"Don't Email Eric" Page
This page is obsolete and no longer actively updated. Feel
free
to copy its contents and create your own version if you wish. For
current
information see the new Netscape Technology Evangelism / Developer
Support
site at http://developer.netscape.com/evangelism/.
Remember: With every email question
or bug report, please include (1)
your
exact OS version, and (2) your exact Navigator Version or Mozilla Build
Number. Netscape can't answer a question
or
reproduce a bug without this info, so you're wasting your own time and
delaying Netscape's response if you don't include it!!!
Greetings! I no longer work at Netscape. So if you have a question
about Netscape products or technologies, please
contact Netscape, not me. I am leaving this page up for reference by
Netscape
customers and content developers but won't be actively maintaining it;
the Technology Evangelism/Developer Support group at Netscape has
posted
a replacement site at http://developer.netscape.com/evangelism/.
While at Netscape, I was Group Product Manager for Tools and
Components
at Netscape. My responsibilities included the Gecko browser engine (80%
of my time), JavaScript in the client (10% of my time), the Open JVM
Interface
(10% of my time), and the Mozilla plug-in API (10% of my time). You'll
note that the percentages added to more than 100%.
Before that, I was the Technology Evangelist at Netscape for
JavaScript,
then for DHTML, then for Commerce Applications. I also wrote the Cross-Browser
DHTML Presentation Template and led Netscape's streaming
audio initiative.
Because of this, I get a lot of questions. So I created this page to
help people find information on their own. That way, people could find
the answers to most questions faster on their own without waiting to
hear
from me, and I had more time left over (on my nights and weekends!) to
answer the questions that remained.
So, before you contact Netscape, please consult this list of
self-help
resources. In particular:
-
if you have a question about how to do something using JavaScript,
DHTML,
HTML 4.0, CSS, DOM, XML, XUL, or Skins, please post your question
to
the appropriate DevEdge and/or Usenet newsgroups. (See DevEdge
newsgroups home for a list of all the newsgroups.)
-
if you wish to provide general design ideas or participate in design
discussions
for the browser itself, visit http://www.mozilla.org/
and please post your comment in the appropriate mozilla.org
newsgroup;
design discussions are carried out in the open within these newsgroups,
so that's the appropriate way to get involved in defining the features
of the browser
-
if you have a specific bug report or enhancement requests for
Mozilla/Netscape
6, please see the section below on Filing Bug Reports
That way, knowledgeable people can answer your question, and everyone
will
learn together by holding discussions in open newsgroups rather than in
private email. Thanks for cooperating to increase everyone's
productivity!
The groundbreaking new browser from Netscape, Netscape 6, is based
on
the open source Mozilla browser under ongoing development at mozilla.org.
In fact, the main differences on any given build date between the two
are
that the Netscape browser has the Netscape branding (the "N" logo and
the
Netscape name) and also bundles the Sun Java Virtual Machine (in the
Complete
and Custom configurations on Windows) and some plug-ins according to
agreements
between Netscape and its partners.
Contents: Where to Find Information About:
Support/How To Questions on Netscape Products and
Technologies
-
Do you have an end-user question about the features of Netscape
Communicator?
-
Are you a developer?
-
For free developer support, please go to http://developer.netscape.com/support/index.html
and sign up for an Community membership in the Netscape DevEdge
Program.
This will enable you to post questions to the DevEdge newsgroups and
get
support from the developer community.
-
For an individual developer support response on demand, if you have a
specific
technical question on a shipping Netscape product or technology, please
go to http://developer.netscape.com/support/index.html,
sign up for a Community membership in the Netscape DevEdge
Program,
and use the support
form to submit your question. This provides you with access to
on-demand
email support from our developer support engineers for which you will
be
charged on a per-incident basis. (Note that this support option is
available
only for shipping products and technologies. For help on beta or
pre-beta
products and technologies, please post a question to the appropriate
newsgroup.)
