Upgrade Mozilla ActiveX Control - HERE'S HOWTO

[Karlis]

We have updated our download of Mozilla ActiveX control, now you can download the latest version from:
http://www.blumentals.net/download/mozilla.php

Current version - Mozilla AxtiveX Control 1.9.2 uses the same rendering engine as FireFox 3.6 and is the latest version of the control that can be obtained from Mozilla community today.

[Valdis]

XULRunner 5.0 has been released and can be downloaded from http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla ... /releases/

But there is no such file as MOZCTLX.DLL.

So, how to install XULRunner 5.0 for using with your WeBuilder?

I tried to use this commands for installation, but they also doesn't working:

Code: Select all

xulrunner --register-global
xulrunner --register-user

Please, can you help me?

[DaleyLife]

Find last mozilla active x control and delete it.
Download new one from http://www.blumentals.net/download/mozilla.php.
Make sure no other programms are running.
Click to install and follow instructions.
Open webuilder and firefox review should be updated

[Valdis]

Version on your link http://www.blumentals.net/download/mozilla.php is 1.9.2.14 and it doesn't work for me.
Last Version on http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla ... /releases/ is 1.9.2.19 also doesn't working.



Working version for me is only 1.9.1.19 and it"s too old.
I want to try newer versions: 2.0 or 5.0 but in this versions is not MOZCTLX.DLL file.

So, how to install XULRunner 5.0 for using with your WeBuilder?

[Gatis]

Hi,

So, how to install XULRunner 5.0 for using with your WeBuilder?

Sorry, I am not informed about the steps.
You will need to wait until we release an update.

[whamweb]

Sorry, I am not informed about the steps.
You will need to wait until we release an update.
Kind regards,
Gatis Avots

I'm unsure why Blumentals would design code that depends so much on MS IE ActiveX in the first place.

Search Google for "activex vulnerabilities", then after reading a few of the 1,580,000 results, consider whether you really want to install a plugin with a known vulnerability to Firefox just to be able to use the Gecko Firefox browser preview option. It's sad that the most current version of WeBuilder is incapable of using Firefox with the default installation.
Don't get me wrong, I still use WeBuilder for much of my code editing and have even created a few keyboard macros (using the Ergodex DX1) to circumvent WeBuilder's flaws.

Will I continue to use WeBuilder? Yes, until I find a better program that offers the same tools without the current limitations.
Why do I still use it? Because I like the fluidity of the layout and the (workable) tools that are offered.
Do I think a better job could be done with the core code? Yes, with the caveat that I'm sure I couldn't do a better job (that's why I pay money to buy programs).

M Wham
whamweb.com

[davenz]

While I agree with you in the respect it is well known that IE and its code base is a target for every phreak, hacker, script-kiddie and his lapdog as a way into Windows machines, using part of it to render local previews is hardly going to cause serious injury. I haven't seen anyone post here complaining they have been compromised or had their computer attacked or taken over by the use of the IE engine for previewing their own pages. Of course, if they code an exploit in WeBuilder and execute it and get burnt, well, it serves them right. From a stability point of view I am not aware it causes any more problems than the other controls the Blumentals team uses in its editors, so I see no reason to abandon it in favour of something else.

WeBuilder uses both Mozilla and IE controls to preview pages (if one choose the optional Mozilla control installation) and I find this feature very useful and a big selling point; the majority of editors I tried (and I've tried every one available for download) use solely IE for preview or in many cases nothing at all. Those that don't offer direct preview have a feature to preview using the default browser, or any another specified browser, which WeBuilder also has, so one doesn't have to use the built-in preview at all; they can just use the external browser preview. I find the 'live' preview extremely handy, though most hard core coders will likely think that lame and only for beginners like me.

Many people who aren't familiar with programming and software development always think making something from scratch is just a matter of cutting a few lines of code. If it was so easy to build a rendering engine from scratch, it would have been done and every HTML or PHP editor would have their own. The fact is that any 'new' rendering engine would have to display pages exactly the same way as IE and Firefox do (being the most used browsers) to be of any use to designers. There's no point it looking great in the editor if it doesn't in the target browser, so why bother reinventing the wheel when perfectly adequate controls are already available for use? Major league developers like Adobe probably have dozens of code-cutters working on the likes of Dreamweaver and it would take them months, if not years to create an up-to-scratch rendering engine; a small software house like Blumentals, (and I'm guessing here), might they have the skills to do it, but would have to put all their resources (not to mention capital) into such a project and I don't think the results would justify the time and money involved when IE and FF controls are freely available and do the job.

My apologies for the mini-rant; I mean no disrespect and as usual this is just one man's opinion.

