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| 1 <!DOCTYPE html><!-- This page is a placeholder for generated extensions api doc.
Note: 1) The <head> information in this page is significant, should be uniform
across api docs and should be edited only with knowledge of the templating mecha
nism. 2) The <body> tag *must* retain id="body" 3) All <body>.innerHTML is gener
eated as an rendering step. If viewed in a browser, it will be re-generated from
the template, json schema and authored overview content. 4) The <body>.innerHTM
L is also generated by an offline step so that this page may easily be indexed b
y search engines. TODO(rafaelw): Abstract this into a "pageshell" that becomes t
he single version of page template shell and the "instance" pages (bookmarks.htm
l, etc...) can be generated with a build step. --><!-- <html> must retain id="te
mplate --><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" jstcache="0"><!-- <head> da
ta is significant and loads the needed libraries and styles --><head jstcache="0
"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" jstcache="
0"> <title jscontent="getPageTitle()" jstcache="1">Overview</title> <link href="
css/ApiRefStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" jstcache="0"> <script typ
e="text/javascript" src="../../../third_party/jstemplate/jstemplate_compiled.js"
jstcache="0"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/api_page_generat
or.js" jstcache="0"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/bootstrap.j
s" jstcache="0"></script> </head><!-- <body> content is completely generated. Do
not edit, as it will be and rewritten. --><body jstcache="0"> <div id="containe
r" jstcache="0"> <a name="top" jstcache="0"> </a> <!-- API HEADER --> <div id="p
ageHeader" jstcache="0"> <div id="searchbox" jstcache="0"> <form action="http://
www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box" jstcache="0"> <div jstcache="0"> <input
type="hidden" name="cx" value="002967670403910741006:61_cvzfqtno" jstcache="0">
<input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8" jstcache="0"> <input type="text" na
me="q" size="31" jstcache="0"> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" jst
cache="0"> </div> </form> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.
com/jsapi" jstcache="0"></script> <script type="text/javascript" jstcache="0">go
ogle.load("elements", "1", {packages: "transliteration"});</script> <script type
="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/t13n?form=cse-search-box&
amp;t13n_langs=en" jstcache="0"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="ht
tp://www.google.com/coop/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box&lang=en" jstcache="0"
></script> </div> <div id="pageTitle" jstcache="0"> <h1 jscontent="getPageTitle(
)" jstcache="1">Overview</h1> </div> </div> <!-- /pageHeader --> <div id="pageCo
ntent" jstcache="0"> <!-- SIDENAV --> <div id="leftNav" jstcache="0"> <ul jstcac
he="0"> <li jstcache="0"> <a href="index.html" jstcache="0">Home</a></li> <li js
tcache="0"> <a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Started</a></li> <li
jstcache="0" class="leftNavSelected">Overview </li> <li jstcache="0"> <a href="d
evguide.html" jstcache="0"><div jstcache="0">Developer's Guide</div></a> <ul jst
cache="0"> <li jstcache="0"><a href="toolstrip.html" jstcache="0">Toolstrips</a>
</li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="pageActions.html" jstcache="0">Page Actions</a><
/li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="background_pages.html" jstcache="0">Background Pa
ges</a></li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">Conten
t Scripts</a></li> <li jstcache="0">Events</li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="tabs.h
tml" jstcache="0">Tabs</a></li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="windows.html" jstcache
="0">Windows</a></li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="bookmarks.html" jstcache="0">Boo
kmarks</a></li> <li jstcache="0">Themes</li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="npapi.htm
l" jstcache="0">NPAPI Plugins</a></li> <li jstcache="0"><a href="packaging.html"
jstcache="0">Packaging</a></li> <li jstcache="0">Autoupdate</li> </ul> </li> <l
i jstcache="0"><a href="tutorials.html" jstcache="0"><div jstcache="0">Tutorials
</div></a> <ul jstcache="0"> <li jstcache="0"><a href="tut_debugging.html" jstca
che="0">Debugging</a></li> </ul> </li> <li jstcache="0">Reference <ul jstcache="
0"> <li jstcache="0"> Formats <ul jstcache="0"> <li jstcache="0"><a href="manife
st.html" jstcache="0">Manifest Files</a></li> <li jstcache="0">Match Patterns</l
i> <li jstcache="0">Packages (.crx)</li> </ul> </li> <li jstcache="0"> <a href="
api_index.html" jstcache="0">chrome.* APIs</a> </li> <li jstcache="0"> <a href="
api_other.html" jstcache="0">Other APIs</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li jstcache="0"><
a href="http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/extensions/samples"
jstcache="0">Samples</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="mainColumn" jstcache="0"> <!
-- TABLE OF CONTENTS --> <div id="toc" jsdisplay="showPageTOC()" jstcache="2"> <
p jstcache="0">Contents</p> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstc
ache="9" jsinstance="0"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcach
e="14" href="#H2-0">The basics</a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="$this.childre
n" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*0" style="display: none; "> <a jscontent="name" js
values=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li jsselect
="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="1"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".hr
ef:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H2-1">Files</a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jssele
ct="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="0"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues="
.href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H3-2">Referring to files</a> </li><li jss
elect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*1"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalu
es=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H3-3">The manifest file</a> </li> </o
l> </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="2"> <a jscontent=
"name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H2-4">Architecture</a> <
ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="0"> <a
jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H3-5">The back
ground page</a> </li><li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*1"
> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href="#H3-6">Con
tent scripts</a> </li> </ol> </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsi
nstance="3"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href=
"#H2-7">Communication </a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="$this.children" jstca
che="22" jsinstance="*0" style="display: none; "> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues="
.href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li jsselect="getSta
ticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="*4"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#'
+ href" jstcache="14" href="#H2-8"> Summary </a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect=
"$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*0" style="display: none; "> <a jscon
tent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </l
i> <div jsselect="apiDefinition" jstcache="3" style="display: none; "> <li jstca
che="0"> <a href="#apiReference" jscontent="'API reference: ' + getModuleName()"
jstcache="4">API reference</a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsdisplay="$this.propertie
s" jstcache="5"> <a href="#properties" jstcache="0">Properties</a> <ol jstcache=
"0"> <li jsselect="getPropertyListFromObject($this)" jstcache="10"> <a jscontent
="name" jsvalues=".href:'#property-' + name" href="#property-anchor" jstcache="4
1">propertyName</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li jsdisplay="functions && functi
ons.length > 0" jstcache="6"> <a href="#methods" jstcache="0">Methods</a> <ol
jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="functions" jstcache="11"> <a jscontent="name" jsval
ues=".href:'#method-' + name" href="#method-anchor" jstcache="42">methodName</a>
</li> </ol> </li> <li jsdisplay="events && events.length > 0" jstcac
he="7"> <a href="#events" jstcache="0">Events</a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect
="events" jstcache="12"> <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#event-' + name" h
ref="#event-anchor" jstcache="43">eventName</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li jsdisplay=
"types && types.length > 0" jstcache="8"> <a href="#types" jstcache="
0">Types</a> <ol jstcache="0"> <li jsselect="types" jstcache="13"> <a jscontent=
"id" jsvalues=".href:'#type-' + id" href="#id-anchor" jstcache="44">id</a> </li>
</ol> </li> </ol> </li> </div> </ol> </div> <!-- /TABLE OF CONTENTS --> <!-- ST
