The Abandonia Web Browser

[chickenman]

Abandonia Web Browser, Version BETA 1.7 (Build 0003)
Status: ABANDONED

Notice: To run you MAY need the .net 2.0 runtime which can be downloaded from Microsoft.


WebSite: http://www.abandonia.com/~chickenman/




Please make sure you read, readme.txt before installing.


UPDATE Beta 1.2

Start problem [FIX] (hopefully)

UPDATE Beta 1.7

Completely Remade (now programmed in C#)
AWB UI [REMADE]
RSS Reader UI [NEW]

Enjoy !

---
If anyone would like to take over this project then please email me @ chicken.man.2005@gmail.com
If no one applys within 2 weeks I will make this opensource
Language: C# (MSVC 2005 EE)

[Sean]

http://sovereigncraft.com/gallery/albums/others/1_G.jpg

http://sovereigncraft.com/gallery/albums/others/2_G.jpg

[chickenman]

Thank you very much Sean :ok:

[chickenman]

To check what .net version you have installed:
Control Panel > Add \ Remove programs ;)

Error Reports
Here will go all the errors people have found.

Punch - "Cannot start even with .net 2.0"
Danny
Tulac


If you are having problems please post in here at once.

[Danny252]

"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix thias problem."

I have .net 2.0.

Anyway, I'm happy with firefox. Tabs, an adress bar, security, options, proper installation... and that sort of stuff.

Oh, and one more thing: it dosen't need my old browser to run it.

[chickenman]

What ?

[Danny252]

It dont work, and I prefer firefox because of many reasons (including that it dosen't need my old browser)

[Tulac]

Are you sure you don't have Net 1.1 like me?

[chickenman]

Maybe it's .net 1.1 thats needed, I have .net 2.0 and 1.1 :blink:

[Tulac]

Naah I have only net 1.1 and it won't work for me...

[chickenman]

Beta 1.5 should be out soon, if anyone is having this problem with starting it please post. :ok:

EDIT:

It starts ok when you have MSVC++ 2005 installed.

[Nikson]

Yeah, and that's only a thousand dollars?

[chickenman]

Made with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - Express Edition, The express edition is free to download from Microsoft ;)

[Danny252]

I still prefer firefox. I installs itself. Dosen't need 20 other programs.

[chickenman]

One program Danny.

[Ignite]

Im using Opera 7.0, Never had a problem, why should i change?

[Danny252]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 27 2005, 10:15 PM
One program Danny.
MSVC++ 2005
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - Express Edition
.net 1.4
.net 2.0
Internet Explorer

Those are things you've listed that we need throughout this thread.

[chickenman]

it's based on internet explorer (which most people use), so if you don't have it installed don't download the Abandonia Web Browser :)

.net 1.4 is as far as I know not needed.
and MSVC++ 2005 is the same as Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (C++) Express Edition.

This is more or less just an add-on to IE at the moment, but I plan to add more things later.

@Ignite, IE is installed as default, you don't need to change browser, this just uses IE unless you have uninstalled it.

Extra programs needed to use AWB (Abandonia Web Browser)
.net 2.0 (Microsoft)

[Ignite]

IE is for losers (i mean it)... Besides, my BIOS is corrupted with virus, and i cant start/open another program while being online. So i cant use IE...

[plix]

Does it actually use IE directly or are you using the .NET browser control (System.Web, iirc)? If it's the latter I'm fairly sure that Mono uses Gecko on other platforms.

[chickenman]

I'm using the .net 2.0 Browser Control...

[duckpatch]

I don't recall chickenman saying you need IE?

[chickenman]

Yes I did say it.

Things needed to use AWB
Internet explorer (IE)
.net framework 2.0

[punch999]

You need the microsoft c++ thing

I got the browser to work.

But why doesnt it go anywhere but abandonia and reloaded

[chickenman]

thats the point of it Punch it's not meant to go anywhere else, and anyone in the right state of mind would not use IE for anything more than Abandonia and reloaded.

Microsoft Visual C++, is not needed.

[punch999]

then there is no reason to use this!

[Danny252]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 28 2005, 10:22 PM
thats the point of it Punch it's not meant to go anywhere else, and anyone in the right state of mind would not use IE for anything more than Abandonia and reloaded.

Microsoft Visual C++, is not needed.
Ok, NOW its REALLY useless.

[chickenman]

hey hey calm down, it's still in the Beta stage of development, it will be a lot more useful when I am done ;)

if you don't have anything useful to say, don't post. :)

[punch999]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 29 2005, 07:39 AM
hey hey calm down, it's still in the Beta stage of development, it will be a lot more useful when I am done ;)

if you don't have anything useful to say, don't post. :)
I reccomend having tab's for each section of forum

Blah blah blah
Troubleshooting
Proggraming
Pretty much everything then it might be useful

[chickenman]

Yes a very good idea Punch, I could have a sub-bar that drops down.
For example: you go on abandonia and a sub-bar drops down with links to all the game genres, etc.

