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Issue 10832042: Extensions Docs Server: Doc conversion script (Closed) Base URL: svn://svn.chromium.org/chrome/trunk/src
Patch Set: fix comment in converter.py Created 8 years, 4 months ago
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1 <h1 class="page_title">Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
2 <p>
3 If you don't find an answer to your question here,
4 try the
5 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/webstore/faq.html">Chrome Web Store FAQ</ a>, the
6 <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/google-chrome-extension">[goo gle-chrome-extension] tag on Stack Overflow</a>, the
7 <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions">grou p</a>, or the
8 <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome_webstore/">store help</a>.
9 </p>
10 <div id="faq-TOC">
11 <h4>General</h4>
12 <ul>
13 <li><a href="#faq-gen-01">What are Google Chrome Extensions?</a></li>
14 <li><a href="#faq-dev-01">How can I set up Chrome for extension development? </a></li>
15 <li><a href="#faq-gen-02">What technologies are used to write extensions for Chrome?</a></li>
16 <li><a href="#faq-gen-03">Are extensions fetched from the web every time the browser is loaded?</a></li>
17 <li><a href="#faq-dev-14">How do I determine which version of Chrome is depl oyed to which channel?</a></li>
18 </ul>
19 <h4>Capabilities</h4>
20 <ul>
21 <li><a href="#faq-dev-02">Can extensions make cross-domain Ajax requests?</a ></li>
22 <li><a href="#faq-dev-03">Can extensions use 3rd party web services?</a></li >
23 <li><a href="#faq-dev-07">Can extensions encode/decode JSON data?</a></li>
24 <li><a href="#faq-dev-08">Can extensions store data locally?</a></li>
25 <li><a href="#faq-dev-04">Can extensions use OAuth?</a></li>
26 <li><a href="#faq-dev-06">Can extensions load DLLs?</a></li>
27 <li><a href="#faq-dev-05">Can extensions create UI outside of the rendered w eb page?</a></li>
28 <li><a href="#faq-interact-chrome">Can extensions listen to clicks on Chrome tabs and navigation buttons?</a>
29 <li><a href="#faq-dev-11">Can two extensions communicate with each other?</a ></li>
30 <li><a href="#faq-dev-13">Can extensions use Google Analytics?</a></li>
31 <li><a href="#faq-dev-15">Can extensions modify chrome:// URLs?</a></li>
32 <li><a href="#faq-open-popups">Can extensions open browser/page action popup s without user interaction?</a></li>
33 <li><a href="#faq-persist-popups">Can extensions keep popups open after the user clicks away from them?</a></li>
34 <li><a href="#faq-lifecycle-events">Can extensions be notified when they are installed/uninstalled?</a></li>
35 </ul>
36 <h4>Development</h4>
37 <ul>
38 <li><a href="#faq-building-ui">How do I build a UI for my extension?</a>
39 <li><a href="#faq-dev-09">How much data can I store in localStorage?</a></li >
40 <li><a href="#faq-dev-10">How do I create an options menu for my application ?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#faq-dev-12">What debugging tools are available to extension de velopers?</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#faq-dev-16">Why do wildcard matches not work for top level dom ains (TLDs)?</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#faq-management">Why does the management API not fire events wh en my extension is installed/uninstalled?</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#faq-firstrun">How can an extension determine whether it is run ning for the first time?</a></li>
45 </ul>
46 <h4>Features and bugs</h4>
47 <ul>
48 <li><a href="#faq-fea-01">I think I've found a bug! How do I make sure it ge ts fixed?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#faq-fea-02">I have a feature request! How can I report it?</a> </li>
50 </ul>
51 </div>
52 <h2>General</h2>
53 <h3 id="faq-gen-01">What are Google Chrome Extensions?</h3>
54 <p>
55 Google Chrome Extensions are applications that run inside the
56 Chrome browser and provide additional functionality, integration with third
57 party websites or services, and customized browsing experiences.
58 </p>
59 <h3 id="faq-dev-01">How can I set up Chrome for extension development?</h3>
60 <p>
61 As long as you are using a version of Chrome that supports
62 extensions, you already have everything you need to start writing an
63 extension of your own.
