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Introduction to WebKit Plug-in Programming Topics

Contents:

Who Should Read This Document?
Organization of This Document
See Also

Web browser plug-ins are compiled bundles that help extend the content types supported by common web browsers. Installed locally on a computer, they can run code native to the user’s operating system and provide a powerful way to expand on standard web content.

Who Should Read This Document?

This document is designed for a number of different audiences:

• If you are a Cocoa and WebKit developer, you should read about the WebKit plug-in architecture and learn how compiled plug-ins operate within WebKit-based applications, including Safari.

• If you are a developer who is concerned with cross-platform compatibility for your software, but who also wants to deploy special content via a web browser, you should read about the Netscape-based plug-in architecture and learn how it is supported in a variety of browsers.

• If you are a web content developer, you should read about both plug-in architectures and learn how to integrate their features into custom plug-ins to support your content.

Organization of This Document

The topic contains the following articles:

• “About Web Browser Plug-ins” describes the benefits of web browser plug-ins and how they are integrated into common browsers. It also discusses the advantages of disadvantages of both plug-in models, and how to deploy plug-ins on computers and web sites.

• “Creating Plug-ins with Cocoa and WebKit ” describes how to use the WebKit-based plug-in architecture to develop and deploy web browser plug-ins for Safari and WebKit-based applications.

• “Creating Plug-ins with the Netscape API” describes how to use the Netscape plug-in architecture to develop and deploy web browser plug-ins across multiple browsers and platforms.

See Also

There are lots of helpful resources available to guide you through plug-in development.

• Read the WebKit Objective-C Framework Reference for the full WebKit plug-in reference and the reference detailing the WebKit-scripting environment bridge.

• Read the WebKit Objective-C Programming Guide for tips on good WebKit application design and how the web scripting environment can access WebKit methods and properties (and vice versa).

• On your hard drive, /Developer/Examples/WebKit/ contains sample code for both the Netscape and the WebKit version of the movie player plug-in.

• Mozilla’s Plug-ins Project discusses the cross-browser Netscape API and also includes lots of sample code.

• Plug-in Detections discusses how to tune your web content to detect plug-ins (if registration did not solve the problem).

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