ATIC CONTENT PLACEHOLDER --> <div id="static" jstcache="0"><div id="pageData-tit
le" class="pageData" jstcache="0">Overview</div> <div id="pageData-showTOC" clas
s="pageData" jstcache="0">true</div> <p jstcache="0"> Please read this page; it
has vital information about the extension architecture. If you get bored or rest
less, take a break! We suggest bouncing between this page and tutorials such as
<a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Started</a> and <a href="tut_debu
gging.html" jstcache="0">Debugging</a>. </p> <a name="H2-0" jstcache="0"></a><h2
id="what" jstcache="0">The basics</h2> <p jstcache="0"> An extension is a zippe
d bundle of files — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and anything else you need —
that adds functionality to the Google Chrome browser. Because an extension is ju
st a special kind of web page, it can use all the APIs that the browser provides
to web pages and apps, from XMLHttpRequest to JSON to localStorage. </p> <p jst
cache="0"> Extensions can add UI to Google Chrome, in the form of <a href="tools
trip.html" jstcache="0">toolstrips</a> (toolbar additions) and <a href="pageActi
ons.html" jstcache="0">page actions</a> (clickable badges in the address bar). E
xtensions can also interact programmatically with browser features such as <a hr
ef="bookmarks.html" jstcache="0">bookmarks</a> and <a href="tabs.html" jstcache=
"0">tabs</a>. </p> <p jstcache="0"> To find a complete list of extension feature
s, with implementation details for each one, see the <a href="devguide.html" jst
cache="0">Developer's Guide</a>. </p> <a name="H2-1" jstcache="0"></a><h2 id="fi
les" jstcache="0">Files</h2> <p jstcache="0"> Each extension has the following f
iles: <!-- PENDING: This could use a picture --> </p> <ul jstcache="0"> <li jstc
ache="0">A <b jstcache="0">manifest file</b></li> <li jstcache="0">One or more <
b jstcache="0">HTML files</b> (unless the extension is a theme)</li> <li jstcach
e="0"><em jstcache="0">Optional:</em> One or more <b jstcache="0">JavaScript fil
es</b></li> <li jstcache="0"><em jstcache="0">Optional:</em> Any other files you
r extension needs — for example, image files</li> </ul> <p jstcache="0"> While y
ou're working on your extension, you put all these files into a single folder. W
hen you distribute your extension, the contents of the folder are packaged into
a special zipfile that has a <code jstcache="0">.crx</code> suffix, as described
in <a href="packaging.html" jstcache="0">Packaging</a>. </p> <a name="H3-2" jst
cache="0"></a><h3 jstcache="0">Referring to files</h3> <p jstcache="0"> You can
put any file you like into an extension, but how do you use it? Usually, you can
refer to the file using a relative URL, just as you would in an ordinary HTML p
age. Here's an example of referring to a file named <code jstcache="0">myimage.p
ng</code> that's in a subdirectory named <code jstcache="0">images</code>. </p>
<pre jstcache="0"><img <b jstcache="0">src="images/myimage.png"</b> style="wi
dth:auto; height:auto"> </pre> <p jstcache="0"> As you might notice while you
use the Google Chrome debugger, every file in an extension is also accessible b
y an absolute URL like this: </p> <blockquote jstcache="0"> <b jstcache="0">chro
me-extension://</b><em jstcache="0"><extensionID></em><b jstcache="0">/</b
><em jstcache="0"><pathToFile></em> </blockquote> <p jstcache="0"> In that
URL, the <em jstcache="0"><extensionID></em> is a unique identifier that
the extension system generates for each extension. You can see the IDs for all y
our loaded extensions by going to the URL <b jstcache="0">chrome://extensions/</
b>. The <em jstcache="0"><pathToFile></em> is the location of the file und
er the extension's top directory; it's the same as the relative URL. </p> <p jst
cache="0"> For example, assume your extension has the ID <b jstcache="0">aaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</b> and the files shown in the following figure: </p>
<pre jstcache="0"><span class="comment" jstcache="0">[PENDING: convert this into
a figure]</span> toolstrip.html styles.css images: myimage.png ... other: more.
html morestyles.css ... </pre> <p jstcache="0"> Here's a table that shows the re
lative and absolute URLs of these files. Keep in mind that the relative URL is t
he same no matter where you're using it — the relative URL of <code jstcache="0"
>myimage.png</code> is <b jstcache="0">images/myimage.png</b>, no matter whether
it's being used by <code jstcache="0">toolstrip.html</code> or <code jstcache="
0">other/more.html</code>. </p> <table jstcache="0"> <tbody jstcache="0"><tr jst
cache="0"> <th jstcache="0"> File </th> <th jstcache="0"> Relative URL </th> <th
jstcache="0"> Absolute URL </th> </tr> <tr jstcache="0"> <td jstcache="0"> tool
strip.html </td> <td jstcache="0"> toolstrip.html </td> <td jstcache="0"> chrome
-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/toolstrip.html </td> </tr> <tr jst
cache="0"> <td jstcache="0"> styles.css </td> <td jstcache="0"> styles.css </td>
<td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/styles.cs
s </td> </tr> <tr jstcache="0"> <td jstcache="0"> myimage.png </td> <td jstcache
="0"> images/myimage.png </td> <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/images/myimage.png </td> </tr> <tr jstcache="0"> <td jstcac
he="0"> more.html </td> <td jstcache="0"> other/more.html </td> <td jstcache="0"
> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/other/more.html </td> </tr
> <tr jstcache="0"> <td jstcache="0"> morestyles.css </td> <td jstcache="0"> oth
er/morestyles.css </td> <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaa/other/morestyles.css </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="commen
t" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: Mention/reflect/link to <a href="http://dev.chromium.
org/developers/design-documents/extensions/i18n" jstcache="0">internationalizati
on</a>] </p> <a name="H3-3" jstcache="0"></a><h3 jstcache="0">The manifest file<
/h3> <p jstcache="0"> The manifest file, called <code jstcache="0">manifest.json
</code>, gives information about the extension, such as the most important files
and the capabilities that the extension might use. Here's a typical manifest fi
le for a toolstrip that uses information from google.com: </p> <pre jstcache="0"
>{ "name": "My Extension", "version": "2.1", "description": "Gets information fr
om Google.", "update_url": "http://example.com/mytestextension/updates.xml", "pe
rmissions": ["http://*.google.com/", "https://*.google.com/"], "toolstrips": ["m
y_toolstrip.html"] }</pre> <p jstcache="0"> For details, see <a href="manifest.h
tml" jstcache="0">Manifest Files</a>. </p> <a name="H2-4" jstcache="0"></a><h2 i
d="arch" jstcache="0">Architecture</h2> <p jstcache="0"> The following pictures
shows the web pages associated with a typical extension (in this case, a simple
toolstrip). The first figure shows what an extension might look like when there'
s a single browser window. </p> <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: image
goes here] </p> <p jstcache="0"> The next figure shows that all the code in the
extension's main HTML file is duplicated each time you create a new window. In
other words, each window has its own widgets for the extension, which means each
window adds another web page for that extension. </p> <p class="comment" jstcac
he="0"> [PENDING: image goes here] </p> <p jstcache="0"> To more easily coordina
te all these web pages and to avoid duplication, you should design your extensio
n so that most of the code — especially the state of the extension — is in a <em
jstcache="0">background page</em>, as shown in the following figure. </p> <p cl
ass="comment" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: image goes here.] </p> <a name="H3-5" jstc
ache="0"></a><h3 id="background" jstcache="0">The background page</h3> <p jstcac
he="0"> Any non-trivial extension can (and probably should) have a background pa
ge. The background page is an invisible page where you put the main logic of the
extension. The extension's other pages should have only the code that's necessa
ry to show the state of the extension and to get input from the user.</p> <p jst
cache="0"> An extension's background page exists before any of the extension's o
ther pages exist. It continues to exist as long as the browser is running and th
e extension is installed, even if other pages and windows go away. </p> <p jstca
che="0"> Your extension's UI — its toolstrips, page actions, and so on — should
be dumb views. When the view needs some state, it should request it from the bac
kground page. When the background page notices some state change, it should upda
te all the views. </p> <p jstcache="0"> For more information, see <a href="backg
round_pages.html" jstcache="0">Background Pages</a>. </p> <a name="H3-6" jstcach
e="0"></a><h3 id="contentScripts" jstcache="0">Content scripts</h3> <p jstcache=
"0"> If you want your extension to interact with web pages, you need a content s
cript. Content scripts are JavaScript files that run in the context of web pages
. By using the standard Document Object Model (DOM), they can read details of th