-
If after filing a DevEdge Support Call (for Nav4) or posting a question
to a newsgroup (for Mozilla/Netscape 6) you choose to email me
directly,
please include in your email the DevEdge Support Call number or the
newsgroup
posting so I know that you tried using those resources first. Note that
I don't have time to answer many inquiries directly and no response is
guaranteed.
How You Can Help Gecko, mozilla.org, and Web
Standards
Filing Bug Reports
-
Found a bug in Mozilla milestone builds?
-
Please read:
-
... then please file a good bug report, using either the easy-to-use Bugzilla
Helper Wizard , or the template and the advanced UI at http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/,
being sure to include all necessary information to reproduce the bug
such
as OS version (such as Win98,
WinNT
4.0 SP3 or HP/UX 10.20) and Mozilla build
number
(such as "1999100618", visible in the bottom right corner of the
Mozilla
window)
-
if you have the time, please attach
to the
bug report a simplified test case
(an
HTML page which has only the markup necessary to trigger the bug, and
no
more)
Gecko Layout Engine
-
DevEdge Developer Area for Netscape Gecko at http://developer.netscape.com/gecko/
-
Want to get announcements from Netscape of new info and resources for
Gecko
developers? Join the gecko-list mailing list! (This is a one-way alias
for announcements from Netscape to Gecko developers only; it isn't a
discussion
list, so you'll get few messages.) Subscribe
or unsubscribe.
-
"Where can I get the latest version of Gecko/Netscape 6/the
Mozilla
browser?"
-
if you find a bug, please submit it as explained under Filing
Bug Reports
-
Mozilla newlayout project page at http://www.mozilla.org/newlayout/
-
Gecko BugAThon at http://www.mozilla.org/newlayout/bugathon.html
is a great way for anyone who knows HTML and/or CSS to get involved and
make a real difference in ensuring standards compliance!
-
standards support
-
articles about Gecko
mozilla.org
CodeStock
Ensuring Your Site, Content, and Apps are
Standards
Compliant and Compatible
-
Make sure your client-side JavaScript client
sniffers
are ready for the "Mozilla/5.0" navigator.userAgent string in Mozilla,
Netscape 6, and the AOL Gateway appliance:
-
Make sure your
server-side
client sniffers and CGIs are ready for (a) the Mozilla/5.0 HTTP
USER_AGENT
string, and (b) the HTTP 1.1 CONTENT_TYPE string and its CHARSET
argument:
-
Update: Netscape 6 and Mozilla now don't send the
optional
CHARSET argument of the HTTP 1.1 CONTENT_TYPE string because too many
CGI
scripts are broken by this. But you might as well fix your CGI script
so
that it can handle that argument if/when future browsers/versions send
it. Why be vulnerable and non-compliant when you don't have to be?
-
"Wait, you mean that the branded product
'Netscape 6'
has 'Mozilla/5.0' at the start of its user agent string?"
-
Yes. "Netscape 6" is the public name and branding of the new browser
product
from Netscape. "Netscape 6" is what end users will see on the splash
screen
and everywhere else. "Mozilla/5.0" is the internal, technical indicator
of cross-browser compatibility that will be is at the start of the user
agent string in Mozilla, Netscape 6, the AOL Gateway appliance, and
other
browsers and devices based on the Mozilla/Netscape Gecko codebase. It
is
what client-sniffing code will look for when determining what kind of
browser
it's running on. So if your client sniffer finds "Mozilla/5.0" at the
start
of the user agent string, it knows that the code is running on the
Mozilla
browser, Netscape 6, or another browser or device based on the Mozilla
codebase.
-
Learn how to enhance existing
content and
web applications to support W3C standards at http://www.stopbadtherapy.com/standards.shtml
-
Find more articles explaining how to upgrade your Nav4 and IE4/5
content
to support W3C standards at http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/JavaScript/W3C_DOM/Technical_Articles_and_TechNotes/Upgrading_Nav4_and_IE_Content/
-
Also check out http://www.mozilla.org/docs/web-developer/
-
"What should I do if I find a web
page
that doesn't work on Netscape 6 because the web page isn't
standards-compliant?"
