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What's New?


The Plug-in Guide has been updated and expanded for Communicator 4.0. This page is a quick reference to new Plug-in API features and document changes.

If you are working in a Navigator 3.0 context, you can still use the Plug-in SDK, version 4.0, because it includes all 3.0 functionality. Simply do not implement any 4.0 additions in your plug-in. All 4.0 additions are clearly marked in this guide.

 Each item on this page links to a Plug-in Guide topic, where you'll find information and further links to topics in this guide or other Netscape references.

 Windowless Plug-ins. These are plug-ins that do not require their own native windows to draw into. Windowless Plug-ins extend the possibilities for web page design and functionality. For more information, see "Windowed and Windowless Plug-ins."

 Windowed Plug-ins. Windowed plug-ins are the standard Netscape plug-ins that have been available since Navigator 3.0. For expanded information about using these plug-ins, as well as new information about windowless plug-ins, see Chapter 4, "Drawing and Event Handling."

 New API elements. A number of new API elements have been added. Each method name below links to a reference entry. This guide also contains information about using the methods; follow the links in the reference entry.

Plug-in Methods

Netscape Methods Events Structures
NOTE: Chapters 3 through 8 describe using the API methods. §
HTML. Introduction to the OBJECT Tag; expanded section on the EMBED Tag, which now supports the NAME attribute. Both windowed and windowless plug-ins can draw into HTML layers; for information about the new LAYER tag, see Dynamic HTML in Netscape Communicator, the Netscape Layers documentation. A new EMBED attribute and expanded EMBED and OBJECT functionality support the new JAR Installation Manager (JIM).

 JAR Installation Manager (JIM). Take advantage of the Communicator 4.0 JAR Manager facility to make downloading your plug-in easier and more secure.

 Registration. This version has a new section, "Registering Plug-ins," discussing plug-in registration, including:

Building Plug-ins. Updated instructions.

 NPVERS Constants. New version constants represent particular Communicator features. Once the plug-in obtains a version number, it can query using an NPVERS constant to find out whether the feature it represents is available in this version.

 Printing. Corrections to the type of NPEmbedPrint.window on Mac OS and new description of Unix printing.

Streams. New notifyData field in NPStream structure. The offset parameter of the NPN_Write function has been removed.

New Index.

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Last Updated: 01/15/97 16:35:49  
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