e web pages the browser visits, and they can make changes to the pages. </p> <p
class="comment" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: add an architectural figure here, showin
g the extension's pages, a web page, and the content script interacting with the
web page. explain the figure.] </p> <p jstcache="0"> For more information, see
<a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">Content Scripts</a>. </p> <a name="H
2-7" jstcache="0"></a><h2 jstcache="0">Communication </h2> <p jstcache="0"> Two
kinds of communication happen within an extension: </p> <ul jstcache="0"> <li js
tcache="0"> Communication <b jstcache="0">between pages</b> in the extension. <b
r jstcache="0"> For example, sometimes the background page needs to update all t
he UI pages to reflect a change in the extension's state. </li> <li jstcache="0"
> Communication <b jstcache="0">between content scripts and the extension</b>. <
br jstcache="0"> For example, <span class="comment" jstcache="0">[PENDING: typic
al use case goes here]</span>. See <a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">C
ontent Scripts</a> for information about this type of communication. </li> </ul>
<p jstcache="0"> Here are some keys to communication between an extension's pag
es: </p> <ul jstcache="0"> <li jstcache="0"> All the extension's pages execute i
n same process, on the same thread. </li> <li jstcache="0"> Extension pages can
use <a href="extension.html" jstcache="0"><code jstcache="0">chrome.extension</c
ode></a> methods such as <code jstcache="0">getViews()</code>, <code jstcache="0
">getBackgroundPage()</code>, and <code jstcache="0">getToolstrips()</code> to g
et access to the extension's pages. </li> <li jstcache="0"> Once you have refere
nces to an extension's pages, you can manipulate the DOM for each page. </li> <l
i jstcache="0"> You can also make direct function calls to the pages, as shown i
n the following example. </li> </ul> <p jstcache="0"> Here's an example of commu
nication between toolstrips and the background page. </p> <pre jstcache="0">//In
background_page.html: function updateUI(checked) { var toolstrips = chrome.exte
nsion.getToolstrips(); for (var i in toolstrips) { if (toolstrips[i].enableCheck
box) toolstrips[i].enableCheckbox(checked); } } //In toolstrip.html: function en
ableCheckbox(checked) { var cb = document.getElementById('checkbox'); cb.checked
= checked; } </pre> <p jstcache="0"> A good summary of communication mechanisms
is at <a href="http://www.chromeplugins.org/google/plugins-development/communic
ation-7883.html" jstcache="0">http://www.chromeplugins.org/google/plugins-develo
pment/communication-7883.html</a>. </p> <a name="H2-8" jstcache="0"></a><h2 jstc
ache="0"> Summary </h2> <p jstcache="0"> [ PENDING: wrap it up. suggest where to
go next. Probably: <a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Started</a>,
<a href="tut_debugging.html" jstcache="0">Debugging</a>, <a href="devguide.html"
jstcache="0">Developer's Guide</a>. ] </p> </div> <!-- API PAGE --> <div class=
"apiPage" jsselect="apiDefinition" jstcache="3" style="display: none; "> <a name
="apiReference" jstcache="0"></a> <h2 jscontent="'API reference: ' + getModuleNa
me()" jstcache="4">API reference: chrome.apiname </h2> <!-- PROPERTIES --> <div
jsdisplay="$this.properties" class="apiGroup" jstcache="5"> <a name="properties"
jstcache="0"></a> <h3 id="properties" jstcache="0">Properties</h3> <div jsselec
t="getPropertyListFromObject($this)" jstcache="10"> <a jsvalues=".name:'property
-' + name" jstcache="15"></a> <h4 jscontent="name" jstcache="16">getLastError</h
4> <div class="summary" jstcache="0"> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns
--> <span jscontent="getModuleName() + '.'" jstcache="23">chrome.extension</spa
n><span jscontent="$this.name" jstcache="24">lastError</span> </div> <div transc
lude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> </div> </div> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!--
METHODS --> <div jsdisplay="functions && functions.length > 0" class
="apiGroup" id="methods" jstcache="6"> <a name="methods" jstcache="0"></a> <h3 j
stcache="0">Methods</h3> <!-- iterates over all functions --> <div class="apiIte
m" jsselect="functions" jstcache="11"> <a jsvalues=".name:'method-' + name" jstc
ache="18"></a> <!-- method-anchor --> <h4 jscontent="name" jstcache="16">method
name</h4> <div class="summary" jstcache="0"><span jsdisplay="returns" jscontent=
"getTypeName(returns)" jstcache="25">void</span> <!-- Note: intentionally longer
80 columns --> <span jscontent="getFullyQualifiedFunctionName($this)" jstcache=
"26">chrome.module.methodName</span>(<span jsselect="parameters" jsvalues="class
:optional ? 'optional' : ''" jstcache="27"><span jsdisplay="$index" jstcache="33
">, </span><span jscontent="getTypeName($this)" jstcache="34"></span> <var jstca
che="0"><span jscontent="name" jstcache="16"></span></var></span>)</div> <div cl
ass="description" jstcache="0"> <p class="todo" jsdisplay="!description" jstcach
e="28">Undocumented.</p> <p jsdisplay="description" jsvalues=".innerHTML:descrip
tion" jstcache="29"> A description from the json schema def of the function goes
here. </p> <!-- PARAMETERS --> <h4 jstcache="0">Parameters</h4> <dl jstcache="0
"> <div jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> <!-- VALUE: This is a subtemplate t
hat is used elsewhere via jsTemplate *transclude* --> <div id="valueTemplate" js
tcache="0"> <dt jstcache="0"> <var jsdisplay="$this.name" jscontent="$this.name"
jstcache="45">paramName</var> <em jstcache="0"> <!-- TYPE --> <div style="displ
ay:inline" jstcache="0"> ( <span class="optional" jsdisplay="optional" jstcache=
"46">optional</span> <span id="typeTemplate" jstcache="0"> <span jsdisplay="getT
ypeRef($this)" jstcache="47"> <a jsvalues=".href: getTypeRefPage($this) + '#type
-' + getTypeRef($this)" jscontent="getTypeRef($this)" jstcache="49"> Type</a> </
span> <span jsdisplay="!getTypeRef($this)" jstcache="48"> <span jsdisplay="isArr
ay($this)" jstcache="50"> array of <span jsselect="items" jstcache="52"><span tr
ansclude="typeTemplate" jstcache="53"></span></span> </span> <span jsdisplay="!i
sArray($this)" jscontent="getTypeName($this)" jstcache="51">paramType</span> </s
pan> </span> ) </div> </em> </dt> <dd class="todo" jsdisplay="!$this.description
" jstcache="38"> Undocumented. </dd> <dd jsdisplay="$this.description" jsvalues=
".innerHTML:$this.description" jstcache="39"> Description of this parameter from
the json schema. </dd> <!-- OBJECT PROPERTIES --> <dd jsdisplay="shouldExpandOb
ject($this)" jstcache="40"> <dl jstcache="0"> <div jsselect="getPropertyListFrom
Object($this)" jstcache="10"> <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> </d
iv> </div> </dl> </dd> </div> <!-- /VALUE --> </div> </dl> <!-- RETURNS --> <h4
jsdisplay="returns" jstcache="30">Returns</h4> <dl jstcache="0"> <div jsselect="
returns" jstcache="36"> <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> </div> </
div> </dl> <!-- CALLBACK --> <div jsdisplay="hasCallback(parameters)" jstcac
he="31"> <div jsselect="getCallbackParameters(parameters)" jstcache="37"> <h4 js
tcache="0">Callback function</h4> <p jstcache="0"> If you specify the <em jstcac
he="0">callback</em> parameter, it should specify a function that looks like thi
s: </p> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> <pre jstcache="0">functio
n(<span jscontent="getSignatureString(parameters)" jstcache="32">Type param1, Ty
pe param2</span>) <span class="subdued" jstcache="0">{...}</span>);</pre> <dl js
tcache="0"> <div jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> <div transclude="valueTemp
late" jstcache="17"> </div> </div> </dl> </div> </div> </div> <!-- /description
--> </div> <!-- /apiItem --> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!-- EVENTS --> <div jsdi
splay="events && events.length > 0" class="apiGroup" jstcache="7"> <a
name="events" jstcache="0"></a> <h3 id="events" jstcache="0">Events</h3> <!-- i
terates over all events --> <div jsselect="events" class="apiItem" jstcache="12"
> <a jsvalues=".name:'event-' + name" jstcache="19"></a> <h4 jscontent="name" js
tcache="16">event name</h4> <div class="summary" jstcache="0"> <!-- Note: intent
ionally longer 80 columns --> <span jscontent="getModuleName() + '.'" class="sub
dued" jstcache="23">chrome.bookmarks</span><span jscontent="name" jstcache="16">
onEvent</span><span class="subdued" jstcache="0">.addListener</span>(function(<s
pan jscontent="getSignatureString(parameters)" jstcache="32">Type param1, Type p
aram2</span>) <span class="subdued" jstcache="0">{...}</span>); </div> <div clas
s="description" jstcache="0"> <p class="todo" jsdisplay="!description" jstcache=
"28">Undocumented.</p> <p jsdisplay="description" jsvalues=".innerHTML:descripti
on" jstcache="29"> A description from the json schema def of the event goes here
. </p> <!-- PARAMETERS --> <h4 jstcache="0">Parameters</h4> <dl jstcache="0"> <d
iv jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache
="17"> </div> </div> </dl> </div> <!-- /decription --> </div> <!-- /apiItem -->
</div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!-- TYPES --> <div jsdisplay="types && types.
