| |
|
|
|
Pilots
A pilot is a rendering module for a specific type of content, identified by MIME type. Pilots are similar to the plugins of traditional browsers, but are compact, platform independent, and can be loaded dynamically.
Traditional browsers handle content through a series of plugins. These plugins are pieces of native code that can be loaded dynamically, which means the code for a specific operating system is loaded into the browser from the local file system at run time. These browsers can also handle content through external applications, such as Adobe Reader or a PostScript viewer.
In contrast, the ICEbrowser architecture is designed to handle any content, such as HTML or XML, with its pilot interface. You can write pilots for content in Java and integrate them into the ICEbrowser framework seamlessly. In addition, native rendering libraries, such as Macromedia Flash, can be supported with an adapter pilot that renders the native component's output to a Java GUI component.
The architecture provides a framework in which a content handler can execute and interact with its host environment. This is similar to the Java Applet API, but allows more control over the interaction between the pilot and its environment.
The ICEbrowser core can support multiple pilots concurrently, and pilots can access other pilots through the API. For example, the HTML rendering component (HTML 4 pilot) can communicate with the applet rendering component (applet pilot) and the JMF pilot simultaneously. This allows several content types to be embedded in an HTML or XML document using standard tags. For more information, see HTML Rendering Engine.
The following pilots are available:
This list can be extended by adding custom pilots for your particular needs. For more information, see Custom Pilots.
|
Copyright 2005. ICEsoft Technologies, Inc. http://www.icesoft.com |
| |
|
|
|