BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

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Matthew G. Saroff
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BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

I have tried to make it as similar as possible to BBCodeXtra, which provides a context menu that automates many bbCode/vBulletin/MarkDown/HTML markup tags.

What is not done yet is the documentation and the localizations.

Also note that this is literally my first programming in JavaScript, so I have not yet been able to figure out how to generate a color wheel without generating a popup window warning, so font colors are relegated to a sub menu.

The menu structure is otherwise identical, though the custom tags and configuration is different because of the differences between XUL and Web Extensions.

Also, while similar, the syntax of custom tags is a bit different.

I have it up at GitHub, it's called bbCodeWebex.

You can check it out by using the temporary load option for FireFox using about:debugging.

Updates as they occur.

I would note that this is arguably the fugliest JavaScript ever created. I think that it may cause cancer.
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

I now have a tag on my blog for all posts relating to the software (http://40yrs.blogspot.com/search/label/bbCodeWebEx).

Right now, it is a brief description, and a screenshot of the the context menu in action:
Image
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

Just a quick note, here are installation instructions.

The easiest way is to download the XPI from Google Drive:

Installation Instructions

The file has not yet been installed in addons.mozilla.org, so you must do one of the following:
  • Download the zip file from GitHub, and rename from *.zip to *.xpi, and then load it from the about:debugging page by clicking on the page.
  • Download the zip file from GitHub, unzip it into a directory, and then then load it from the about:debugging page by clicking on the manifest.JSON file in that directory.
  • Download a privately signed file from Google Drive here (directory) or here (most recent version).
I should stress that this is still an alpha release, and there are at least a few things that need to be done before I submit it to AMO.

Again, feel free to check out the source code.
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mamba
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by mamba »

Well done. :smile:

How different is it to the BBCodeInsert you posted a while back, and which I am still using?

Edit: I've switched over to your addon and it's nicer. Thanks!
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by AmigoJack »

mamba wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:17 amit's nicer
Whoever reads this may be disappointed to not get actual details formulating the differences, just as you started to ask.
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

mamba wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:17 am Well done. :smile:

How different is it to the BBCodeInsert you posted a while back, and which I am still using?

Edit: I've switched over to your addon and it's nicer. Thanks!
It does not (yet) have search and replace on selected text, as BBCode Insert Does, but it does do the clipboard operations.

Also, I could not figure out a way to do the font color wheel (yet), so I created a sub menu there with colored icons:
Image

You can see my documentation here.

I have not gotten into documenting some of the funkier bits (incorporating popup into custom tags, and the ability to put new lines in them, for example), but it is in process.

I'm doing some testing, and I expect it to be submitted to AMO (addons.mozilla.org) shortly.
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by mamba »

Great effort. Kudos! 8-)

I use it many times a day
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

I just found out that I need to change the storage API.

I have been using the localStorage, and I should have been using the browser.storage API. (This is literally the first time that I have programmed in JavaScript, and the first time in 30 years that I have programmed in anything beyond shell scripts and VBE, sorry)

The former is cleared when a user clears their personal data, while the latter is not.

This will make no difference in how the program works, but people who have created custom tags may have to export and reimport custom tags. (looking at the code to detect and automatically fix)

A quick note: There are 3 types of browser.storage data, browser.storage.local, browser.storage.sync, and browser.storage.managed.

The last form is restricted so that only a domain manager can change the values, and so is completely unsuited to the extension, while local and sync can both be modified by the user.

The difference between the two is that sync would theoretically (still looking into it) mean that any changes made on one machine would sync across all machines in which the user is logged into a Firefox account.


Never mind. It turns out that sync is limited to 100K storage, while local has a 5M (or more) limit, so local it is.
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

Still debugging, but it looks like the shift from the localStorage API to the browser.storage API will be invisible to the end user.

It will be my next release, and hopefully this one will go to AMO. (Gotta pester the graphic artist working on the icons and logos, but he's my son, and I am his first paying gig, so it's cool.)
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

Next version, with the update storage, and conversion code up at GitHub.

Removed. Updating the API continues to break things.
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by forumace »

I hope you are successful, I will like to see this code working on the newer versions of FF.
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

I have just released what should be my final XPI that I will release on Github.

Basically, a bit of testing, and my son getting me the icons he's doing, and it goes into addons.mozilla.org.

It appears to be working OK.

When it hits AMO, I will announce on a new thread.

BTW, there is a support forum at http://www.stellarparthenon.org/bbcwbx/ up now.
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by 3Di »

The health warning though is scaring me. :geek: :lol:

Nice job BTW.
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Matthew G. Saroff
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by Matthew G. Saroff »

3Di wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:53 am The health warning though is scaring me. :geek: :lol:

Nice job BTW.
This is literally my first time coding Javascript, and my first time coding anything but Office Macros and shell scripting in 25 years, so the code is ugly, even by my standards, and I used to program APL.
¯ × ÷ ∘ ∣ ∼ ≠ ≤ ≥ ≬ ⌶ ⋆ ⌾ ⍟ ⌽ ⍉ ⍝ ⍦ ⍧ ⍪ ⍫ ⍬ ⍭ ← ↑ → ↓ ∆ ∇ ∧ ∨ ∩ ∪ ⌈ ⌊ ⊤ ⊥ ⊂ ⊃ ⌿
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BTW, there is a typo in the make list menu items (I hate case sEnSiTiViTy).

Will be fixed by the first AMO release.
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Re: BBCodeXtra Replacement for Quantum (FF 57+) In Alpha Release

Post by AmigoJack »

Matthew G. Saroff wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:39 pm(I hate case sEnSiTiViTy)
It's important - otherwise one couldn't tell office and windows apart from Office and Windows.
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