length > 0" class="apiGroup" jstcache="8"> <a name="types" jstcache="0"></a>
<h3 id="types" jstcache="0">Types</h3> <!-- iterates over all types --> <div jss
elect="types" class="apiItem" jstcache="13"> <a jsvalues=".name:'type-' + id" js
tcache="20"></a> <h4 jscontent="id" jstcache="21">type name</h4> <div transclude
="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> </div> </div> <!-- /apiItem --> </div> <!-- /api
Group --> </div> <!-- /apiPage --> </div> <!-- /mainColumn --> </div> <!-- /page
Content --> <div id="pageFooter" --="" jstcache="0"> <p jstcache="0"> Except as
otherwise <a href="http://code.google.com/policies.html#restrictions" jstcache="
0">noted</a>, the content of this page is licensed under the <a rel="license" hr
ef="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" jstcache="0">Creative Commons A
ttribution 3.0 License</a>, and code samples are licensed under the <a rel="lice
nse" href="http://code.google.com/google_bsd_license.html" jstcache="0">BSD Lice
nse</a>. </p> <p jstcache="0"> ©2009 Google </p> </div> <!-- /pageFooter --> </d
iv> <!-- /container --> </body></html> | 1 <!DOCTYPE html><!-- This page is a placeholder for generated extensions api doc.
Note: |
| 2 1) The <head> information in this page is significant, should be uniform |
| 3 across api docs and should be edited only with knowledge of the |
| 4 templating mechanism. |
| 5 2) The <body> tag *must* retain id="body" |
| 6 3) All <body>.innerHTML is genereated as an rendering step. If viewed in a |
| 7 browser, it will be re-generated from the template, json schema and |
| 8 authored overview content. |
| 9 4) The <body>.innerHTML is also generated by an offline step so that this |
| 10 page may easily be indexed by search engines. |
| 11 |
| 12 TODO(rafaelw): Abstract this into a "pageshell" that becomes the single |
| 13 version of page template shell and the "instance" pages (bookmarks.html, |
| 14 etc...) can be generated with a build step. |
| 15 --><!-- <html> must retain id="template --><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/x
html" jstcache="0"><!-- <head> data is significant and loads the needed librarie
s and styles --><head jstcache="0"> |
| 16 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" jstcache=
"0"> |
| 17 <title jscontent="getPageTitle()" jstcache="1">Overview</title> |
| 18 <link href="css/ApiRefStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" jstcache=
"0"> |
| 19 <script type="text/javascript" src="../../../third_party/jstemplate/jstempla
te_compiled.js" jstcache="0"> |
| 20 </script> |
| 21 <script type="text/javascript" src="js/api_page_generator.js" jstcache="0"><
/script> |
| 22 <script type="text/javascript" src="js/bootstrap.js" jstcache="0"></script> |
| 23 </head><!-- <body> content is completely generated. Do not edit, as it will be |
| 24 and rewritten. --><body jstcache="0"> <div id="container" jstcache="0"> |
| 25 <a name="top" jstcache="0"> </a> |
| 26 <!-- API HEADER --> |
| 27 <div id="pageHeader" jstcache="0"> |
| 28 <div id="searchbox" jstcache="0"> |
| 29 <form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box" jstcache="0
"> |
| 30 <div jstcache="0"> |
| 31 <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="002967670403910741006:61_cvzfq
tno" jstcache="0"> |
| 32 <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8" jstcache="0"> |
| 33 <input type="text" name="q" size="31" jstcache="0"> |
| 34 <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" jstcache="0"> |
| 35 </div> |
| 36 </form> |
| 37 |
| 38 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi" jstcach
e="0"></script> |
| 39 <script type="text/javascript" jstcache="0">google.load("elements", "1",
{packages: "transliteration"});</script> |
| 40 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/t13n?
