Adding Navigation

Adding Navigation

Your application may require a location bar, forward and back buttons, and other features to facilitate end-user navigation.

Navigation largely depends on the HistoryManager. It remembers the full subtree of every HTML frame site. The PseudoHistoryManager implements the HistoryManager interface by default. Although a custom HistoryManager can be implemented, the PseudoHistoryManager is usually sufficient for typical web browsing applications.

The interface is ice.storm.HistoryManager. The StormBase has one instance of this class to handle the histories of all the Viewports. You provide navigation by querying the StormBase for this instance.

For example, your application can have a reload button that asks the HistoryManager instance for the current location of the Viewport. If the location string is not null, you ask the StormBase to render it. Similarly, your application may have back and forward buttons, and you would query the HistoryManager to allow the user to navigate in the requested direction.

You can also disable or enable your navigation buttons when the history,modified event is fired.

For a complete example of adding navigation to an application, see the tutorial: Step 3 - Navigation.