Is it really true that there is no way to support an offline web application using IE8? I wonder how people/companies are getting around this problem (no IE8 support for HTML5 offline features) if they absolutely need to use an IE browser (not IE10) and need to use it when no net connectivity exists. I realize there are plenty of rich client solutions but am curious about any lightweight solutions whereby IE8 would access something like applicationCache. Apparently Google Gears is no longer a solution for this problem. Any other third party solution people would recommend?
Any suggestions would be helpful!
Thanks.
The only currently practical option is Chrome Frame, but this is almost equivalent to just installing a whole new browser.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the concept of offline web app, but we routinely use HTML Applications (HTA) to create web apps that operate client-side, accessing the file system and local data stores, and automating local apps.
Related
I am currently building an app using the Wordpress API and Framework7 that is solely intended for offline use. The offline app works perfectly in safari with local file restrictions disabled, however I understand a similar option is not available in IE or Chrome.
Unfortunately for me, the project is being developed exclusively for surface pro, so it has to work in IE.
This being the case, are there any alternative solutions in which I can quickly and smoothly serve the local files as a local server? Ideally avoiding the use of the command line and/or MAMP/XAMPP.
Found that tinyweb offered a solution that was almost perfect, however the local files were all 403 forbidden when loaded up.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
You can evaluate to encase your app in a Cordova app for Windows.
Or, if it suits your needs, a quick and dirty solution is pkg.
(I have a problem with Google Chrome improvements that will drop support for my current solutions.)
I work on project where I move desktop system to an Intranet web application.
The crucial requirements are:
to move desktop system to a web application
to reproduce every single functionality from the desktop system in the webapp
While 95% of work requires creating casual web application, there is one thing which is non-standard to handle: my application must perform some actions on the client computer. These includes:
connecting with libraries
launching desktop apps
file manipulation in background
The example scenario is to integrate my system with some machine in the lab. I have to integrate my web application with drivers on client computer via DLL (desktop app did this, so my app have to do this as well).
Theoretically scenarios of the desktop actions may vary and I just want to implement some interface that will handle all the "client-machine" job the desktop app has done, so there is no need to work on every single scenario (but of course every scenario should be tested).
My solution was Java Applet. It worked. But then Google Chrome decided to drop support for NPAPI plugins, so in September'15 Java plugin (and my applet) won't be supported (http://blog.chromium.org/2014/11/the-final-countdown-for-npapi.html).
So my another solution is Java Web Start. It works. But now Google Chrome decided to drop support for background operations of external protocols (https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=348640), so from Google Chrome 45 my Java Web Start solution won't be supported.
(Both above solutions work on Firefox and IE.)
The question:
What other technology can I use to interact with a client machine from my web app?
Other remarks:
I am reluctunt to write my own PPAPI plugin or Chrome Extension - I prefer one solution working on all major browsers.
I know that StackOverflow community does not like discussions about technologies, so please focus on describing possible solution to my problem.
We struggled with a similar problem as we need to connect/access electronic devices over JNI->DLL. The only technology where this is currently possible are applets. Period. (And even that is tricky since certain combinations of browsers/java versions/operating systems do not work or have problems, but this is another story...)
There are web technologies like HTLM5, JScript which can replace some functionalities of applets however in certain scenarios (like yours) there is no current alternative available - and you named some of those:
connecting with libraries like *.dll, *.so etc.
file manipulations
launching applications
And doing that across browsers and operating systems!
Solutions?
Tell your users that certain browsers can't be used (like Chrome and
Opera Next)
Write individual plugins for each browser (which probably is beyond your budget ;-)
Did you consider writing standalone application(s) in form of an executable file? The user must download and run it however e.g. java or plugins also need to be installed. But then there is the security aspect of that (downloading an and executing an executable file) - certainly not an easy decision
Have a look at FireBreath 2 - (just read about it in some posts, however didn't try it)
There are lots of discussions on SO to this topic so take a read:
alternative technologies to replace applets
applet alternative launch from browser
alternatives to java applet to launch microsoft office applications
alternative-java-applet-network-drive-access
what are the alternatives for java applet to launch client programs using chrome
alternative of npapi plugins for flash java applet
python alternative to java applet
npapi alternative for live file editing
... and many, many more!
