123
Senior Member
I thought I'd give everyone a head's up about my current project, namely a revised version of Minibrowser able to present different user-interfaces.
A little background ...
Premise has two Modules that can present a browser-based user-interface (UI):
When Premise was still a commercial product, it wasn't a good idea to mess with MiniBrowser's code because all modifications would be overwritten by the next software release. That's probably why Rob chose to leave MiniBrowser untouched and make xBrowser a completely separate Module. However, xBrowser's code comes directly from MiniBrowser; xBrowser is an (enhanced) duplicate of Minibrowser.
There's another version of xBrowser (author unknown) called xBrowser_DSL and it provides enhanced support for MediaZones.
Recently, Chuck Lyons developed a Module to support the iPhone and it is based on xBrowser_DSL. So MiniBrowser has at least three offspring, all based on its core code with only slight variations to the UI.
My thoughts ...
It's safe to say that there'll never be a new release of Premise. That means MiniBrowser's code can be modified in whatever manner one sees fit. What I envision is a single MiniBrowser able to present different user-interfaces. Depending on how you invoke it, it will present a different UI. Here's what I mean:
My progress ...
I've revised MiniBrowser's source code from top to bottom. I've changed the design of several functions and started cleaning up the HTML code it produces. I'll described the major changes in a future post. I should have something ready to share, for beta-testing, in the near future.
A little background ...
Premise has two Modules that can present a browser-based user-interface (UI):
- AutomationBrowser
AutomationBrowser is designed for Windows PCs with Internet Explorer (IE). It uses an ActiveX plugin and IE-specific HTML commands. Although its user-interface is no longer state-of-the-art, it does use sophisticated techniques and is able to render almost any Premise Home object. - MiniBrowser
Minibrowser is designed to run on any browser-based device. It uses very simple HTML commands to ensure compliance with all devices. Its user-interface is simple and (probably) intended for Pocket PCs since it is invoked with http://PremiseServer/ppc. It can render basic Premise Home objects such as rooms, lights, MediaZones, thermostats, etc for a small screen (i.e. about 275 pixels wide).
When Premise was still a commercial product, it wasn't a good idea to mess with MiniBrowser's code because all modifications would be overwritten by the next software release. That's probably why Rob chose to leave MiniBrowser untouched and make xBrowser a completely separate Module. However, xBrowser's code comes directly from MiniBrowser; xBrowser is an (enhanced) duplicate of Minibrowser.
There's another version of xBrowser (author unknown) called xBrowser_DSL and it provides enhanced support for MediaZones.
Recently, Chuck Lyons developed a Module to support the iPhone and it is based on xBrowser_DSL. So MiniBrowser has at least three offspring, all based on its core code with only slight variations to the UI.
My thoughts ...
It's safe to say that there'll never be a new release of Premise. That means MiniBrowser's code can be modified in whatever manner one sees fit. What I envision is a single MiniBrowser able to present different user-interfaces. Depending on how you invoke it, it will present a different UI. Here's what I mean:
- For a Pocket PC: http://PremiseServer/ppc
- For an Internet Appliance: http://PremiseServer/xb
- For an iPhone: http://PremiseServer/iphone
- For a Nokia N800: http://PremiseServer/n800
- etc
My progress ...
I've revised MiniBrowser's source code from top to bottom. I've changed the design of several functions and started cleaning up the HTML code it produces. I'll described the major changes in a future post. I should have something ready to share, for beta-testing, in the near future.