If you have any more great ideas please tell me :)

(Work is still being done on Beta 1.5)

[SupSuper]

How about search boxes for both Abandonia and Reloaded?

[punch999]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 30 2005, 06:50 AM
Yes a very good idea Punch, I could have a sub-bar that drops down.
For example: you go on abandonia and a sub-bar drops down with links to all the game genres, etc.

If you have any more great ideas please tell me :)

(Work is still being done on Beta 1.5)
What can we expect on this new version?

[Titan]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 28 2005, 12:49 AM
it's based on internet explorer (which most people use), so if you don't have it installed don't download the Abandonia Web Browser :)
Late comment, i know.. just pulled some stats from Abandonia about the browser-issue:


1. Internet Explorer 6.x 55.3 %
2. Mozilla Firefox 1.x 30.0 %
3. Opera 8.x 9.0 %
4. Internet Explorer 5.x 1.0 %
5. Safari 1.x 1.0 %
6. Opera 7.x 0.7 %
7. Netscape 7.x 0.7 %
Unknown 2.3 %

That's the layout of out visitors

[chickenman]

In the new version, expect to see your sub-bar thing Punch, and some RSS support along with the normal pile of extras (such as a splash screen) :)

As Titan shows you, IE is the most used web browser, even though it's dog shi* if I had the time I would build my own web browser thats not based on IE or anything else.

@SupSuper
Well to do that I would need to use a bit of PHP which I'm not that great at, and I would need to know how the Abandonia and AR search engines work.

[Tulac]

@Titan: I am sure 95% of people who have FF still have IE on their system...

[SupSuper]

Originally posted by Tulac+Dec 31 2005, 05:23 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Tulac @ Dec 31 2005, 05:23 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> @Titan: I am sure 95% of people who have FF still have IE on their system... [/b]
Well it's pretty much impossible to remove IE :P
If you're referring to the stats, they log the browser currently used to display the page, not the ones installed.

******QuoteBegin-Chickenman
@SupSuper
Well to do that I would need to use a bit of PHP which I'm not that great at, and I would need to know how the Abandonia and AR search engines work.[/quote]
Just make the search boxes point to:

http://www.abandonia.com/genre.php?search=TextInTheBox
http://www.reloaded.org/genre.php?quicksearch=TextInTheBox

Where TextInTheBox is... well, you know :P

[plix]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 31 2005, 11:59 AM
If I had the time I would build my own web browser thats not based on IE or anything else.
Good luck with that. Web browsers are easily in the top percentile of the most complex applications in existence today. Writing a forgiving, correcting HTML parser alone is a major undertaking, much less attempting a layout engine, CSS parser, JavaScript interpreter, etc.

I'd personally suggest that you double check and see if Mono uses Gecko (the Mozilla/Firefox rendering engine) for System.Web. That way at least Mono users would be using it rather than IE. Of course, you could also create your own custom bindings to use Gecko instead of IE (though you would no longer benefit from the 100% certainty of the existence of the rendering engine on the target machine).

[chickenman]

What.........

[punch999]

Chicken man even I understood what he said!

[chickenman]

Well I don't LOL

Edit:
Just so you all know work is still being done on the AWB, it's not dead until I say it is :P

[punch999]

If this dies too. I will laugh and laugh and never forgive you. Just so you know.

[chickenman]

It will never die Punch :)

[punch999]

And you were really devoted to that mmorpg.....

[Kon-Tiki]

Back to the browser, mkay?

[chickenman]

So far it's doing good, should have Beta 1.5 out in a few weeks

[chickenman]

I am rewriting the Abandonia Web Browser \ RSS reader, I have already updated the UI and it does work to some extent, it is now coded in C# not C++

Expect it to be done within a few weeks :)

[Reup]

Great stuff. Keep up the good work Chicky!

Originally posted by plix+****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (plix)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Good luck with that. Web browsers are easily in the top percentile of the most complex applications in existence today. Writing a forgiving, correcting HTML parser alone is a major undertaking, much less attempting a layout engine, CSS parser, JavaScript interpreter, etc.[/b]
******QuoteBegin-The article in the link
The secret to writing a Web browser in an evening is to make use of other people's work.[/quote]
Some info on the topic (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnvs05/html/browserexpress.asp)

Just my two cents...

[plix]

Originally posted by Reup+Jan 19 2006, 04:43 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Reup @ Jan 19 2006, 04:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Originally posted by The article in the link@
The secret to writing a Web browser in an evening is to make use of other people's work.
Some info on the topic (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnvs05/html/browserexpress.asp)

Just my two cents... [/b]
Well, my original comment was a response to:
******QuoteBegin-chickenman
If I had the time I would build my own web browser thats not based on IE or anything else.[/quote]

The article you just linked is a description of what chickenman is doing right now: writing a small interface app which uses IE through COM. It's little different from writing some custom XUL interface code for Mozilla. What you quoted is enormously misleading in that it implies that you're actually doing something at all related to the meat of the browser.

