Mozilla, unpack it and use it; and it would have been very convenient not to rely on additional xulrunner download. That is why I wanted to rely on the '-app' switch - which now, I guess, is an option only available for Windows users (and even a buggy one for the latest Firefox 8 release, since it cannot make the difference between the xulrunner and firefox versions). If I understood this correctly - then I guess this would be a documentation bug of sorts, because I cannot find any references for '-app' being a Windows-only feature; if anyone knows of a link discussing that, it will be much appreciated! Many thanks again for the feedback, Cheers! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to firefox in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/880596 Title: Option '-app' missing from Firefox above version 3 Status in The Mozilla Firefox Browser: New Status in “firefox” package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: $ firefox --version Mozilla Firefox 7.0.1 $ apt-cache policy firefox firefox: Installed: 7.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1 Candidate: 7.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1 .... $ xulrunner --version Mozilla XULRunner 2.0 - 20110402003021 $ uname -r 2.6.38-11-generic $ lsb_release -rd Description: Ubuntu 11.04 Release: 11.04 $ cat /etc/issue Ubuntu 11.04 \n \l ----- There has been an '-app' command line option for Firefox, which should have been introduced in Firefox 3: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2007/08/using-firefox-3-as-a -xul-runtime-environment.ars ... which would have allowed Firefox to run XUL application via `firefox -app /path/to/application.ini`. However, that switch does not seem to work any longer in newer Firefoxes: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5900814/does-the-app-command-line-option-work-properly-in-firefox-4 http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7869546/single-file-app-with-xulrunner-possible I have performed the following test in Firefox 7 (versions as given above): * Generate a small XUL application (bash): ### mkdir xultestapp mkdir -p xultestapp/chrome/content mkdir -p xultestapp/defaults/preferences cat > xultestapp/application.ini <<"EOF" [App] Vendor=XULTest Name=xultestapp Version=1.0 BuildID=20111024 ID=xultest...@xultest.org [Gecko] MinVersion=1.8 MaxVersion=2.* EOF cat > xultestapp/chrome/chrome.manifest <<"EOF" content xultestapp content/ EOF cat > xultestapp/chrome.manifest <<"EOF" manifest chrome/chrome.manifest EOF cat > xultestapp/defaults/preferences/prefs.js <<"EOF" pref("toolkit.defaultChromeURI", "chrome://xultestapp/content/main.xul"); EOF cat > xultestapp/chrome/content/main.xul <<"EOF" <?xml version="1.0"?> <?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://global/skin/" type="text/css"?> <window id="main" title="xultestapp" width="300" height="300" xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul";> <caption label="Hello World"/> <separator/> <button label="More >>" /> <separator/> <description id="more-text" hidden="true">This is a simple XULRunner application. XUL is simple to use and quite powerful and can even be used on mobile devices.</description> </window> EOF ### * and now if I call xulrunner, it works: ### xulrunner xultestapp/application.ini ### * however, if I use firefox: ### firefox -no-remote -app xultestapp/application.ini ### ... Firefox just starts as usual, ignoring the XUL application specification. Can anyone explain if/when/why was this option removed - and if there is a similar functionality in newer Firefoxes? Many thanks in advance, Cheers! To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/firefox/+bug/880596/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