[davenz]

I have been doing some playing around with this activeX control thing and there must be a way to incorporate the latest Firefox or even Safari engines into WB. People have been doing similar work to the XULRunner project and by the sounds of have created some (for programmers) easier to implement controls. I'm not sure how up-to-date (or behind the eight ball) they are, as much work has been abandoned over the past few years, like the original Mozilla Control, but odd groups here and there have picked up the projects and seem to be doing something about it.

I was checking out the following sites:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2614 ... -a-webview

http://code.google.com/p/geckofx/

http://huseyincakir.wordpress.com/2010/ ... -winforms/

http://www.webkit.org/

http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla ... /releases/

I also began mucking around with the installed Mozilla control. After noting the version of the mozctlx.dll file included, which is the file that drives the whole shebang as far as I can tell (not being a programmer's armpit I am just firing wild here in the hope someone with some programming nous (perhaps even the developers of WeBuilder) could maybe run with the ball), I set about finding later versions

I downloaded all the builds and zips and rars that I could find referenced in those and other sites and the latest version of the control I could find was 1.9.2.20 (modified 3/08/2011) which is bundled in the xulrunner-3.6.20.en-US.win32.zip downloaded from the last link above. I copied this into the mozilla activex directory, replacing the one already there. When firing up WeBuilder and switching to Mozilla preview, an error complained the file Mozcpp19.dll was not found; no problem, it is in the same XULRunner zip as the mozctlx.dll so I duly copied that over and opened WB again. Preview works fine now. I don't know what I accomplished after hour's of playing around but if there are any further updated versions of the control floating around out there, doing the same thing should potentially work fine.

Ideally it would be great if someone has created a version 5 control, but if they have, they are being very quiet about it. Perhaps if no one has, it would be better to incorporate or have the option to also install and use the Webkit/Safari-based alternate preview - from what people are saying it is much cleaner, more stable and very easy to implement, with much of the hard-yards already done. I know this is a lot of extra work for Karlis, Gatis, Aivars and the rest of the Blumentals lads, but I think this would go a long way to resolving the stability and sluggishness issues people are having with the latest version of WB.

Just my 2 cents in the pot.

Cheers.

[FrankC]

Hey Dave,

I hadn't seen this thread before, but I now see that one doesn't have to put up with FF 1.7, as WB default deploys. But I'm kinda lost now with all the different instructions that this thread contains. Could you give me the step-by-step working method to get an as recent version as possible of FF incorporated? I am using WB 2011, which is my first WB, and have FF 4 installed as normal-use browser. My OS is Vista.

Thanks a million!

[davenz]

Hi Frank

I don't know about any of the other methods or workarounds mentioned here, I only know what I did to get my preview going; mileage may differ on other machines.

The first thing you do have to do is download and install the latest Blumentals-recommended Mozilla control from the link in Karlis's post at the top of this page (dated March 31 this year). To save you the hassle of finding it, here's the link.

http://www.blumentals.net/download/mozilla.php

Once you have that, install it into the same directory you already installed the old one into (presuming you have installed it previously). Remember the installation directory though as we are going back there soon.

Once installed, check that it all works as expected by opening WeBuilder and selecting the Mozilla preview. All good? Good, close WeBuilder.

Copy the entire Mozilla control installation directory to a safe place in case we have to replace the one you are about to alter.

Download the XULRunner runtimes version 3.6.20 from the last link in my previous large post:

http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla ... .win32.zip

Unzip or open in your archiver software (I use WinRAR4) then browse for and extract the following files into your Mozilla control installation directory:

Mozctlx.dll - overwrite existing file

Mozcpp19.dll (no overwrite necessary as this file does not natively exist in that folder)

Open Webuilder and check the preview works - hopefully it does and you're all done. Like I said though, I don't know what benefits this will give, if any at all. I figure it can't be worse than the other (older) versions

I have also just noticed that the replicable crash I experienced with previewing flash objects in WeBuilder/Mozilla preview mode as mentioned elsewhere in the forums does not happen now; I will perform this "upgrade" on my work computer and see if that is the case there and report back.

Good luck.

[FrankC]

It works! I gotta get some sleep now but will be back tomorrow evening, reporting back how easy it was.

[davenz]

Excellent Frank

Cheers

[FrankC]

This is how easy it was. I appeared I already had a Mozilla ActiveX 1.7 (FF 1.7) directory under C:\Program Files. I had installed it when another code editor asked for it for its Gecko preview. I renamed that AAAActiveX and closed WB. Next, I downloaded the latest ActiveX from http://www.blumentals.net/download/mozilla.php because I felt like gambling... . I had Winzip unpack it in C:\Program Files and that was it! No XULRunner file necessary, and WB's internal FF preview now uses the FF 3.5 engine! Which I find great, because 3.5 renders without basic errors (1.7 had a few), is all standards-compliant, and supports @font-face (3.0 didn't), -moz-border-radius and -moz-box-shadow (3.0 didn't)!

I am really getting excited now about WB!