form=cse-search-box&t13n_langs=en" jstcache="0"></script> |
| 41 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/brand
?form=cse-search-box&lang=en" jstcache="0"></script> |
| 42 </div> |
| 43 <div id="pageTitle" jstcache="0"> |
| 44 <h1 jscontent="getPageTitle()" jstcache="1">Overview</h1> |
| 45 </div> |
| 46 </div> <!-- /pageHeader --> |
| 47 |
| 48 <div id="pageContent" jstcache="0"> |
| 49 <!-- SIDENAV --> |
| 50 <div id="leftNav" jstcache="0"> |
| 51 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 52 <li jstcache="0"> <a href="index.html" jstcache="0">Home</a></li> |
| 53 <li jstcache="0"> <a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Start
ed</a></li> |
| 54 <li jstcache="0" class="leftNavSelected">Overview </li> |
| 55 <li jstcache="0"> <a href="devguide.html" jstcache="0"><div jstcache="
0">Developer's Guide</div></a> |
| 56 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 57 <li jstcache="0"><a href="toolstrip.html" jstcache="0">Toolstrips<
/a></li> |
| 58 <li jstcache="0"><a href="pageActions.html" jstcache="0">Page Acti
ons</a></li> |
| 59 <li jstcache="0"><a href="background_pages.html" jstcache="0">Back
ground Pages</a></li> |
| 60 <li jstcache="0"><a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">Conte
nt Scripts</a></li> |
| 61 <li jstcache="0"><a href="events.html" jstcache="0">Events</a></li
> |
| 62 <li jstcache="0"><a href="tabs.html" jstcache="0">Tabs</a></li> |
| 63 <li jstcache="0"><a href="windows.html" jstcache="0">Windows</a></
li> |
| 64 <li jstcache="0"><a href="bookmarks.html" jstcache="0">Bookmarks</
a></li> |
| 65 <li jstcache="0"><a href="themes.html" jstcache="0">Themes</a></li
> |
| 66 <li jstcache="0"><a href="npapi.html" jstcache="0">NPAPI Plugins</
a></li> |
| 67 <li jstcache="0"><a href="packaging.html" jstcache="0">Packaging</
a></li> |
| 68 <li jstcache="0">Autoupdate</li> |
| 69 </ul> |
| 70 </li> |
| 71 <li jstcache="0"><a href="tutorials.html" jstcache="0"><div jstcache="
0">Tutorials</div></a> |
| 72 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 73 <li jstcache="0"><a href="tut_debugging.html" jstcache="0">Debuggi
ng</a></li> |
| 74 </ul> |
| 75 </li> |
| 76 <li jstcache="0">Reference |
| 77 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 78 <li jstcache="0"> Formats |
| 79 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 80 <li jstcache="0"><a href="manifest.html" jstcache="0">Manifest
Files</a></li> |
| 81 <li jstcache="0"><a href="match_patterns.html" jstcache="0">Ma
tch Patterns</a></li> |
| 82 <li jstcache="0">Packages (.crx)</li> |
| 83 </ul> |
| 84 </li> |
| 85 <li jstcache="0"> <a href="api_index.html" jstcache="0">chrome.* A
PIs</a> </li> |
| 86 <li jstcache="0"> <a href="api_other.html" jstcache="0">Other APIs
</a> </li> |
| 87 </ul> |
| 88 </li> |
| 89 <li jstcache="0"><a href="http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-doc
uments/extensions/samples" jstcache="0">Samples</a></li> |
| 90 </ul> |
| 91 </div> |
| 92 |
| 93 <div id="mainColumn" jstcache="0"> |
| 94 <!-- TABLE OF CONTENTS --> |
| 95 <div id="toc" jsdisplay="showPageTOC()" jstcache="2"> |
| 96 <p jstcache="0">Contents</p> |
| 97 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 98 <li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="0"> |
| 99 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href
="#what">The basics</a> |
| 100 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 101 <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*0" styl
e="display: none; "> |
| 102 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">
h3Name</a> |
| 103 </li> |
| 104 </ol> |
| 105 </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="1"> |
| 106 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href
="#files">Files</a> |
| 107 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 108 <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="0"> |
| 109 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14"
href="#H3-2">Referring to files</a> |
| 110 </li><li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*1"
> |
| 111 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14"
href="#H3-3">The manifest file</a> |
| 112 </li> |
| 113 </ol> |
| 114 </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="2"> |
| 115 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href
="#arch">Architecture</a> |
| 116 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 117 <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="0"> |
| 118 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14"
href="#background">The background page</a> |
| 119 </li><li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*1"
> |
| 120 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14"
href="#contentScripts">Content scripts</a> |
| 121 </li> |
| 122 </ol> |
| 123 </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="3"> |
| 124 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href
="#H2-7">Communication </a> |
| 125 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 126 <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*0" styl
e="display: none; "> |
| 127 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">
h3Name</a> |
| 128 </li> |
| 129 </ol> |
| 130 </li><li jsselect="getStaticTOC()" jstcache="9" jsinstance="*4"> |
| 131 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14" href
="#H2-8"> Summary </a> |
| 132 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 133 <li jsselect="$this.children" jstcache="22" jsinstance="*0" styl
e="display: none; "> |
| 134 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#' + href" jstcache="14">
h3Name</a> |
| 135 </li> |
| 136 </ol> |
| 137 </li> |
| 138 <div jsselect="apiDefinition" jstcache="3" style="display: none; "> |
| 139 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 140 <a href="#apiReference" jscontent="'API reference: ' + getModule
Name()" jstcache="4">API reference</a> |
| 141 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 142 <li jsdisplay="$this.properties" jstcache="5"> |
| 143 <a href="#properties" jstcache="0">Properties</a> |
| 144 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 145 <li jsselect="getPropertyListFromObject($this)" jstcache="
10"> |
| 146 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#property-' + name"
href="#property-anchor" jstcache="42">propertyName</a> |
| 147 </li> |
| 148 </ol> |
| 149 </li> |
| 150 <li jsdisplay="functions && functions.length > 0" j
stcache="6"> |
| 151 <a href="#methods" jstcache="0">Methods</a> |
| 152 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 153 <li jsselect="functions.sort(sortByName)" jstcache="11"> |
| 154 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#method-' + name" h
ref="#method-anchor" jstcache="43">methodName</a> |
| 155 </li> |
| 156 </ol> |
| 157 </li> |
| 158 <li jsdisplay="events && events.length > 0" jstcach
e="7"> |
| 159 <a href="#events" jstcache="0">Events</a> |
| 160 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 161 <li jsselect="events.sort(sortByName)" jstcache="12"> |
| 162 <a jscontent="name" jsvalues=".href:'#event-' + name" hr
ef="#event-anchor" jstcache="44">eventName</a> |
| 163 </li> |
| 164 </ol> |
| 165 </li> |
| 166 <li jsdisplay="types && types.length > 0" jstcache=
"8"> |
| 167 <a href="#types" jstcache="0">Types</a> |
| 168 <ol jstcache="0"> |
| 169 <li jsselect="types.sort(sortByName)" jstcache="38"> |
| 170 <a jscontent="id" jsvalues=".href:'#type-' + id" href="#
id-anchor" jstcache="45">id</a> |
| 171 </li> |
| 172 </ol> |
| 173 </li> |
| 174 </ol> |
| 175 </li> |
| 176 </div> |
| 177 </ol> |
| 178 </div> |
| 179 <!-- /TABLE OF CONTENTS --> |
| 180 |
| 181 <!-- STATIC CONTENT PLACEHOLDER --> |
| 182 <div id="static" jstcache="0"><div id="pageData-title" class="pageData"
jstcache="0">Overview</div> |
| 183 <div id="pageData-showTOC" class="pageData" jstcache="0">true</div> |
| 184 |
| 185 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 186 Please read this page; |
| 187 it has vital information about the extension architecture. |
| 188 If you get bored or restless, |
| 189 take a break! |
| 190 We suggest bouncing between this page |
| 191 and tutorials |
| 192 such as <a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Started</a> |
