Abstract:
A tool configured to build a cross-browser toolbar is provided. The tool comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store at least instructions for execution of a wizard program by the processor, wherein the wizard program causes to: receive an input identifying at least user interface elements and event handlers respective of the user interface elements, wherein the input further identifies at least two different types of a web browser on which the toolbar can be executed; generate respective of the received input a toolbar render object, a script file, and at least one toolbar library for each type of web browser; and compile the toolbar render object, the script file, and the least one toolbar library into an installer file.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application is a continuation of patent application No. 12/270,421, now allowed, filed on Nov. 13, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it contains. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This invention generally relates to browser extensions. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Web browsers are software applications that enable the viewing of information accessible on the World Wide Web (or Web). At its most basic, the Web is a collection of documents written using programming languages that web browsers can interpret. Such languages include, for example, a hyper text markup language (HTML), an eXtensible markup language (XML), and the like. Microsoft Internet Explorer®, Mozilla Firefox®, Safari®, and Opera® are just to name a few examples of web browsers. 
         [0004]    Browser extensions are applications such as plug-ins or add-ons that are downloaded and installed on an individual computing device on which a web browser is operating. The browser extensions are compiled separately for each type of web browser. A prime example for a browser extension is a downloadable toolbar. When installed, a toolbar allows users to customize their browsing experience. 
         [0005]    The process of creating a downloadable toolbar includes developing a software application compatible with a specific browser type and storing an executable application in a web server. The software application embodying the toolbar typically includes functional buttons, search windows, and application programming interfaces (APIs) for other plug-ins and interfaces. A user may download the executable application from a web server to a local computing device and run the application thereon, causing the toolbar to be integrated in the web browser. 
         [0006]    There are some disadvantages with the current process of developing toolbars. Such a process requires programming and compiling software code for each type of web browser. Thus, a new version of the same toolbar should be developed for each web browser&#39;s type. This is typically performed by software developers who specialized in developing toolbars. Thus, existing toolbars are proprietary and in most cases not extensible. 
         [0007]    Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an automated solution for generating toolbars. It would be further advantageous to provide a solution for generating cross-browser toolbars. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    Certain embodiments include a method for rendering a cross-platform toolbar. The method comprises providing a toolbar document object (TDO), wherein the TDO includes elements enabling cross-browser interoperability; and translating, at runtime, the TDO to a specific-browser document object model (DOM) of a web browser type on which the toolbar is being rendered. 
         [0009]    Certain embodiments also include a method for generating a cross-browser toolbar. The method comprises generating a toolbar render object defining at least user interface elements of the cross-browser toolbar; generating a script file defining at least event handlers associated with the user interface elements; generating toolbar libraries including at least application programming interfaces (APIs) and script files supporting a specific web browser type; assigning a unique dynamic-link library (DLL) file with the toolbar libraries and the script file; and compiling the toolbar render object, the script file, the toolbar libraries, and the DLL file into an installer file adapted to enable the installation of the cross-browser toolbar in the specific web browser type. 
         [0010]    Certain embodiments further include a cross-platform toolbar. The cross-platform toolbar comprises a toolbar render object defining at least user interface elements of the cross-browser toolbar; a script file defining at least event handlers associated with the user interface elements; toolbar libraries including at least application programming interfaces (APIs) and script files supporting a specific web browser type; and a unique dynamic-link library (DLL) file assigned with the toolbar libraries and the script file. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The subject matter that is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating the process of creating a cross-browser toolbar utilized in accordance with the principles of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates the files used for executing a cross-browser toolbar over a web browser instance. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart describing the process of translating a TDO to a browser-specific DOM at runtime as implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a diagram useful for describing the process of executing a toolbar over an Internet Explorer® (IE) browser as implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed by the invention are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts through several views. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows an exemplary diagram illustrating the process of creating a cross-browser toolbar implemented according to the principles of the invention. The process includes generating a toolbar which can be executed on any of web browsers  120 - 1  through  120 -N. The toolbar functionality and appearance are defined by one or more source files  110 . In one embodiment, the source files  110  include one or more XML files that characterize user interface elements (e.g., buttons, menus, etc.) script files that set the functionality of the user interface elements using event handlers. The web browsers  120  are of different types and include, but are not limited to, Microsoft Internet Explorer®, Mozilla Firefox®, Opera®, Safari®, and the like. 