64 You can start by turning on Developer mode.
65 </p>
66 <p>
67 Click the wrench icon
68 <img src="{{static}}/images/toolsmenu.gif" height="29" width="29" alt=""
69 class="nomargin" />
70 and select <b>Extensions</b> from the <b>Tools</b> menu.
71 If there's a "+" next to "Developer mode",
72 click the "+" so it turns into a "-".
73 Now you can reload extensions,
74 load an unpacked directory of files as if it were a packaged extension,
75 and more. For a complete tutorial, see
76 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/getstarted.html">Getting Sta rted</a>.
77 </p>
78 <h3 id="faq-gen-02">What technologies are used to write extensions for Chrome?</ h3>
79 <p>
80 Extensions are written using the same standard web
81 technologies that developers use to create websites. HTML is used as a
82 content markup language, CSS is used for styling, and JavaScript for
83 scripting. Because Chrome supports HTML5 and CSS3, developers can
84 use the latest open web technologies such as canvas and CSS animations in
85 their extensions. Extensions also have access to several
86 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/api_other.html">JavaScript A PIs</a>
87 that help perform functions like JSON encoding and interacting with the
88 browser.
89 </p>
90 <h3 id="faq-gen-03">Are extensions fetched from the web every time the browser i s loaded?</h3>
91 <p>
92 Extensions are downloaded by the Chrome browser upon install, and
93 are subsequently run off of the local disk in order to speed up
94 performance. However, if a new version of the extension is pushed online,
95 it will be automatically downloaded in the background to any users who
96 have the extension installed. Extensions may also make requests for remote
97 content at any time, in order to interact with a web service or pull new
98 content from the web.
99 </p>
100 <h3 id="faq-dev-14">How do I determine which version of Chrome is deployed to wh ich channel?</h3>
101 <p>
102 To determine which version of Chrome is currently available on each
103 of the different platforms, visit
104 <a href="http://omahaproxy.appspot.com">omahaproxy.appspot.com</a>. On that
105 site you will see data in a format similar to:
106 </p>
107 <pre>cf,dev,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
108 cf,beta,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
109 cf,stable,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
110 linux,dev,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
111 linux,beta,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
112 linux,stable,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
113 mac,dev,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
114 mac,beta,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
115 mac,stable,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
116 win,canary,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
117 win,dev,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
118 win,beta,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
119 win,stable,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
120 cros,dev,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####
121 cros,beta,#.#.###.#,#.#.###.#,mm/dd/yy,mm/dd/yy,#####,#####,#####</pre>
122 <p>
123 Each line represents information about a different platform and channel
124 combination. The
125 listed platforms are <code>cf</code> (Google Chrome Frame),
126 <code>linux</code>, <code>mac</code>, <code>win</code>, and
127 <code>cros</code> (Google Chrome OS). The listed
128 channels are <code>canary</code>, <code>dev</code>, <code>beta</code>,
129 and <code>stable</code>.
130 The two four-part numbers after the channel represent the current and previous
131 versions of Chrome deployed to that platform-channel
132 combination. The rest of the information is metadata about when the releases
133 were first pushed, as well as revision numbers associated with each build.
134 </p>
135 <h2>Capabilities</h2>
136 <h3 id="faq-dev-02">Can extensions make cross-domain Ajax requests?</h3>
137 <p>
138 Yes. Extensions can make cross-domain requests. See
139 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/xhr.html">this page</a>
140 for more information.
141 </p>
142 <h3 id="faq-dev-03">Can extensions use 3rd party web services?</h3>
143 <p>
144 Yes. Extensions are capable of making cross-domain Ajax
145 requests, so they can call remote APIs directly. APIs that provide data
146 in JSON format are particularly easy to use.
147 </p>
148 <h3 id="faq-dev-07">Can extensions encode/decode JSON data?</h3>
149 <p>
150 Yes, because V8 (Chrome's JavaScript engine) supports
151 JSON.stringify and JSON.parse natively, you may use these functions in your
152 extensions
153 <a href="http://json.org/js.html">as described here</a> without including
154 any additional JSON libraries in your code.
155 </p>
156 <h3 id="faq-dev-08">Can extensions store data locally?</h3>
157 <p>
158 Yes, extensions can use <a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/webstorage/">localSto rage</a>
159 to store string data permanently. Using Chrome's built-in JSON
160 functions, you can store complex data structures in localStorage. For
161 extensions that need to execute SQL queries on their stored data,
162 Chrome implements
163 <a href="http://dev.w3.org/html5/webdatabase/">client side SQL databases</a>,
164 which may be used as well.