| 193 and <a href="tut_debugging.html" jstcache="0">Debugging</a>. |
| 194 </p> |
| 195 |
| 196 |
| 197 <h2 id="what" jstcache="0">The basics</h2> |
| 198 |
| 199 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 200 An extension is a zipped bundle of files — |
| 201 HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and anything else you need — |
| 202 that adds functionality to the Google Chrome browser. |
| 203 Because an extension is just a special kind of web page, |
| 204 it can use all the APIs |
| 205 that the browser provides |
| 206 to web pages and apps, |
| 207 from XMLHttpRequest to JSON to localStorage. |
| 208 </p> |
| 209 |
| 210 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 211 Extensions can add UI to Google Chrome, |
| 212 in the form of |
| 213 <a href="toolstrip.html" jstcache="0">toolstrips</a> (toolbar additions) |
| 214 and <a href="pageActions.html" jstcache="0">page actions</a> |
| 215 (clickable badges in the address bar). |
| 216 Extensions can also interact programmatically |
| 217 with browser features such as |
| 218 <a href="bookmarks.html" jstcache="0">bookmarks</a> |
| 219 and <a href="tabs.html" jstcache="0">tabs</a>. |
| 220 </p> |
| 221 |
| 222 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 223 To find a complete list of extension features, |
| 224 with implementation details |
| 225 for each one, |
| 226 see the <a href="devguide.html" jstcache="0">Developer's Guide</a>. |
| 227 </p> |
| 228 |
| 229 |
| 230 <h2 id="files" jstcache="0">Files</h2> |
| 231 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 232 Each extension has the following files: |
| 233 <!-- PENDING: This could use a picture --> |
| 234 </p> |
| 235 |
| 236 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 237 <li jstcache="0">A <b jstcache="0">manifest file</b></li> |
| 238 <li jstcache="0">One or more <b jstcache="0">HTML files</b> (unless the extens
ion is a theme)</li> |
| 239 <li jstcache="0"><em jstcache="0">Optional:</em> One or more <b jstcache="0">J
avaScript files</b></li> |
| 240 <li jstcache="0"><em jstcache="0">Optional:</em> Any other files your extensio
n needs — for example, image files</li> |
| 241 </ul> |
| 242 |
| 243 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 244 While you're working on your extension, |
| 245 you put all these files into a single folder. |
| 246 When you distribute your extension, |
| 247 the contents of the folder are packaged into a special zipfile |
| 248 that has a <code jstcache="0">.crx</code> suffix, |
| 249 as described in <a href="packaging.html" jstcache="0">Packaging</a>. |
| 250 </p> |
| 251 |
| 252 |
| 253 <a name="H3-2" jstcache="0"></a><h3 jstcache="0">Referring to files</h3> |
| 254 |
| 255 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 256 You can put any file you like into an extension, |
| 257 but how do you use it? |
| 258 Usually, |
| 259 you can refer to the file using a relative URL, |
| 260 just as you would in an ordinary HTML page. |
| 261 Here's an example of referring to |
| 262 a file named <code jstcache="0">myimage.png</code> |
| 263 that's in a subdirectory named <code jstcache="0">images</code>. |
| 264 </p> |
| 265 |
| 266 <pre jstcache="0"><img <b jstcache="0">src="images/myimage.png"</b> style="wi
dth:auto; height:auto"> |
| 267 </pre> |
| 268 |
| 269 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 270 As you might notice while you use the Google Chrome debugger, |
| 271 every file in an extension is also accessible by an absolute URL like this: |
| 272 </p> |
| 273 |
| 274 <blockquote jstcache="0"> |
| 275 <b jstcache="0">chrome-extension://</b><em jstcache="0"><extensionID></em>
<b jstcache="0">/</b><em jstcache="0"><pathToFile></em> |
| 276 </blockquote> |
| 277 |
| 278 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 279 In that URL, the <em jstcache="0"><extensionID></em> is a unique identifie
r |
| 280 that the extension system generates for each extension. |
| 281 You can see the IDs for all your loaded extensions |
| 282 by going to the URL <b jstcache="0">chrome://extensions/</b>. |
| 283 The <em jstcache="0"><pathToFile></em> is the location of the file |
| 284 under the extension's top directory; |
| 285 it's the same as the relative URL. |
| 286 </p> |
| 287 |
| 288 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 289 For example, assume your extension has |
| 290 the ID <b jstcache="0">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</b> |
| 291 and the files shown in the following figure: |
| 292 </p> |
| 293 |
| 294 <pre jstcache="0"><span class="comment" jstcache="0">[PENDING: convert this into
a figure]</span> |
| 295 toolstrip.html |
| 296 styles.css |
| 297 images: |
| 298 myimage.png |
| 299 ... |
| 300 other: |
| 301 more.html |
| 302 morestyles.css |
| 303 ... |
| 304 </pre> |
| 305 |
| 306 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 307 Here's a table that shows the relative and absolute URLs of these files. |
| 308 Keep in mind that the relative URL is the same no matter where you're using it — |
| 309 the relative URL of <code jstcache="0">myimage.png</code> is |
| 310 <b jstcache="0">images/myimage.png</b>, |
| 311 no matter whether it's being used by |
| 312 <code jstcache="0">toolstrip.html</code> or <code jstcache="0">other/more.html</
code>. |
| 313 </p> |
| 314 |
| 315 <table jstcache="0"> |
| 316 <tbody jstcache="0"><tr jstcache="0"> |
| 317 <th jstcache="0"> File </th> |
| 318 <th jstcache="0"> Relative URL </th> |
| 319 <th jstcache="0"> Absolute URL </th> |
| 320 </tr> |
| 321 <tr jstcache="0"> |
| 322 <td jstcache="0"> toolstrip.html </td> |
| 323 <td jstcache="0"> toolstrip.html </td> |
| 324 <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/toolstri
p.html </td> |
| 325 </tr> |
| 326 <tr jstcache="0"> |
| 327 <td jstcache="0"> styles.css </td> |
| 328 <td jstcache="0"> styles.css </td> |
| 329 <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/styles.c
ss </td> |
| 330 </tr> |
| 331 <tr jstcache="0"> |
| 332 <td jstcache="0"> myimage.png </td> |
| 333 <td jstcache="0"> images/myimage.png </td> |
| 334 <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/images/m
yimage.png </td> |
| 335 </tr> |
| 336 <tr jstcache="0"> |
| 337 <td jstcache="0"> more.html </td> |
| 338 <td jstcache="0"> other/more.html </td> |
| 339 <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/other/mo
re.html </td> |
| 340 </tr> |
| 341 <tr jstcache="0"> |
| 342 <td jstcache="0"> morestyles.css </td> |
| 343 <td jstcache="0"> other/morestyles.css </td> |
| 344 <td jstcache="0"> chrome-extension://aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/other/mo
restyles.css </td> |
| 345 </tr> |
| 346 </tbody></table> |
| 347 |
| 348 <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> |
| 349 [PENDING: Mention/reflect/link to |
| 350 <a href="http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/extensions/i18n" js
tcache="0">internationalization</a>] |
| 351 </p> |
| 352 |
| 353 |
| 354 <a name="H3-3" jstcache="0"></a><h3 jstcache="0">The manifest file</h3> |
| 355 |
| 356 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 357 The manifest file, called <code jstcache="0">manifest.json</code>, |
| 358 gives information about the extension, |
| 359 such as the most important files |
| 360 and the capabilities that the extension might use. |
| 361 Here's a typical manifest file for a toolstrip |
| 362 that uses information from google.com: |
| 363 </p> |
| 364 |
| 365 <pre jstcache="0">{ |
| 366 "name": "My Extension", |
| 367 "version": "2.1", |
| 368 "description": "Gets information from Google.", |
| 369 "update_url": "http://example.com/mytestextension/updates.xml", |
| 370 "permissions": ["http://*.google.com/", "https://*.google.com/"], |
| 371 "toolstrips": ["my_toolstrip.html"] |
| 372 }</pre> |
| 373 |
| 374 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 375 For details, see |
| 376 <a href="manifest.html" jstcache="0">Manifest Files</a>. |
| 377 </p> |
| 378 |
| 379 <h2 id="arch" jstcache="0">Architecture</h2> |
| 380 |
| 381 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 382 The following pictures shows the web pages associated with a typical extension |
| 383 (in this case, a simple toolstrip). |