         [0018]    Other files required for generating the cross-browser toolbar are stored in toolbar libraries  130 . The libraries  130  contain at least files that provide low level APIs as well as XML and script files to support the different types of browsers  120 . A toolbar builder  140  generates toolbar installer files  150 - 1  though  150 -N, each of which is targeted to a different type of a web browser  120 . For example, an installer file  150 - 1  may be installed and executed over an Internet Explorer® browser while an installer file  150 -N may perform the same over a Firefox® browser. The toolbar builder  140  creates a specific installer file  150  by selecting files from the toolbar libraries  130  which are executable over a specific type of a browser  120  and assigning unique dynamic-link library (DLL) files with the scripts in source files  110  and relevant portions of the libraries  130 . For instance, to generate the installer file  150 - 1  only files in the libraries  130  executable over an Internet Explorer® browser are selected. In addition, the toolbar builder  140  encapsulates these relevant files from the libraries  130 , the source files  110  and optionally a unique DLL file into a downloadable file. For example, an installer file  150 -N targeted to a Firefox® browser may not include a DLL file. In another embodiment the toolbar builder  140  may further output update files (not shown) including new elements and/or fixes that do not exist in previous versions of an already installed toolbar. 
         [0019]    In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the toolbar builder  140  may be a wizard application that allows developing a toolbar without coding, writing or providing any of the source files  110 . In such embodiment a wizard executed by the toolbar builder  140  prompts the users to select user interface elements and event handlers of such elements through a graphical user interface (GUI). Based on the user selections the wizard generates the source files. The user is also prompted to select the type of web browsers on which he/she would like to run the toolbar. Thereafter, the toolbar builder  140  creates the installer files  150 , each of which includes the self-generated source files and targeted to a different type of a browser. 
         [0020]    Users can download the installer files  150  to their computer&#39;s local hard drive and install, using an installation program, the toolbar on their browsers  120 . As shown in  FIG. 2  the installation program outputs a script file  210 , a DLL file  220 , a toolbar render object  230 , and toolbar libraries  240  that include portions of the libraries  130  relevant to the target browser. In one embodiment the script file  210 , the DLL file  220  the toolbar render object  230 , and the toolbar libraries  240  output by the installation program may be encrypted. It should be noted that the DLL file  220  and a toolbar render object  230  are dependent on the type of browser. As an example, for Internet Explorer®, the DLL file  220  enables the interaction with the toolbar at runtime and the toolbar render object  230  is a HTML render (i.e., capable of rendering HTML elements). In a Firefox® environment, the toolbar render object  230  is an XML user interface language (XUL) render (i.e., capable of rendering XUL elements) and the DLL file  220  is a binary DLL that provides security features. 
         [0021]    In accordance with the embodiments disclosed herein, the generated toolbar is based on a toolbar document object (TDO) having a structure similar to a standard document object model (DOM) but with enhanced functionality. Generally, most types of browsers support a DOM which is an API for HTML and XML documents. The DOM provides a structural representation of the document, enabling modification its content and visual presentation. That is, a DOM connects web pages to scripts or applications. 
         [0022]    In an embodiment of the invention, the TDO has a tree representation where each node in the tree is a user-interface element. These elements support standard tags (e.g., XUL tags) and special tags. The special tags are a set of tags designed to provide enhanced toolbar functions, referred to as special functions. Examples for such tags include, but are not limited to, a search-bar for providing a search engine input field, a RSS button for accessing RSS feeds, a web inspector button for performing background anti-phishing checks, a widget menu popup providing a list of widgets, and so on. A special tag may include a set of attributes allowing for customizing a special function defined by the special tag. Such attributes may include, but are not limited to, on-get-options, verifying-image, low-risk-image, high-risk-image, verified-image, white-list-image, black-list-image, no-rating-image, on-get-options, on-add-widget, on-widget-done, on-remove-widget, on-get-prefpane, and so on. In one embodiment the special tags may be XML-based tags. The special tags are stored in the toolbar libraries  240 . The set of special tags can be extended by developers who may provide their own set of tags and functions. 
