1480019 - Find API - Ability to open/close/query the Findbar

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(WebExtensions :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Antoine Turmel [:GeekShadow]]

It would be nice to have an API to be able to :
- Open the findbar
- Close the findbar
- Input query text
- Toggle options (highlight, case sensitive, entire words)

The main use-case is to have a webextension that allow findbar to be opened accross tabs (Eg. if you want to compare information in two different tabs without reopening findbar)

Second use-case is to keep settings find settings accross tabs (case sensitive/entire words.

Comment 1

[Antoine Turmel [:GeekShadow]]

See:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160322025951/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/globalfindbar/
- https://github.com/Noitidart/GlobalFindbar

Comment 2

[Mike Conca [:mconca]]

Having an API to open and display the Firefox findbar won't solve this use-case since the built-in findbar only operates on a per-tab basis, regardless if a user or an extension were to open it.

I believe the use-case could be solved with existing WebExtension APIs, though, by implementing a browser action that opens a popup with an input for the query text, and then using the browser.find API to search multiple tabs.  A sidebar that allows for query input text is also an option.