XUL Future

(Ondřej Doněk) #1

Hi, can I ask what is the future of the XUL? Should I switch to HTML in the new add-ons or can I still use XUL? Thanks.

(Jorge) #2

We recommend that you use the add-ons SDK, which generally abstracts all interaction with XUL. If you can use HTML in your add-ons, it’s best that you do that. XUL has been part of Firefox since the start, but it’s showing its age and it may go away eventually.

(Ondřej Doněk) #3

Thanks, fair enough. It’s time to learn the add-on SDK :smile:

Regards,
Ondřej Doněk

PS: But in my opinion - it’s really unfortunate that Mozilla years ago did not promote XUL and XulRunner based applications as a simple and cross-platform usable UI toolkit like QT. XUL had a lot of potencial.

(Noitidart) #4

@ondrejd we can still do XULRunner applications but its now HTML WebApps its the same thing except uses HTML which is much easier to CSS’ify to make it nice and dynamic. Can copy paste lots of open source codes out there not specifically designed for Firefox. The WebApps install onto the OS just like XULRunner apps did.

Althought to uninstall WebApps cleanly you have to use 3rd party software like CCleaner http://betanews.com/2015/06/25/ccleaner-5-07-arrives-allows-users-to-manage-firefox-web-apps/ which is disappinting, as the OS level uninstaller doesnt cleanly uninstall it. But thats true for all apps on OS level (at least windows)

(Will) #5

Here is a recent message from the firefox-dev mailing list that is relevant regarding the current development attitude towards XUL:

https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/firefox-dev/2015-July/003063.html

(Noitidart) #6

Wow sweet share @Will thanks! Looks like maybe XUL and XBL will be gone one day. Man I worked so hard on it

(bgmCoder) #7

Problem is that the SDK does not always provide comparable functionality.

I’ve spent two days trying to figure out how to create a mouseover event for a toolbar button just to find out that the only way I could find possible has been deprecated, and another two days trying to apply an external spreadsheet to the toolbar. And after all that, I still don’t have working answers.