We are trying to develop a web conferencing application using WebRTC. It's lack of support for IE browsers is really big pain point for us. Now we are trying to deploying a media server that can possibly do a http live streaming for non WebRTC browsers. We tried with Kurento Media Server, but unfortunately it doesn't go well with cloud. I'm clue less on how to proceed now. Can anyone help me with this regards.
P.s. Consider me as a rookie in WebRTC.
Priologic (easyRTC) just released an open source WebRTC plugin for IE.
HTTP Live Streaming has several seconds of delay. Not suitable for the real-time communication.
There are several alternative/complements that you can use in order to make videos work in IE.
First of all, please ask yourself if this is really needed. Are the people that will use your solution using IE ? If yes, could yo convince them to use a more decent another browser ?
If you really can't do that, then :
You could ask your users to install a plugin, like https://code.google.com/p/webrtc4all/
You could also use a fallback mechanism, like flash. Unfortunately, I don't know of any simple way to do that right now. You will probably have to build your solution from scratch. And the quality will probably suffer. EDIT : found this SO question, with a commercial Java applet.
Also see this SO question related to chrome frame and a google groups conversation
But really, I would just forget IE if I were you...
Does anyone know if the standard browser in Blackberry OS6 supports cache manifests and offline browsing? If so, would it be able to handle caching around 30 pages of data?
The reason is I need to make a call between developing a native app or a web app and this will be the deal breaker for the (quicker, easier) web app idea.
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
I think Opera Mini/Opera Mobile for BlackBerry supports this (not sure about the native browser, which is kind of a POS anyway).
Web apps for mobile devices tend to not be very good - they normally really don't compare to native apps, and this is especially so for BlackBerry. On the other hand, BB development is a big PITA, so perhaps a web app is the way to go.
Found this:
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/18169/Standards_support_in_60_browser_1120158_11.jsp
via #alex_gibson on twitter - looks like offline web apps should be okay.
Don't know if there's going to be any limitations with the amount of data you can cache for offline use but if the project goes ahead I'll write up any findings :)
I want to implement something like voip communication that client doesn't need to install additional application, they just open the webpage and talk to a server. Is there anyway to access the audio stream from client microphone via web browser ? I don't want additional plugin like applet that user have to install.
I think flash can do this, but is there anyway else ?
Thank you,
Voteforpedro
Your four main options are:
Flash
Silverlight
ActiveX
Unsecure browser settings (e.g. javascript calling EXEs)
All of the above will be subject to various security limitations or require some acceptance by the end-user. I'm not even certain that the browser calling out to EXEs is even possible any more so it should be avoided at all costs.
Installing an ActiveX control will limit you to IE on Windows, so should probably be avoided. The user would have to agree to installing the ActiveX anyway.
Both Flash and Silverlight are cross-platform (Flash more so than Silverlight) but also require the user to agree to access to the Microphone/Webcam - this is done by the framework, not something you can control/influence. Obviously, if the user does not have Flash or Silverlight installed, you'd need to prompt the user that they need to install it!
As stated by #Oded, there are serious security and privacy issues related to microphone's and webcams, so do not expect future browsers to make this easier for you (e.g. the new family of HTML5 browsers).
There is no standard, I think flash is your best bet.
AS 3.0 Accessing a microphone.
There is no standard that gives you access to the client machine microphone.
I can imagine there are security implication to giving a browser such access, so don't expect to see anything soon, not without some sort of plug-in.
Chrome 11+ supports access to the microphone. Visit this page (with Google Chrome) and click on "Speech" and try it out. This is using Sencha Ext/Touch which is an open library. This specific addon to Sencha Touch is also open source and released here.
Edit: To clarify, this is JavaScript only. The user doesn't need to approve anything. But, it only works in Chrome and it uses Google voice recognition.
Good luck!