696687 - Option '-app' missing from Firefox above version 3

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[sdaau-temp]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:7.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/7.0.1
Build ID: 20110928134238

Steps to reproduce:

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=[e-mail]

[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
###


Actual results:

* however, if I use firefox:
###
firefox -no-remote -app xultestapp/application.ini
###

... Firefox just starts as usual, ignoring the XUL application specification.




Expected results:

Firefox should have ran the XUL application just like xulrunner did. 

----

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!

Comment 1

[j.j.]

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Firefox_4_for_developers#Remote_XUL_support_removed
isn't it this issue?

Comment 2

[sdaau-temp]

Thanks for that link, @j.j.! 

However, here is the text referred in https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Firefox_4_for_developers#Remote_XUL_support_removed:

> Remote XUL support removed

> Remote XUL is no longer supported; this affects XUL documents being served 
> through HTTP; also, you can no longer load XUL documents using file:// URLs 
> unless you create the preference dom.allow_XUL_XBL_for_file and set it to 
> true. There is, however, a whitelist feature that can be used to allow 
> specific domains to load remote XUL. The Remote XUL Manager extension lets 
> you manage this whitelist.


... and it doesn't mention the '-app' command switch anywhere?! It just mentions "Remote XUL" - but the file I'm reading is local? Is the '-app' command line option related to "Remote XUL"??

Or does "XUL file on the local PC" mean "Remote XUL"?? If so, and a local file means "Remote XUL" - then how would we call a XUL file served over http? 


Thanks in advance for any clarifications,  
Cheers!

Comment 3

[j.j.]

I'v no idea of this issues to begin with, but:

> ... 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

> unless you create the preference dom.allow_XUL_XBL_for_file

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"

Comment 4

[j.j.]

No response to comment 3 -> INCOMPLETE

Comment 5

[Launchpad]

sdaau added the following comment to Launchpad bug report 880596:

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!

 






-- 
http://launchpad.net/bugs/880596

Comment 6

[sdaau-temp]

Hi again, 

Just wanted to say sorry it took so long - I posted the above reply on Launchpad on 2011-11-17; bug was made incomplete on 2011-11-20; and my reply arrived on 2011-11-23 :) Like in the snail-mail days :) 

Anyways, I don't really have much to add, except that it looks like the -app switch was only ever properly working on Firefox 3 for Windows only ... If someone can just confirm if this is the way thins are supposed to be, that would be great!

Thanks again - and cheers!