165 </p>
166 <h3 id="faq-dev-04">Can extensions use OAuth?</h3>
167 <p>
168 Yes, there are extensions that use OAuth to access remote data
169 APIs. Most developers find it convenient to use a
170 <a href="http://unitedheroes.net/OAuthSimple/js/OAuthSimple.js">JavaScript OAu th library</a>
171 in order to simplify the process of signing OAuth requests.
172 </p>
173 <h3 id="faq-dev-06">Can extensions load DLLs?</h3>
174 <p>
175 Yes, using the <a href="npapi.html">NPAPI interface</a>.
176 Because of the possibility for abuse, though, we will review your extension
177 before hosting it in the Chrome Web Store.
178 </p>
179 <h3 id="faq-dev-05">Can extensions create UI outside of the rendered web page?</ h3>
180 <p>
181 Yes, your extension may add buttons to the Chrome browser's user interface.
182 See <a href="browserAction.html">browser actions</a> and
183 <a href="pageAction.html">page actions</a> for more information.
184 </p>
185 <p>
186 An extension may also create popup notifications, which exist outside of the
187 browser window. See the <a href="notifications.html">desktop
188 notifications</a> documentation for more details.
189 </p>
190 <h3 id="faq-interact-chrome">Can extensions listen to clicks on Chrome tabs and
191 navigation buttons?</h3>
192 <p>
193 No. Extensions are limited to listening to the events described in the <a
194 href="api_index.html">API documentation</a>.
195 </p>
196 <h3 id="faq-dev-11">Can two extensions communicate with each other?</h3>
197 <p>
198 Yes, extensions may pass messages to other extensions. See the
199 <a href="messaging.html#external">message passing documentation</a>
200 for more information.
201 </p>
202 <h3 id="faq-dev-13">Can extensions use Google Analytics?</h3>
203 <p>
204 Yes, since extensions are built just like websites, they can use
205 <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a> to track
206 usage. However, we strongly advise you to modify the tracking code to pull
207 an HTTPS version of the Google Analytics library. See
208 <a href="tut_analytics.html">this tutorial</a> for more information on doing
209 this.
210 </p>
211 <h3 id="faq-dev-15">Can extensions modify chrome:// URLs?</h3>
212 <p>
213 No. The extensions APIs have been designed to minimize backwards
214 compatibility issues that can arise when new versions of the browser are
215 pushed. Allowing content scripts on <code>chrome://</code>
216 URLs would mean that developers would begin to rely on the DOM, CSS, and
217 JavaScript of these pages to stay the same. In the best case, these pages
218 could not be updated as quickly as they are being updated right now.
219 In the worst case, it could mean that an update to one
220 of these pages could cause an extension to break, causing key parts of the
221 browser to stop working for users of that extension.
222 </p>
223 <p>
224 The reason that <a href="override.html">replacing the content</a>
225 hosted at these URLs entirely is
226 allowed is because it forces an extension developer to implement all of the
227 functionality they want without depending on the browser's internal implementa tion
228 to stay the same.
229 </p>
230 <h3 id="faq-open-popups">Can extensions open browser/page action popups without
231 user interaction?</h3>
232 <p>
233 No, popups can only be opened if the user clicks on the corresponding page or
234 browser action. An extension cannot open its popup programatically.
235 </p>
236 <h3 id="faq-persist-popups">Can extensions keep popups open after the user
237 clicks away from them?</h3>
238 <p>
239 No, popups automatically close when the user focuses on some portion of the
240 browser outside of the popup. There is no way to keep the popup open after
241 the user has clicked away.
242 </p>
243 <h3 id="faq-lifecycle-events">Can extensions be notified when they are
244 installed/uninstalled?</h3>
245 <p>
246 No, there are no events an extension can listen to in order to determine
247 whether it has been installed or uninstalled. However, an extension can
248 determine when it has been run for the first time. See <a
249 href="#faq-firstrun">this FAQ entry</a> for information.