| 384 The first figure shows what an extension might look like |
| 385 when there's a single browser window. |
| 386 </p> |
| 387 |
| 388 <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: image goes here] </p> |
| 389 |
| 390 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 391 The next figure shows that all the code in the extension's main HTML file |
| 392 is duplicated each time you create a new window. |
| 393 In other words, each window has its own widgets for the extension, |
| 394 which means each window adds another web page for that extension. |
| 395 </p> |
| 396 |
| 397 <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> [PENDING: image goes here] </p> |
| 398 |
| 399 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 400 To more easily coordinate all these web pages and to avoid duplication, |
| 401 you should design your extension |
| 402 so that most of the code — |
| 403 especially the state of the extension — |
| 404 is in a <em jstcache="0">background page</em>, |
| 405 as shown in the following figure. |
| 406 </p> |
| 407 |
| 408 <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> |
| 409 [PENDING: image goes here.] |
| 410 </p> |
| 411 |
| 412 |
| 413 <h3 id="background" jstcache="0">The background page</h3> |
| 414 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 415 Any non-trivial extension can (and probably should) |
| 416 have a background page. |
| 417 The background page is an invisible page |
| 418 where you put the main logic of the extension. |
| 419 The extension's other pages should have |
| 420 only the code that's necessary |
| 421 to show the state of the extension |
| 422 and to get input from the user.</p> |
| 423 |
| 424 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 425 An extension's background page exists |
| 426 before any of the extension's other pages exist. |
| 427 It continues to exist as long as the browser is running |
| 428 and the extension is installed, |
| 429 even if other pages and windows go away. |
| 430 </p> |
| 431 |
| 432 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 433 Your extension's UI — |
| 434 its toolstrips, page actions, and so on — |
| 435 should be dumb views. |
| 436 When the view needs some state, |
| 437 it should request it from the background page. |
| 438 When the background page notices some state change, |
| 439 it should update all the views. |
| 440 </p> |
| 441 |
| 442 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 443 For more information, see |
| 444 <a href="background_pages.html" jstcache="0">Background Pages</a>. |
| 445 </p> |
| 446 |
| 447 <h3 id="contentScripts" jstcache="0">Content scripts</h3> |
| 448 |
| 449 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 450 If you want your extension to interact with web pages, |
| 451 you need a content script. |
| 452 Content scripts are JavaScript files that run in the context of web pages. |
| 453 By using the standard Document Object Model (DOM), |
| 454 they can read details of the web pages the browser visits, |
| 455 and they can make changes to the pages. |
| 456 </p> |
| 457 |
| 458 <p class="comment" jstcache="0"> |
| 459 [PENDING: add an architectural figure here, |
| 460 showing the extension's pages, a web page, and the content script |
| 461 interacting with the web page. explain the figure.] |
| 462 </p> |
| 463 |
| 464 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 465 For more information, |
| 466 see <a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">Content Scripts</a>. |
| 467 </p> |
| 468 |
| 469 |
| 470 <a name="H2-7" jstcache="0"></a><h2 jstcache="0">Communication </h2> |
| 471 |
| 472 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 473 Two kinds of communication happen within an extension: |
| 474 </p> |
| 475 |
| 476 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 477 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 478 Communication <b jstcache="0">between pages</b> in the extension. |
| 479 <br jstcache="0"> |
| 480 For example, sometimes the background page |
| 481 needs to update all the UI pages |
| 482 to reflect a change in the extension's state. |
| 483 </li> |
| 484 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 485 Communication <b jstcache="0">between content scripts and the extension</b>. |
| 486 <br jstcache="0"> |
| 487 For example, |
| 488 <span class="comment" jstcache="0">[PENDING: typical use case goes here]</sp
an>. |
| 489 See <a href="content_scripts.html" jstcache="0">Content Scripts</a> |
| 490 for information about this type of communication. |
| 491 </li> |
| 492 </ul> |
| 493 |
| 494 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 495 Here are some keys to communication between an extension's pages: |
| 496 </p> |
| 497 |
| 498 <ul jstcache="0"> |
| 499 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 500 All the extension's pages execute in same process, |
| 501 on the same thread. |
| 502 </li> |
| 503 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 504 Extension pages can use |
| 505 <a href="extension.html" jstcache="0"><code jstcache="0">chrome.extension</c
ode></a> |
| 506 methods such as |
| 507 <code jstcache="0">getViews()</code>, |
| 508 <code jstcache="0">getBackgroundPage()</code>, |
| 509 and <code jstcache="0">getToolstrips()</code> |
| 510 to get access to the extension's pages. |
| 511 </li> |
| 512 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 513 Once you have references to an extension's pages, |
| 514 you can manipulate the DOM for each page. |
| 515 </li> |
| 516 <li jstcache="0"> |
| 517 You can also make direct function calls to the pages, |
| 518 as shown in the following example. |
| 519 </li> |
| 520 </ul> |
| 521 |
| 522 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 523 Here's an example of |
| 524 communication between toolstrips and the background page. |
| 525 </p> |
| 526 |
| 527 <pre jstcache="0">//In background_page.html: |
| 528 function updateUI(checked) { |
| 529 var toolstrips = chrome.extension.getToolstrips(); |
| 530 for (var i in toolstrips) { |
| 531 if (toolstrips[i].enableCheckbox) |
| 532 toolstrips[i].enableCheckbox(checked); |
| 533 } |
| 534 } |
| 535 |
| 536 //In toolstrip.html: |
| 537 function enableCheckbox(checked) { |
| 538 var cb = document.getElementById('checkbox'); |
| 539 cb.checked = checked; |
| 540 } |
| 541 </pre> |
| 542 |
| 543 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 544 A good summary of communication mechanisms is at |
| 545 <a href="http://www.chromeplugins.org/google/plugins-development/communication-7
883.html" jstcache="0">http://www.chromeplugins.org/google/plugins-development/c
ommunication-7883.html</a>. |
| 546 </p> |
| 547 |
| 548 |
| 549 <a name="H2-8" jstcache="0"></a><h2 jstcache="0"> Summary </h2> |
| 550 |
| 551 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 552 [ |
| 553 PENDING: wrap it up. suggest where to go next. Probably: |
| 554 <a href="getstarted.html" jstcache="0">Getting Started</a>, |
| 555 <a href="tut_debugging.html" jstcache="0">Debugging</a>, |
| 556 <a href="devguide.html" jstcache="0">Developer's Guide</a>. |
| 557 ] |
| 558 </p> |
| 559 </div> |
| 560 |
| 561 <!-- API PAGE --> |
| 562 <div class="apiPage" jsselect="apiDefinition" jstcache="3" style="displa
y: none; "> |
| 563 <a name="apiReference" jstcache="0"></a> |
| 564 <h2 jscontent="'API reference: ' + getModuleName()" jstcache="4">API ref
erence: chrome.apiname </h2> |
| 565 |
| 566 <!-- PROPERTIES --> |
| 567 <div jsdisplay="$this.properties" class="apiGroup" jstcache="5"> |
| 568 <a name="properties" jstcache="0"></a> |
| 569 <h3 id="properties" jstcache="0">Properties</h3> |
| 570 |
| 571 <div jsselect="getPropertyListFromObject($this)" jstcache="10"> |
| 572 <a jsvalues=".name:'property-' + name" jstcache="15"></a> |
| 573 <h4 jscontent="name" jstcache="16">getLastError</h4> |
| 574 <div class="summary" jstcache="0"> |
| 575 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> |
| 576 <span jscontent="getModuleName() + '.'" jstcache="23">chrome.ext
ension</span><span jscontent="$this.name" jstcache="24">lastError</span> |
| 577 </div> |
| 578 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 579 </div> |
| 580 </div> |