I spend 99% of my time when using a browser within the rendering engine itself and the other 1% quickly typing out a url in the address bar (which shall, for the sake of our purposes here, include the back, forward, tabs, reload, and stop buttons). I don't use bookmarks, I don't use a builtin news reader, nor do I use any of the other little extras. The same is true (though probably not to the same extent) with nearly 100% of all other surfers. Not to try and belittle chickenman, but writing an interface for IE serves nearly no purpose whatsoever and it's not terribly impressive.

On the other hand, writing an actual browser (not a UI) is an extremely complex undertaking requiring an enormous investment of time, resources, and talent.

[chickenman]

It will be more that a web browser / RSS reader when I'm done with it :P

[Bobbin Threadbare]

Originally posted by chickenman@Dec 28 2005, 08:09 AM
Made with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - Express Edition, The express edition is free to download from Microsoft ;)
Ah, so that's what that thing lying on the floor in our house does.

[chickenman]

What ? :P

[Reup]

Originally posted by plix+Jan 20 2006, 02:38 AM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (plix @ Jan 20 2006, 02:38 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> The article you just linked is a description of what chickenman is doing right now: writing a small interface app which uses IE through
COM. [/b]
That sort of was my point :D

******QuoteBegin-plix
On the other hand, writing an actual browser (not a UI) is an extremely complex undertaking requiring an enormous investment of time, resources, and talent.[/quote]

Off course, using the pre-created UI-elements to click together an interface is something that alnist anyone could manager (allthough designing a GOOD UI is an art in itself). The parser and renderer is indeed (as you point out) a tough job, and I'm really curious if Chickenman can pull it off (because he tends to underestimate his amount of actual hard work that goes in a project and overestimate his own skills).

[chickenman]

Beta 1.7 is almost ready.

:All the code has been redone. (C# now not C++)
:New UI (browser UI + RSS reader UI)
:Splash screen (If I can get it done in time)

The Beta 1.7 version will not have RSS support, that will be coming in the next version.
:ok:

[Bobbin Threadbare]

Originally posted by chickenman@Jan 26 2006, 07:52 PM
What ? :P
We have an MVS studio 200 lying around in the house. Now I know you ca make these sort of progerrams in it.

[plix]

Originally posted by chickenman@Jan 26 2006, 05:32 AM
:Splash screen (If I can get it done in time)
ew... why?

[chickenman]

I would like a nice looking splash screen :P

[chickenman]

*bump*
BETA 1.7 is out, read the first post :ok:

[Sean]

Originally posted by chickenman@Jan 31 2006, 06:37 PM
I would like a nice looking splash screen :P
Why haven't you asked me then? :blink:

[chickenman]

Not had time ;)

[punch999]

I must say I like the new version
Good job james

[chickenman]

Thank you very much Punch :P

[punch999]

Come on move it man I need a new version with working RSS.

[chickenman]

You will have to wait a little bit longer, I'm trying to get it to read the XML at the moment.

[win98]

Hows it going with the xml now why did I forget about this topic.
The browser works on my PC by the way.

[chickenman]

It's going ok, but I am thinking of using a different XML Reader library as I don't like the one that comes with the .net framework.

[mika]

A couple of things: You can use the Mozilla engine instead of the Internet Explorer engine by using the ActiveX control from http://www.iol.ie/~locka/mozilla/mozilla.htm.
For the RSS you can use this toolkit from http://blogs.msdn.com/dmitryr/archive/2006/02/21/536552.aspx made specifically for .NET 2.0.
You might want to put up a notice of all the planned functionality for the browser.

[win98]

Okay I rekon you should change to the firefox engine or make 2 versions Internet Explorer and Fire Fox.

[punch999]

He is using IE because it was what was avail to him.If he had the chance to go back and redo it in firefox he would. But this is chicken man. He doesn't have a time machine.

[chickenman]

It would be great if I did :P

Back on topic, I'm considering doing major changes to the browser, because I'm not very happy with the results so far, the main thing I don't like about it is it being based on IE but more or less this leads back to the .net framework which I do not like at all.

I may carry on like this and finish it when I can, but it's not what a want, even if I had used the Mozilla engine.

I'm not sure if I should carry on this project any more, I want to, but there would be many more problems if I try the other way...

I'll keep you posted ;)

(If you want more details on what I 'may' do then contact me on MSN)

[chickenman]

The Abandonia Web Browser and RSS Reader has been abandoned.

[Kon-Tiki]

Seriously, when'll you actually finish something? :blink: Always big proclamations of new projects, but never any full results...

[punch999]

He is busy on his ultima remake project

[chickenman]

I did not want to keep working on this project because I did not like the results so far.

I could have finished it but.. it's not what I wanted it to be.

EDIT:
And yes I do have another project, but you won't be seeing anything of it until I have some graphics on the screen :)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/urg

and it's not a remake it's based on it ;)