Support for dropping XPI files into the extension install locations might be going away
Dave Townsend
that involves simply copying the extension's XPI file into one of the
extension install locations. The next time Firefox runs it would pop up
the install dialog for the extension and allow the user to choose
whether to install it or not.
I don't know how many people use this feature and while the code to do
it (at least for the profile folder) isn't terribly complex, it is
additional code that may not be necessary. Right now the new add-ons
manager doesn't support it and I've heard only a couple of people
comment on its absence but nightly testers are by no means
representational so I'm asking a little more widely whether people have
a real need for keeping this working in Firefox 4?
To be clear we aren't talking about the method of installing where you
extract your extension into a directory in the install locations, nor
are we talking about the method where you create a text file in the
install location containing the path to your extension.
Justin Wood (Callek)
I would be surprised if many use this method for Firefox, but I would
suspect that the Thunderbird users may have a larger base of use for
this feature. [I am ignoring SeaMonkey since the EM use case is almost
identical to Firefox]
Because of that I am copying to m.d.thunderbird as well, with a followup
back here [m.d.platform].
--
~Justin Wood (Callek)
Philip Chee
> I would be surprised if many use this method for Firefox, but I would
> suspect that the Thunderbird users may have a larger base of use for
> this feature. [I am ignoring SeaMonkey since the EM use case is almost
> identical to Firefox]
> Because of that I am copying to m.d.thunderbird as well, with a followup
> back here [m.d.platform].
I have never heard of any Thunderbird user doing this. And I've been
tracking the usage of Thunderbird extensions for years.
I believe that TB has added XPInstall listeners to their main messenger
window so in theory you could DnD XPIs on it. TB 3 also has content tabs
so installing directly from AMO or a webpage is also not a problem these
days.
Phil
--
Philip Chee <phi...@aleytys.pc.my>, <phili...@gmail.com>
http://flashblock.mozdev.org/ http://xsidebar.mozdev.org
Guard us from the she-wolf and the wolf, and guard us from the thief,
oh Night, and so be good for us to pass.
Alan Baxter
>For some time now Firefox has supported a way of installing extensions
>that involves simply copying the extension's XPI file into one of the
>extension install locations. The next time Firefox runs it would pop up
>the install dialog for the extension and allow the user to choose
>whether to install it or not.
Thank you for asking about this, Dave. I pretty much install all new
extensions and updates this way in Fx 3.6.x on Windows XP SP3. That
is, I save the xpi file to disk and copy it directly into the
extensions folder while Firefox is closed. I do it this way for the
following reasons:
1) I close Firefox so I can create a backup of the profile before
changing it with an extension update or new extension. Before
restarting Firefox, I copy the xpi file into the extensions folder.
This is a bit quicker than having to restart Firefox twice and having
to download the xpi file twice (since I want a local copy of the xpi
file) -- especially on my slow Internet connection and slow computer.
2) I use multiple Firefox profiles. Only one download of the xpi file
and only one restart of each profile saves time for me.
3) It facilitates testing and comparing extension interactions in
different profiles since I know they are using identical versions of
an extension.
4) Adding one or more extensions to a new profile from a local archive
is a lot easier than reinstalling them from AMO.
That said, if I won't be able to do this in Fx 4, I'd appreciate a
convenient workaround. Is there one yet?
Nathan Tuggy
I've had considerable success using FEBE
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2109/> for this sort of
thing; AFAICT, it would meet every one of your current goals more
efficiently than your current workflow, which is cool :-)
Hope this helps!
--
Nathan Tuggy [:tuggyne]
nat...@tuggycomputer.com
Alan Baxter
Thank you for your reply, Nathan. I don't see how FEBE would make any
of those tasks easier. It's pretty easy already to download an
extension and copy it into the extensions folder of each desired
profile. Could you elaborate on how using FEBE could be more
efficient? Also, how would it substitute for the feature Dave says
may be dropped in Fx 4? I would like to keep the ability to install a
local copy of an xpi file into one or more profiles.
--
atb12345 at gmail dot com
brahmana
Why not use the method of having a text file containing the path to
the extracted location? AFAIK, almost all of your below mentioned
requirements will be met .
You will still be downloading the xpi only once and unless you are
changing those xpi you will be having them in only one location on
disk with pointers from all the profiles that use it.
I am not sure about the restarts, but I am guessing that it should be
ok to have one EM_RESTART.
-- Brahmana.
Alan Baxter
>On May 31, 7:29�ｿｽam, Alan Baxter <noreturnaddr...@invalid.com> wrote:
>> Dave Townsend <dtowns...@mozilla.com> wrote:
>> >For some time now Firefox has supported a way of installing extensions
>> >that involves simply copying the extension's XPI file into one of the
>> >extension install locations. The next time Firefox runs it would pop up
>> >the install dialog for the extension and allow the user to choose
>> >whether to install it or not.
