1454698 - Rename Firefox WebExtensions Browser Toolbox to something else

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(WebExtensions :: Developer Tools, enhancement, P5)

Description

[tom.mai78101]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/66.0.3359.106 Safari/537.36

Steps to reproduce:

This is a feature request.

Currently, when you attempt to debug a Firefox WebExtensions, you would go through the about:debugging, and click on the "Debug" link next to your WebExtensions Add-on. This is where you bring up the "Browser Toolbox".

However, internally, this is not called "Browser Toolbox". It's a "Browser Toolbox" that relies on the BrowserToolboxProcess, but functionally, it's a "WebExtensions Add-on Toolbox", and not a "Browser Toolbox" per se.

If you're confused at this point, you can see why that "Browser Toolbox" name should be renamed to something else, internally and externally, to "Add-ons Toolbox" or something more apt and suitable than "Browser Toolbox".

The name, "Browser Toolbox" is misleading at best when used in this context.

Therefore I propose a feature request to have this be renamed to something else. Thank you.

Comment 1

[Luca Greco [:rpl] [:luca] [:lgreco]]

Hi, "Browser Toolbox" is not supposed to be visible to the users that are debugging an extensions from the "about:debugging#addons" page, and so I definitely agree with you that it would be confusing if it is 
(and in that case I would consider it a bug to fix, more than a feature request).

Nevertheless, I just checked on my system (Linux) and I don't see "Browser Toolbox" in the title of the window or in the "remote connection confirmation dialog", 
do you mind to attach a screenshot which shows where "Browser Toolbox" is visible for you (and/or in which platform)? 

Thanks in advance!

Comment 2

[tom.mai78101]

I want to clarify that the title doesn't show the text, "Browser Toolbox", anywhere. This request spawned out from a chat with other developers on opinions about the Browser Toolbox, and how you can easily mix up between debugging a WebExtensions add-on and the browser.

It's just that, when opening "Browser Toolbox" from the browser, and when opening the "WebExtensions Debugger" from the about:debugging#addons page, both instances share the same remote connection, and both instances share identical titles.

So, it's really hard to debug both an extension, as well as the browser, at the same time.

Especially when you're using Browser Toolbox, but you didn't realize you're not debugging the WebExtension, until you switch to a different target document in the Target Document dropdown. 

There needs to be a title in the Browser Toolbox that explicitly says it's a "WebExtensions Debugger" or something similar, and for the actual Browser Toolbox, it should say it's "Developer Tools" for debugging the browser itself.

Hence my feature request.

Sorry for confusing you about the title.

Comment 4

[Rob Wu [:robwu]]

Oops, I edited the wrong bug.

(The devtools is now called just "Toolbox", not "Browser Toolbox", by the way)

Comment 5

[Alexandre Poirot [:ochameau]]

Nowadays, the toolbox to debug the whole browser is either titled "Parent Process Browser Toolbox" or "Multiprocess Browser Toolbox".
There is also the browser toolbox mode at the top which is unique to the true "browser toolbox".

Also, the toolbox to debug addons is titled "Developer Tools -- ${title or URL of the currently selected addon document}".
There is also the add-on name displayed at the top left, as well "Display always on top" icon on top right.
These two UI elements are unique to addons.

We might tweak the title of addon toolboxes, but it may as well be different enough today.

I'm going to close this bug, but do not hesitate to re-open with updated request and suggestion.