| 581 |
| 582 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> |
| 583 |
| 584 <!-- METHODS --> |
| 585 <div jsdisplay="functions && functions.length > 0" class="a
piGroup" id="methods" jstcache="6"> |
| 586 <a name="methods" jstcache="0"></a> |
| 587 <h3 jstcache="0">Methods</h3> |
| 588 |
| 589 <!-- iterates over all functions --> |
| 590 <div class="apiItem" jsselect="functions.sort(sortByName)" jstcache=
"11"> |
| 591 <a jsvalues=".name:'method-' + name" jstcache="18"></a> <!-- metho
d-anchor --> |
| 592 <h4 jscontent="name" jstcache="16">method name</h4> |
| 593 |
| 594 <div class="summary" jstcache="0"><span jsdisplay="returns" jscont
ent="getTypeName(returns)" jstcache="25">void</span> |
| 595 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> |
| 596 <span jscontent="getFullyQualifiedFunctionName($this)" jstcach
e="26">chrome.module.methodName</span>(<span jsselect="parameters" jsvalues="cla
ss:optional ? 'optional' : ''" jstcache="27"><span jsdisplay="$index" jstcache="
33">, </span><span jscontent="getTypeName($this)" jstcache="34"></span> |
| 597 <var jstcache="0"><span jscontent="name" jstcache="16"></s
pan></var></span>)</div> |
| 598 |
| 599 <div class="description" jstcache="0"> |
| 600 <p class="todo" jsdisplay="!description" jstcache="28">Undocumen
ted.</p> |
| 601 <p jsdisplay="description" jsvalues=".innerHTML:description" jst
cache="29"> |
| 602 A description from the json schema def of the function goes he
re. |
| 603 </p> |
| 604 |
| 605 <!-- PARAMETERS --> |
| 606 <h4 jstcache="0">Parameters</h4> |
| 607 <dl jstcache="0"> |
| 608 <div jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> |
| 609 |
| 610 <!-- VALUE: This is a subtemplate that is used elsewhere |
| 611 via jsTemplate *transclude* --> |
| 612 <div id="valueTemplate" jstcache="0"> |
| 613 <dt jstcache="0"> |
| 614 <var jsdisplay="$this.name" jscontent="$this.name" jstca
che="46">paramName</var> |
| 615 <em jstcache="0"> |
| 616 |
| 617 <!-- TYPE --> |
| 618 <div style="display:inline" jstcache="0"> |
| 619 ( |
| 620 <span class="optional" jsdisplay="optional" jstc
ache="47">optional</span> |
| 621 <span id="typeTemplate" jstcache="0"> |
| 622 <span jsdisplay="getTypeRef($this)" jstcache="
48"> |
| 623 <a jsvalues=".href: getTypeRefPage($this) +
'#type-' + getTypeRef($this)" jscontent="getTypeRef($this)" jstcache="50"> Type<
/a> |
| 624 </span> |
| 625 <span jsdisplay="!getTypeRef($this)" jstcache=
"49"> |
| 626 <span jsdisplay="isArray($this)" jstcache="5
1"> |
| 627 array of <span jsselect="items" jstcache="
53"><span transclude="typeTemplate" jstcache="54"></span></span> |
| 628 </span> |
| 629 <span jsdisplay="!isArray($this)" jscontent=
"getTypeName($this)" jstcache="52">paramType</span> |
| 630 </span> |
| 631 </span> |
| 632 ) |
| 633 </div> |
| 634 |
| 635 </em> |
| 636 </dt> |
| 637 <dd class="todo" jsdisplay="!$this.description" jstcache="
39"> |
| 638 Undocumented. |
| 639 </dd> |
| 640 <dd jsdisplay="$this.description" jsvalues=".innerHTML:$th
is.description" jstcache="40"> |
| 641 Description of this parameter from the json schema. |
| 642 </dd> |
| 643 |
| 644 <!-- OBJECT PROPERTIES --> |
| 645 <dd jsdisplay="shouldExpandObject($this)" jstcache="41"> |
| 646 <dl jstcache="0"> |
| 647 <div jsselect="getPropertyListFromObject($this)" jstca
che="10"> |
| 648 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 649 </div> |
| 650 </div> |
| 651 </dl> |
| 652 </dd> |
| 653 </div> <!-- /VALUE --> |
| 654 |
| 655 </div> |
| 656 </dl> |
| 657 |
| 658 <!-- RETURNS --> |
| 659 <h4 jsdisplay="returns" jstcache="30">Returns</h4> |
| 660 <dl jstcache="0"> |
| 661 <div jsselect="returns" jstcache="36"> |
| 662 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 663 </div> |
| 664 </div> |
| 665 </dl> |
| 666 |
| 667 <!-- CALLBACK --> |
| 668 <div jsdisplay="hasCallback(parameters)" jstcache="31"> |
| 669 <div jsselect="getCallbackParameters(parameters)" jstcache="37
"> |
| 670 <h4 jstcache="0">Callback function</h4> |
| 671 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 672 If you specify the <em jstcache="0">callback</em> parameter, |
| 673 it should specify a function that looks like this: |
| 674 </p> |
| 675 |
| 676 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> |
| 677 <pre jstcache="0">function(<span jscontent="getSignatureString
(parameters)" jstcache="32">Type param1, Type param2</span>) <span class="subdue
d" jstcache="0">{...}</span>);</pre> |
| 678 <dl jstcache="0"> |
| 679 <div jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> |
| 680 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 681 </div> |
| 682 </div> |
| 683 </dl> |
| 684 </div> |
| 685 </div> |
| 686 |
| 687 </div> <!-- /description --> |
| 688 |
| 689 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> |
| 690 |
| 691 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> |
| 692 |
| 693 <!-- EVENTS --> |
| 694 <div jsdisplay="events && events.length > 0" class="apiGrou
p" jstcache="7"> |
| 695 <a name="events" jstcache="0"></a> |
| 696 <h3 id="events" jstcache="0">Events</h3> |
| 697 |
| 698 <!-- iterates over all events --> |
| 699 <div jsselect="events.sort(sortByName)" class="apiItem" jstcache="12
"> |
| 700 <a jsvalues=".name:'event-' + name" jstcache="19"></a> |
| 701 <h4 jscontent="name" jstcache="16">event name</h4> |
| 702 |
| 703 <div class="summary" jstcache="0"> |
| 704 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> |
| 705 <span jscontent="getModuleName() + '.'" class="subdued" jstcache
="23">chrome.bookmarks</span><span jscontent="name" jstcache="16">onEvent</span>
<span class="subdued" jstcache="0">.addListener</span>(function(<span jscontent=
"getSignatureString(parameters)" jstcache="32">Type param1, Type param2</span>)
<span class="subdued" jstcache="0">{...}</span>); |
| 706 </div> |
| 707 |
| 708 <div class="description" jstcache="0"> |
| 709 <p class="todo" jsdisplay="!description" jstcache="28">Undocumen
ted.</p> |
| 710 <p jsdisplay="description" jsvalues=".innerHTML:description" jst
cache="29"> |
| 711 A description from the json schema def of the event goes here. |
| 712 </p> |
| 713 |
| 714 <!-- PARAMETERS --> |
| 715 <h4 jstcache="0">Parameters</h4> |
| 716 <dl jstcache="0"> |
| 717 <div jsselect="parameters" jstcache="35"> |
| 718 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 719 </div> |
| 720 </div> |
| 721 </dl> |
| 722 |
| 723 </div> <!-- /decription --> |
| 724 |
| 725 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> |
| 726 |
| 727 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> |
| 728 |
| 729 <!-- TYPES --> |
| 730 <div jsdisplay="types && types.length > 0" class="apiGroup"
jstcache="8"> |
| 731 <a name="types.sort(sortByName)" jstcache="0"></a> |
| 732 <h3 id="types" jstcache="0">Types</h3> |
| 733 |
| 734 <!-- iterates over all types --> |
| 735 <div jsselect="types" class="apiItem" jstcache="13"> |
| 736 <a jsvalues=".name:'type-' + id" jstcache="20"></a> |
| 737 <h4 jscontent="id" jstcache="21">type name</h4> |
| 738 |
| 739 <div transclude="valueTemplate" jstcache="17"> |
| 740 </div> |
| 741 |
| 742 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> |
| 743 |
| 744 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> |
| 745 |
| 746 </div> <!-- /apiPage --> |
| 747 </div> <!-- /mainColumn --> |
| 748 </div> <!-- /pageContent --> |
| 749 <div id="pageFooter" --="" jstcache="0"> |
| 750 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 751 Except as otherwise <a href="http://code.google.com/policies.html#restrictions
" jstcache="0">noted</a>, |
| 752 the content of this page is licensed under the <a rel="license" href="http://c
reativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" jstcache="0">Creative Commons |
| 753 Attribution 3.0 License</a>, and code samples are licensed under the |
| 754 <a rel="license" href="http://code.google.com/google_bsd_license.html" jstcach
e="0">BSD License</a>. |
| 755 </p> |
| 756 <p jstcache="0"> |
| 757 ©2009 Google |
| 758 </p> |
| 759 </div> <!-- /pageFooter --> |
| 760 </div> <!-- /container --> |
| 761 </body></html> |
| 762 #EOF |
| OLD | NEW |
|---|
Chromium Code Reviews
Issue 179068:
Extension Doc Changes (no building or testable changes): minor changes for tab & windows doc (Closed)