>>
>> extensions and updates this way in Fx 3.6.x on Windows XP SP3. �ｿｽThat
>> is, I save the xpi file to disk and copy it directly into the
>> following reasons:
>>
>> 1) I close Firefox so I can create a backup of the profile before
>> restarting Firefox, I copy the xpi file into the extensions folder.
>> This is a bit quicker than having to restart Firefox twice and having
>> to download the xpi file twice (since I want a local copy of the xpi
>> file) -- especially on my slow Internet connection and slow computer.
>>
>> and only one restart of each profile saves time for me.
>>
>> 3) It facilitates testing and comparing extension interactions in
>> different profiles since I know they are using identical versions of
>> an extension.
>>
>> 4) Adding one or more extensions to a new profile from a local archive
>> is a lot easier than reinstalling them from AMO.
>>
>> That said, if I won't be able to do this in Fx 4, I'd appreciate a
>
>Why not use the method of having a text file containing the path to
>the extracted location? AFAIK, almost all of your below mentioned
>requirements will be met .
>
>You will still be downloading the xpi only once and unless you are
>changing those xpi you will be having them in only one location on
>disk with pointers from all the profiles that use it.
>
>I am not sure about the restarts, but I am guessing that it should be
Thank you for the workaround. I'll try it out if my current method
isn't supported in Fx 4.
--
"Trim your follow-ups."
http://www.mozilla.org/community/etiquette.html
Nathan Tuggy
FEBE can be set up to automatically (re-)package all extensions for
backup on a schedule, so this would ease synchronizing profiles (all
XPIs go into a particular local folder; all Firefox instances pull from
that folder). This meets the apparent requirements of 2), 3), and 4).
Further, step 1 (backup of profile before installing) would be at least
roughly equivalent with FEBE's scheduled profile backups. (I can't
remember if there's an option to make backups before e.g. installing an
extension, but there might be; also, manual backups are always possible.)
> Also, how would it substitute for the feature Dave says
> may be dropped in Fx 4? I would like to keep the ability to install a
> local copy of an xpi file into one or more profiles.
Just drag the XPI from Windows Explorer (or whatever) into the (running)
Addons window to install it. (AFAICT, this isn't going away, and it's my
usual method of installing from local disk.)
Alan Baxter
>On 2010-05-31 16:40, Alan Baxter wrote:
>> Thank you for your reply, Nathan. I don't see how FEBE would make any
>> of those tasks easier. It's pretty easy already to download an
>> extension and copy it into the extensions folder of each desired
>> profile. Could you elaborate on how using FEBE could be more
>> efficient?
>
>FEBE can be set up to automatically (re-)package all extensions for
>backup on a schedule, so this would ease synchronizing profiles (all
>XPIs go into a particular local folder; all Firefox instances pull from
>that folder). This meets the apparent requirements of 2), 3), and 4).
>
>Further, step 1 (backup of profile before installing) would be at least
>roughly equivalent with FEBE's scheduled profile backups. (I can't
>remember if there's an option to make backups before e.g. installing an
>extension, but there might be; also, manual backups are always possible.)
Thank you for elaborating, Nathan. Copying a profile folder with
Windows Explorer seems to be easy enough already.
>> Also, how would it substitute for the feature Dave says
>> may be dropped in Fx 4? I would like to keep the ability to install a
>> local copy of an xpi file into one or more profiles.
>
>Just drag the XPI from Windows Explorer (or whatever) into the (running)
>Addons window to install it. (AFAICT, this isn't going away, and it's my
>usual method of installing from local disk.)
Although this requires the additional browser restart I've been able
to avoid so far, I imagine that's what I'll do too if support for
simply copying the xpi file to the extensions folder is dropped in Fx
4.
Thanks again.
Henrik Skupin
> 1) I close Firefox so I can create a backup of the profile before
> changing it with an extension update or new extension. Before
> restarting Firefox, I copy the xpi file into the extensions folder.
> This is a bit quicker than having to restart Firefox twice and having
> to download the xpi file twice (since I want a local copy of the xpi
> file) -- especially on my slow Internet connection and slow computer.
Even with dropping the support of simply placing the XPI file into that
folder, we will still support the way when you extract all the files
from XPI and copy those over into a subfolder with the extension id.
With the next restart the extension will be installed. Would that be
much harder for your workflow?
--
Henrik
Alan Baxter
I think that would be hard enough that I wouldn't bother doing it that
way. If I understand this correctly, I'd have to:
1) Figure out the extension id by examining the contents of the XPI.
2) Create a folder with the extension id.
3) Open the XPI file with a utility like 7-Zip and extract it to the
folder.
It sounds like you plan to eliminate the Firefox code which does that
automatically. I'm not sure why. Doesn't the code which does that
still need to be retained for files installed from AMO or by
drag-n-drop onto the browser?