250 </p>
251 <h2>Development</h2>
252 <h3 id="faq-building-ui">How do I build a UI for my extension?</h3>
253 <p>
254 Extensions use HTML and CSS to define their user interfaces, so you can use
255 standard form controls to build your UI, or style the interface with CSS,
256 as you would a web page. Additionally, extensions can add
257 <a href="#faq-dev-05">some limited UI elements to Chrome itself.</a>
258 </p>
259 <h3 id="faq-dev-09">How much data can I store in localStorage?</h3>
260 <p>
261 Extensions can store up to 5MB of data in localStorage.
262 </p>
263 <h3 id="faq-dev-10">How do I create an options menu for my application?</h3>
264 <p>
265 You can let users set options for your extension by creating an
266 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/trunk/options.html">options page</a>,
267 which is a simple HTML page that will be loaded when a user clicks the
268 "options" button for your extension. This page can read and write settings
269 to localStorage, or even send options to a web server so that they can be
270 persisted across browsers.
271 </p>
272 <h3 id="faq-dev-12">What debugging tools are available to extension developers?< /h3>
273 <p>
274 Chrome's built-in developer tools can be used to debug extensions
275 as well as web pages. See this
276 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/tut_debugging.html ">tutoria l on debugging extensions</a>
277 for more information.
278 </p>
279 <h3 id="faq-dev-16">Why do wildcard matches not work for top level domains
280 (TLDs)?</h3>
281 <p>
282 You cannot use wildcard match patterns like <code>http://google.*/*</code>
283 to match TLDs (like <code>http://google.es</code> and
284 <code>http://google.fr</code>) due to the
285 complexity of actually restricting such a match to only the desired domains.
286 </p>
287 <p>
288 For the example of <code>http://google.*/*</code>, the Google domains would
289 be matched, but so would <code>http://google.someotherdomain.com</code>.
290 Additionally, many sites do not own all of the TLDs for their
291 domain. For an example, assume you want to use
292 <code>http://example.*/*</code> to match <code>http://example.com</code> and
293 <code>http://example.es</code>, but <code>http://example.net</code> is a
294 hostile site. If your extension has a bug, the hostile site could potentially
295 attack your extension in order to get access to your extension's increased
296 privileges.
297 </p>
298 <p>
299 You should explicitly enumerate the TLDs that you wish to run
300 your extension on.
301 </p>
302 <h3 id="faq-management">Why does the management API not fire events when my
303 extension is installed/uninstalled?</h3>
304 <p>
305 The <a href="management.html">management API</a> was intended to help create
306 new tab page replacement extensions. It was not intended to fire
307 install/uninstall events for the current extension.
308 </p>
309 <h3 id="faq-firstrun">How can an extension determine whether it is running for
310 the first time?</h3>
311 <p>
312 An extension can check to see whether it is running for the first time by
313 checking for the presence of a value in localStorage, and writing the value if
314 it does not exist. For example:
315 </p>
316 <pre>var firstRun = (localStorage['firstRun'] == 'true');
317 if (!firstRun) {
318 localStorage['firstRun'] = 'true';
319 }</pre>
320 <p>
321 Note that this check should be run in a background page, not a content script.
322 </p>
323 <h2>Features and bugs</h2>
324 <h3 id="faq-fea-01">I think I've found a bug! How do I make sure it gets
325 fixed?</h3>
326 <p>
327 While developing an extension, you may find behavior that does not
328 match the extensions documentation and may be the result of a bug in
329 Chrome. The best thing to do is to make sure an appropriate issue
330 report is filed, and the Chromium team has enough information to reproduce
331 the behavior.
332 </p>
333 <p>The steps you should follow to ensure this are:</p>
334 <ol>
335 <li>
336 Come up with a <em>minimal</em> test extension that demonstrates the issue
337 you wish to report. This extension should have as little code as possible
338 to demonstrate the bug&mdash;generally this should be 100 lines of
339 code or less. Many times, developers find that they cannot reproduce their
340 issues this way, which is a good indicator that the bug is in their own
341 code.
