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The developers of Firefox, Chrome and Chromium have thoughtfully provided some hooks into which BookMacster adds on its own software (extensions and a plugin), allowing it to work more intimately with these browsers. Borrowing a general term from Mozilla, we call these our Add-Ons.
BookMacter’s Browser Add-Ons allow you and BookMacster to
Export bookmarks content to, and for some browsers, Import bookmarks content from, the browser app while it is running.
Notify a BookMacster Agent when you have changed (added, deleted, moved, or updated) a bookmark or folder in the browser’s built-in bookmarks, so that a Worker can sort the new bookmark into place and/or import it and then export to other browsers’ built-in bookmarks. (This supports Usage Style 2.)
Provide a widget in the browser by which you can add new bookmarks directly to a BookMacster Bookmarkshelf. (This supports Usage Style 3).
The file components that comprise BookMacster’s Browser Add-Ons are included in the BookMacster application package, and the routines to install them are in BookMacster. You do not need to download them separately, and they are not available from Mozilla’s site nor the Google App Store.
The first time you command an import from or export to a browser app supporting an add-on while it is running (for Firefox, in that Client’s browser profile), BookMacster will guide you through the two or three mouse clicks which are necessary to install BookMacster’s add-on into that browser profile. Future imports or exports may then be performed at any time without quitting the browser.
BookMacster also provides an interface by which users of Usage Style 3, who do not regularly Import or Export, can install, uninstall, and test these browser add-ons at will. To access it, click in the menu BookMacster ▸ Manage Browser Add-Ons.
As part of installing or uninstalling an add-on, BookMacster must quit the target web browser app.
In order to add new features, fix bugs, or maintain compatibility, just like BookMacster itself, although less often, BookMacster’s Browser Add-Ons are occasionally updated to a new version. Again, such updates are shipped inside BookMacster updates and you shouldn’t need to worry about them. Each time BookMacster launches, it checks the versions of any already installed browser add-ons, and installs any updates that are necessary. You may be asked to assist with a mouse click or two, to indicate your approval.
The files that comprise BookMacster’s Browser Add-Ons are all installed into your Home’s Library.
BookMacster’s Add-On for Firefox is installed as a single package of software called an extension. This extension contains a pair of XPCOM Components; a JavaScript component for talking to Firefox and a native component for talking to BookMacster via Mac OS X. It is first installed in your Firefox profile folder at this path:
and then after the next time Firefox launches, Firefox moves it to
BookMacster’s Add-Ons for Chrome and Chromium each consist of two pieces of software, although one of them is installed in a common place where it is used by both Chrome and Chromium. Each browser gets an extension, for talking to Chrome and Chromium:
In order to communicate with BookMacster, the extension requires an intermediary, another component, our NPAPI Plug-In, which is installed at this path:
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