New Version 0.2 Available Soon.
Verion 0.1 is unavailable.
An application development environment for Netscape 6 and Mozilla browser applications.
Xul App is a programmer's tool for developing applications which run within the above browsers. Eventually, Xul App will provide a fully
featured environment to support all aspects of development and deployment of web applications.
Netscape's new browser.
Netscape has now released its new browser Netscape
6.0 which is based on the Mozilla open source browser. This new browser
has unparalleled functionality and near complete compliance with the latest
web standards issued by the World Wide Web Consortium.
Work on the Mozilla project is far from complete.
An initial "1.0" version will not be available until later this year. Netscape will update its browser from the Mozilla project on a periodic basis as new features become available.
The initial version of Xul App will not run under the current Netscape 6.1 version. This should be remedied in the near future with the next version of Netscape 6.
Xul
One of the features of the Mozilla browser is the
XUL definition language, based on the XML standard. Using this, and supporting
technologies, it is possible to develop desktop-like applications which run
within the browser. Indeed, Mozilla's own interface is completely specified
using XUL.
The following technologies work together to define
the application:
- XUL To define the widgets which comprise the
user interface.
- CSS Style sheets to define the presentation of
those widgets.
- Javascript to animate the interface.
- XBL to define new re-usable widgets.
Xul App
Xul App is an Interactive Development Environment
(IDE) for developing XUL applications. Naturally, it is written using XUL.
Eventually Xul App will be able to develop and deploy complete suites of
applications. The current version is for demonstration only and to elicit
comment from interested parties.
Functionality
A list of available and planned functionality can be found here.
Screen Shots
Screen shots of work in progress can be found here.
Availability
Xul App was scheduled for completion by Q4 of 2001. A bug in parsing XML documents stalled the project for the last 5 months.
That bug is now fixed - and development has resumed. Unfortunately, my time has now been committed to other things - I will devote what time I can to this project.
Mozilla is still work in progress and some things have yet to be implemented
before this project can be completed. The end date is now uncertain - we will add functions as Mozilla progress permits.
Download
A very preliminary beta version of Xul App is available
for download.
Licensing
Xul App will be an open source product covered by the Xul App public license 1.1.
This license is a copy of the Netscape 1.1 license applied to the Xul App product.
This license may viewed here: license
Pricing
Once complete, Xul App will be available free for personal use and at the nominal cost of $79.99 for business users. Given the interpreted nature of XUL and Javascript this
will have to be on the honor system. I hope that, without nagging, sufficient income will be collected to sustain this site and ongoing development.
No funds would be due until release 1.0 is delivered. My current policy is that upgrades and bug fixes to the basic product should be free.
Additional funds might be requested for significant additions to the product (An SVG editor, for example).
Feedback
All feedback on Xul App is welcome (bugs included). Please send your comments to pwilson@xulapp.org
References:
| Netscape 6.0 Browser home.netscape.com/browsers/6/ (Don't download this version to run Xul App - it is somewhat behind the Mozilla browser. Otherwise, it is fully functional.) |
| Mozilla Browser www.mozilla.org Get the latest version 0.9.5. At this time the nightly builds do not support the Venkman debugger. |
| World Wide Web Consortium www.w3.org |