         [0023]    In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one of the elements of a TDO is a widget which may be an application or a control executed from a toolbar. A toolbar can be pre-installed with a list of widgets or such widgets may be added to the toolbar by dragging a widget from a central repository and dropping the widget to the toolbar. Widgets may include, but are not limited to, a media player, an online game, an online interactive program, visual animations, and so on. 
         [0024]    TDO and DOM are memory structures created at runtime in a local memory (of a computing device) allocated for the execution of a browser. As mentioned above the execution of a toolbar generated in accordance with the principles of the invention is allowed by translating the TDO to a browser-specific DOM of a target browser at runtime. This process is further illustrated using a flowchart  300  shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0025]    At S 310 , TDO elements are translated into one or more browser-specific DOM elements. For instance, when targeting a HTML DOM (for Internet Explorer®), a TDO toolbar button element is rendered by a HTML table, which contains specific table cell elements for a button&#39;s border, a icon, label, and button&#39;s dropdown area. As another example, in a Firefox® browser, a button element defined in the TDO is rendered as a single XUL DOM element of type ‘toolbarbutton’. At S 320 , event handlers are mapped from events of the TDO to events of the browser-specific DOM. The events may be triggered by an input device (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.). Step S 320  is performed after rendering the browser-specific DOM in order to increase the performance in cases of complex user interfaces. This also allows tracking memory management by determining which events are connected to ensure that such events are later properly disconnected, thereby breaking circular dependencies resulting in memory leaks in browser-specific DOMs. At S 330 , when TDO elements are discarded, circular dependencies and script closures on event handlers are disconnected. This ensures that the memory can be properly reclaimed by a browser-specific garbage collector. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  shows an exemplary diagram useful in describing the process of executing a toolbar over an Internet Explorer® (IE) browser implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The toolbar “mytoolbar” is constructed using the toolbar builder  140  and after installation a JavaScript file “mytoolbar.js”  410 , a DLL file “mytoolbar.dll”  420 , a HTML render object  430  and as toolbar libraries  440  are stored in a local hard drive. 
         [0027]    At runtime, a DLL file  420  is loaded to an instance  480  of an IE browser. The DLL  420  manages a web-browser control  450 , a toolbar loader  460 , and an API bridge  470 . The control  450  hosts the TDO and allows rendering the toolbar using the process described in detail above. The API bridge  470  provides an interface for communicating with other software applications running on the local computing device. In accordance with one embodiment, the toolbar loader  460  is adapted to support a “chrome://” protocol by providing a mechanism to enable “chrome://” protocol functionality in an IE instance  480  that executes the toolbar. For example, this allows to chrome URLs look and perform as same as in a Firefox® browser, thereby achieving cross-browser interoperability. It should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the “chrome://” protocol is a proprietary protocol of Mozilla Firefox® and is not supported by Internet Explorer® browsers. The toolbar load  460  is further adapted to retrieve information from the script file  410 , the HTML render object  430  and the toolbar libraries  440  stored in the local hard drive. 
         [0028]    In accordance with one embodiment the cross-browser toolbar may be developed using asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) techniques while supporting scripting and programming languages including, for example, XML, HTML and JavaScript. 
         [0029]    The embodiment disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combinations thereof. The software may be implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage unit or computer readable medium. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture, for example a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units (“CPUs”), a random access memory (“RAM”), and input/output (“I/O”) interfaces. The computer platform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may be either part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program, or any combination thereof, which may be executed by a CPU, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. 
         [0030]    It is to be further understood that, because some of the constituent system components and methods depicted in the accompanying drawings are preferably implemented in software, the actual connections between the system components or the process function blocks may differ depending upon the manner in which the present invention is programmed. Given the teachings herein, one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations or configurations of the present invention. All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventors to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. 
         [0031]    All statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. It is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included.