Please inform the web page's owner that they need to upgrade their
content
and code to support web standards.
HTML 4.0
XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
RDF (Resource Description Framework)
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
W3C DOM (Document Object Model)
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
SVG is not be supported in the first release of Netscape 6; it was
never
a committed feature for the first release. However, Netscape is
strongly
supportive of SVG and there is an SVG
Enablement Project underway on mozilla.org
to enable support in future releases.
Standards
Client-Side JavaScript
DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
DHTML Presentation Template (DevCon Presentation
Template)
Netscape 6
-
"Could you please send me a copy of
Netscape
6 so that I can make sure my site works on it?" Download one of the
following:
-
the most recent release of Netscape 6 from http://home.netscape.com/
-
for even more up-to-date testing, any more recent milestone (or even
daily)
build of the Mozilla browser (on which Netscape 6 is based) from http://www.mozilla.org/.
If your site is ready for Mozilla, it's ready for subsequent releases
of
Netscape 6.
Navigator 4 Issues
Mozilla Skins / Themes
Themes enable you to customize the look of the browser.
My Sidebar
XUL (XML-based User-interface Language)
XPConnect
XPConnect makes it possible to script native XPCOM binary components
from
JavaScript.
Navigator Plug-ins
-
Are you an end-user of a plug-in?
-
Do you want to find, download, or update a plug-in?
-
Do you have an end-user question about the features of a plug-in for
Netscape
Communicator?
-
Contact the maker of the plug-in for technical support.
-
Do you have a question about plug-ins in general?
-
Are you a developer?
-
Navigator 3/4 plug-in API
-
Mozilla/Netscape 6 enhancements to the plug-in API
Java
-
For general questions about Java:
-
Navigator 2-4 provided support for Java through the Netscape Java
Virtual
Machine.
-
Mozilla/Netscape 6 support Java virtual machines through the Open JVM
Interface
(OJI). This enables Mozilla/Netscape 6 users to use any OJI-compliant
JVM
of their choice on their platform.
-
On Win32 and Solaris, Netscape 6 will bundle the Sun Java 2 Standard
Edition
JVM. For information and developer support for the Sun JVM, please see
http://java.sun.com/
-
On the Macintosh, Netscape 6 supports Java through the Apple Macintosh
Runtime for Java. For information and developer support for the Apple
MRJ,
please see http://www.apple.com/java/
-
Other OJI-compliant Java Virtual Machines are available. Ask the vendor
of your favorite JVM when the JVM will be OJI compliant.
-
If you have feedback regarding the OJI architecture, you may post it in
the mozilla.org newsgroup netscape.public.mozilla.java
-
For developer support regarding the use of Java within Netscape 6, see
the vendor of your OJI-compliant JVM.
-
"Can I get the source code for the Java
Virtual
Machine from Netscape or mozilla.org?"
-
No. Netscape uses the source code for the Java Virtual Machine under
license
from Sun Microsystems. The terms of that license do not permit Netscape
to distribute the source code for the JVM. If you want the JVM source
code,
obtain a license and the source from Sun
Microsystems. Note: if you are building a mozilla-based browser on
a platform for which the JVM binary is already available, you do not
need
the JVM source to support Java in your browser. Instead, thanks to the
Open JVM Interface, your users can plug any OJI-compliant JVM binary
into
your own browser and Java applets will work within your browser.
Commerce Applications
Streaming Audio
-
if you need technical support for RealNetworks products and
technologies:
If you'd like to reach me about something other than Netscape issues,
send
email to the email address:
mail2eric [at symbol] stopbadtherapy.com
(Please type the address into your mail client.)
The URL of this page is http://www.stopbadtherapy.com/answers.shtml
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