Thread-topic: Using a modified WebCore in the WebKit framework
Thank you, Darin, for your responses and they are understood.
One clarification, though. I already understood the ramifications
of modifying system frameworks, that I would be inviting
incompatibility disasters when Apple made updates to WebKit/WebCore.
So as I mentioned, I was hoping I would be able to ship my application
with copies of _both_ WebKit and WebCore as _private_ frameworks in
my application bundle, thus making my app immune to any Apple updates
to the system WebKit. To borrow a term from Microsoft, sort of the
"side-by-side" dll concept. Is this thinking flawed?
But since you say linking WebKit with a custom WebCore isn't possible
that issue looks to be moot :(
My "custom Javascript" that I implemented was simply allowing the
Microsoft Internet Explorer 'window.external.<function>()' to be
recognized. This JS calls a matching C function in the host
application that is embedding the browser. Since all of our web
content requires that we can use JavaScript to automate the host
(and pass return values back to JavaScript) I was hoping that this
would be possible in WebKit. Turns out, the changes to WebCore
are pretty simple to allow this to happen. I post a Cocoa
notification that my host app receives that contains the function
name and arbitrary parameter list, and populate the notification
NSDictionary with a return value that I convert back into the JS
interpreter code in WebCore.
Any thought that Apple might provide such functionality in future
WebKits? Or opening up the source to WebKit? ;) (or allowing me
to build it so it looks in my local application bundle for my
WebCore)
Sorry to sound so demanding. I am _very_ pleased with the design
and flexibility of WebKit. It just seems like there are just
framework linking and distribution logistics preventing me from
completing the solution (I have verified my build of WebCore works
with the latest WebKit). So close, yet...
Thanks again for your input.
Scott
-----Original Message-----
From: webcore-dev-bounces+stupaj=email@hidden
[mailto:webcore-dev-bounces+stupaj=email@hidden]On Behalf
Of Darin Adler
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 9:52 AM
To: Scott Tupaj
Cc: email@hidden
Subject: Re: Using a modified WebCore in the WebKit framework
Unfortunately, making changes to WebCore and then having the Web Kit
use a modified WebCore is not supported.
If you shipped an application with a modified WebCore and tried to get
the Web Kit to use it, that would stop working as soon as a software
update from Apple changed the programming interface between the two.
This is something we do all the time.
You can do anything the license allows with WebCore, but WebKit doesn't
offer the feature of connecting to a customized WebCore.
You may find that with newer versions of the Web Kit framework, you can
accomplish the "custom JavaScript handling" you are talking about
without modifying WebCore. Until then, this is not really possible with
the Web Kit.
-- Darin
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