Chapter 2. Getting Started- P2 2.3. Making Mozilla Work for You The second "Hello World" sample, shown in Example 2-4 , adds some important application features and begins to take advantage of the resources that Mozilla provides for you. This section goes over the ways you can import stylesheets and Mozilla scripts to make your XUL more sophisticated and modular. It also prepares you to make an actual application. You can see this example in action by saving the code in Example 2-4 to a file, hello2.xul, and then launching Mozilla and selecting File > Open File from the browser. This displays the example as content in the Mozilla browser, as shown in Figure 2-2 . Example 2-4. Sample XUL window <?xml version="1.0"?> <?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://global/skin" type="text/css"?> <!DOCTYPE window> <window title="Hello xFly" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/ there.is.only.xul" style="background-color: white;" width="300" height="215" onload="centerWindowOnScreen( )"> <script type="application/x-javascript" src="chrome://global/content/dialogOverlay.js" /> <vbox align="left"> <label style="font-weight: bold;" value="Hello, Welcome to the xFly" /> <image src="http://books.mozdev.org/xfly.gif" /> <button label="hello xFly" oncommand="alert('Hello World');" /> </vbox> </window> The difference between Example 2-4 and the first example is the addition of new elements, including the script element that brings in Mozilla JavaScript functions for use, additional box layout properties, inline style rules and processing instructions to import stylesheets, and the DOCTYPE declaration, which we describe later in this chapter in the section Section 2.5.5.3. These extras make your XUL file work more like an application by giving you access to services and features that already exist in Mozilla. They can also help you organize your own work into reusable parts, such as application stylesheets, widgets, and script libraries, as described later in this chapter in the section Section 2.5 . Figure 2-2. The second Hello xFly example loaded in the browser 2.3.1. Importing Resources from Mozilla The code in Example 2-4 uses scripts and styles that are already defined in Mozilla. As you'll see in examples in this book and in the Mozilla source code, the global.css stylesheet is where many basic styles are defined for XUL widgets. Most XUL widgets have some inherent style, as you can see in Example 2-1 , where the button has a button-like look without any explicit style rules or stylesheet imports. As the XPFE has evolved, XUL widgets have used XBL internally to define some of these inherent looks and behaviors, which has taken some of the responsibility away from global.css and other CSS files. But this stylesheet still contains important rules for displaying basic XUL widgets. It's usually a good idea to import this main stylesheet into your application, as described here, and see what it gets you in terms of presentation. If you load Example 2-4 with and without the global.css line, you can see the way that the rules in the stylesheet provide styles for the widgets in the XUL. Similarly, scripts like globalOverlay.js, tasksOverlay.js, and dialogOverlay.js, imported in Example 2-4 , provide basic functions you can use in your applications. 2.3.1.1. Loading stylesheets In the second line of Example 2-4 , the stylesheet declaration uses a chrome:// URL to refer to and load the global.css file. The style rules in that file give the button widget its "widgetness." You can use the stylesheet processing instruction to load Mozilla stylesheets like global.css, navigator.css, and toolbar.css, or you can use it to load your own application stylesheet. In both cases, the chrome:// URL allows you to refer to packaged files in a flexible way. <! import the navigator.css stylesheet from the Mozilla navigator component > <?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://navigator/skin" type="text/css"?> <! import xfly.css stylesheet from the xFly package > <?xml-stylesheet href="chrome://xfly/skin" type="text/css"?> Also note the use of an inline style in Example 2-4 . The style property on the label widget gives you a place to define CSS rules directly on widgets. In this case, the label is given a bold font so that it shows up better in the window. You could also define this style rule in an external stylesheet and make that stylesheet part of the package for your application, as we do later in this chapter in the section Section 2.5.5 . 2.3.1.2. Accessing script in XUL To access a script in XUL, use the script element and a URL value for its src attribute: <script type="application/x-javascript" src="chrome://xfly/content/xfly.js" /> The dialogOverlay.js script imported into your XUL file in Example 2-4 provides access to the CenterWindowOnScreen( ) function. This function is made available to your XUL file with the line: <script type="application/x-javascript" src="chrome://global/content/dialogOverlay.js" /> All functions in dialogOverlay.js are imported into the scope of the XUL file and can be called directly, as CenterWindowOnScreen( ) is in the onload event handler for the XUL window. Note that the functions contained in an imported JavaScript file are not broadcast in any particular way (though you can see them if you use the JavaScript Debugger). You may need to look around in the source code or see how other applications import files to find the functions you need, but the routines you want to use in your application code are probably already available in Mozilla.[1] Notes [1] Unfortunately, no good reference exists for the functions defined in the various scripts files you can import. The functions and their locations within the files continue to change, so finding and using the right ones is sometimes a matter of luck, sometimes a matter of whom you know, and often a matter of testing, determination, and patience. 2.4. Displaying XUL Files as Chrome Figure 2-2 shows the XUL file in Example 2-4 loaded into the browser's main content area. The example features a label widget and an image, both situated within a vbox that lays them out properly in the available space. These widgets make up the chrome of your application, the Mozilla user interface that can refer to itself and its resources with the special chrome:// URL. This example is starting to show off some of the nice features of XPFE programming, but it still isn't an application yet. Among other things, you probably don't want your code to live inside the browser window forever. As it grows, you may also want to divide it into sensible parts a XUL file, a separate stylesheet, and a script file, for example. The rest of this chapter explains how to organize and package the code in Example 2-4 and launch it as a standalone window by using the -chrome option when launching Mozilla. Launching a XUL file by using the chrome switch requires that you register your application in the chrome registry so that Mozilla sees and recognizes it. The Section 2.5.6 section later in this chapter provides more information about the chrome environment and how to register this sample application. Although this example hasn't been registered yet, we want to give you a preview of what it will look like when launched in a standalone window so you can compare it with how the same XUL file looks when loaded into the browser window. When you do launch the example by using the -chrome option (as described later in this chapter in the section Section 2.6 ), you will see the window displayed in Figure 2-3 . Figure 2-3. The second Hello xFly example launched in its own window Using the -chrome option tells Mozilla to display the specified file (in this case, the code from Example 2-4 ) as a standalone application rather than as content within a browser window. The file itself is the same regardless of how it is loaded, but the results differ depending on what you tell Mozilla to do with the file. Displaying a XUL file in its own chrome window makes it more independent and breaks the link to the browser content area that is present when you use the File > Open File method. Launching standalone windows, accompanied by the JavaScript window.openDialog function explained later in this chapter, opens up much more flexible window display options for your application. . Chapter 2. Getting Started- P2 2. 3. Making Mozilla Work for You The second "Hello World" sample, shown in Example 2- 4 , adds some important. Section 2. 5 . Figure 2- 2. The second Hello xFly example loaded in the browser 2. 3.1. Importing Resources from Mozilla The code in Example 2- 4 uses