342 </li>
343 <li>
344 Search the issue tracker at
345 <a href="http://www.crbug.com">http://www.crbug.com</a> to see whether
346 someone has reported a similar issue. Most issues related to
347 extensions are filed under <strong>Feature=Extensions</strong>, so to
348 look for an extension bug related to the
349 chrome.tabs.executeScript function (for example), search for
350 "<code>Feature=Extensions Type=Bug chrome.tabs.executeScript</code>",
351 which will give you
352 <a href="http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list?can=2&q=Feature%3DExt ensions+Type%3DBug+chrome.tabs.executeScript&colspec=ID+Stars+Pri+Area+Feature+T ype+Status+Summary+Modified+Owner+Mstone+OS&x=mstone&y=area&cells=tiles">
353 this list of results</a>.
354 </li>
355 <li>
356 If you find a bug that describes your issue, click the star icon to be
357 notified when the bug receives an update. <em>Do not respond to the
358 bug to say "me too" or ask "when will this be fixed?"</em>; such updates
359 can cause hundreds of emails to be sent. Add a comment only if you have
360 information (such as a better test case or a suggested fix) that is likely
361 to be helpful.
362 </li>
363 <li>
364 If you found no appropriate bug to star, file a new issue report at
365 <a href="http://new.crbug.com">http://new.crbug.com</a>. Be as explicit
366 as possible when filling out this form: choose a descriptive title,
367 explain the steps to reproduce the bug, and describe the expected and
368 actual behavior. Attach your test example to the report and add
369 screenshots if appropriate. The easier your report makes it for others
370 to reproduce your issue, the greater chance that your bug will be fixed
371 promptly.
372 </li>
373 <li>
374 Wait for the bug to be updated. Most new bugs are triaged within a week,
375 although it can sometimes take longer for an update. <em>Do not reply
376 to the bug to ask when the issue will be fixed.</em> If your bug has not
377 been modified after two weeks, please post a message to the
378 <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions/t opics">
379 discussion group</a> with a link back to your bug.
380 </li>
381 <li>
382 If you originally reported your bug on the discussion group and were
383 directed to this FAQ entry, reply to your original thread with a link
384 to the bug you starred or reported. This will make it easier for others
385 experiencing the same issue to find the correct bug.
386 </li>
387 </ol>
388 <h3 id="faq-fea-02">I have a feature request! How can I report it?</h3>
389 <p>If you identify a feature (especially if it's related to an experimental
390 API) that could be added to improve the extension development experience,
391 make sure an appropriate request is filed in the issue tracker.</p>
392 <p>The steps you should follow to ensure this are:</p>
393 <ol>
394 <li>
395 Search the issue tracker at
396 <a href="http://www.crbug.com">http://www.crbug.com</a> to see whether
397 someone has requested a similar feature. Most requests related to
398 extensions are filed under <strong>Feature=Extensions</strong>, so to
399 look for an extension feature request related to keyboard shortcuts
400 (for example), search
401 for "<code>Feature=Extensions Type=Feature shortcuts</code>",
402 which will give you
403 <a href="http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list?can=2&q=Feature%3DExt ensions+Type%3DFeature+shortcuts&colspec=ID+Stars+Pri+Area+Feature+Type+Status+S ummary+Modified+Owner+Mstone+OS&x=mstone&y=area&cells=tiles">
404 this list of results</a>.
405 </li>
406 <li>
407 If you find a ticket that matches your request, click the star icon to be
408 notified when the bug receives an update. <em>Do not respond to the
409 bug to say "me too" or ask "when will this be implemented?"</em>; such
410 updates can cause hundreds of emails to be sent.
411 </li>
412 <li>
413 If you found no appropriate ticket to star, file a new request at
414 <a href="http://new.crbug.com">http://new.crbug.com</a>. Be as detailed
415 as possible when filling out this form: choose a descriptive title
416 and explain exactly what feature you would like and how you plan to use it.
417 </li>
418 <li>
419 Wait for the ticket to be updated. Most new requests are triaged within a
420 week, although it can sometimes take longer for an update. <em>Do not reply
421 to the ticket to ask when the feature will be added.</em> If your
422 ticket has not been modified after two weeks, please post a message to the
423 <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions/t opics">
424 discussion group</a> with a link back to your request.
425 </li>
426 <li>
427 If you originally reported your request on the discussion group and were
428 directed to this FAQ entry, reply to your original thread with a link
429 to the ticket you starred or opened. This will make it easier for others
430 with the same request to find the correct ticket.
431 </li>
432 </ol>
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