Right now I just drag-n-drop copies of the XPI file(s) into the
extensions folder. That is, I keep local copies of any extensions I
use -- currently 62 in my normal browsing profile -- in a single
folder. To install or update one or more of them in a profile, all I
have to do is select the ones I want with Windows Explorer and drag
them to the extensions directory, start Firefox, and click through the
installation confirmation dialog. This procedure is very quick and
easy.
If I can't do that anymore, I suppose I'll:
- Stop Firefox and make a backup copy of the profile folder like I do
now.
- Start Firefox.
- Use MR Tech Toolkit to install one or more of the XPI files from my
local archive.
- Restart Firefox.
Compared to my current workflow, this requires only one additional
browser restart. I can live with that if I have to. I promise not to
whine. :)
Dave Townsend
> Henrik Skupin<hsk...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Alan Baxter wrote on 5/31/10 4:29 AM:
>>
>>> 1) I close Firefox so I can create a backup of the profile before
>>> changing it with an extension update or new extension. Before
>>> restarting Firefox, I copy the xpi file into the extensions folder.
>>> This is a bit quicker than having to restart Firefox twice and having
>>> to download the xpi file twice (since I want a local copy of the xpi
>>> file) -- especially on my slow Internet connection and slow computer.
>>
>> Even with dropping the support of simply placing the XPI file into that
>> folder, we will still support the way when you extract all the files
>>from XPI and copy those over into a subfolder with the extension id.
>> With the next restart the extension will be installed. Would that be
>> much harder for your workflow?
>
> I think that would be hard enough that I wouldn't bother doing it that
> way. If I understand this correctly, I'd have to:
> 1) Figure out the extension id by examining the contents of the XPI.
> 2) Create a folder with the extension id.
> 3) Open the XPI file with a utility like 7-Zip and extract it to the
> folder.
>
> It sounds like you plan to eliminate the Firefox code which does that
> automatically. I'm not sure why. Doesn't the code which does that
> still need to be retained for files installed from AMO or by
> drag-n-drop onto the browser?
No, the code used to detect XPI files in the profile folder at startup
is not really related to the code that installs extensions from AMO. And
it isn't a case of eliminating the code, we have completely re-written
the extension manager, we just haven't at this point recreated the code
in the new version.
> Right now I just drag-n-drop copies of the XPI file(s) into the
> extensions folder. That is, I keep local copies of any extensions I
> use -- currently 62 in my normal browsing profile -- in a single
> folder. To install or update one or more of them in a profile, all I
> have to do is select the ones I want with Windows Explorer and drag
> them to the extensions directory, start Firefox, and click through the
> installation confirmation dialog. This procedure is very quick and
> easy.
You could do the same by keeping local copies of the extension's folders
(created by installing into Firefox in a more normal way and then
copying out of the profile folder) and then selecting the ones you want
and dragging into place. I'll grant you the naming becomes uglier though.
> If I can't do that anymore, I suppose I'll:
> - Stop Firefox and make a backup copy of the profile folder like I do
> now.
> - Start Firefox.
> - Use MR Tech Toolkit to install one or more of the XPI files from my
> local archive.
> - Restart Firefox.
You wouldn't need MR Tech Toolkit to do that, just dragging and dropping
the xpi files into Firefox would be enough.
Alan Baxter
I see.
>> Right now I just drag-n-drop copies of the XPI file(s) into the
>> extensions folder. That is, I keep local copies of any extensions I
>> use -- currently 62 in my normal browsing profile -- in a single
>> folder. To install or update one or more of them in a profile, all I
>> have to do is select the ones I want with Windows Explorer and drag
>> them to the extensions directory, start Firefox, and click through the
>> installation confirmation dialog. This procedure is very quick and
>> easy.
>
>You could do the same by keeping local copies of the extension's folders
>(created by installing into Firefox in a more normal way and then
>copying out of the profile folder) and then selecting the ones you want
>and dragging into place. I'll grant you the naming becomes uglier though.
Ugly indeed!
>> If I can't do that anymore, I suppose I'll:
>> - Stop Firefox and make a backup copy of the profile folder like I do
>> now.
>> - Start Firefox.
>> - Use MR Tech Toolkit to install one or more of the XPI files from my
>> local archive.
>> - Restart Firefox.
>
>You wouldn't need MR Tech Toolkit to do that, just dragging and dropping
>the xpi files into Firefox would be enough.
Right. Thank you for reminding me. I don't need to use MR Tech
Toolkit for just a single file. I would use MR Tech Toolkit only when
I want to select multiple files for installation. Fx 3.6.4 doesn't
seem to support selecting multiple files for a single drag and drop
into Firefox: you have to drag, drop, and click through the dialog for
each individual file.
Robert Strong
Add-ons Manager UI.
Blair McBride
> Fx 3.6.4 doesn't
> seem to support selecting multiple files for a single drag and drop
> into Firefox: you have to drag, drop, and click through the dialog for
> each individual file.
Drag & dropping multiple files will be supported in the new UI (once bug
565682 is fixed).
- Blair
Alan Baxter
Great! Thank you for the info, Blair and Robert.