1470238 - WebExtention Experiments current API state is unacceptable and undocumented

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Invalid Bugs :: General, enhancement)

Description

[KOLANICH]

Developers trying to experiment with WebExtensions API will run into a problems and will waste a lot of time avoiding midefild planded by Mozilla devs.

It's VERY UNEXPECTED that to declare a WebExtension API a developer must do coherent changes in 3 different places, satisfying the following requirements, some of them are UNDOCUMENTED and badly violated in the recommended tutorials:
1 an extension manifest:
 * addon's id must be explicitly "<permissionName>@experiments.addons.mozilla.org"
  * if another id is used, then the addons using this permissions will fail to be installed saying nothing special except the addon is incompatible. I had to debug the browser to discover it.
 * paths must start with "experiments", otherwise the API will be unavailable and must match with code
 * experiment_api  eys must match with paths, schema and code
2 in schema:
 * permission name must be experiments.<permissionName> matching the name in the manifest
 * schema must match the things in code and the manifest
3 in code:
  * symbols args and names must match schema and manifest


All these troubles are diagnosed not on the stage of installation of an experiment addon, but on the stages of installation or usage of the addon using the api.


I guess we should throw this **** away.

1 ECMAScript modules should be used instead of functions returning hierarchies
2 explicit schemas should be abolished, instead they should be reflected
3 synthesys of addon ID should be abolished. The thing should check presence of APIs, not addon IDs.
4 hardcoded requirement on putting everything under `experiments` should be abolished. Instead it should be just a convention among developers.
5 all the mismatches (if any, I guess #2 should eliminate them completely) should be detected on API addon installation, not on use, not on client addon installation.

Comment 1

[Johann Hofmann [:johannh]]

Reading this again I don't think this is actionable.

It's very hard to follow your line of reasoning since you are listing several issues and are constantly throwing in borderline abusive language. Things you can and should do to avoid your bugs becoming invalid (or getting banned from this bug tracker):

- File one bug per issue or suggestion
- Assume good intentions and use a friendly tone

Thank you.