[lug] Netscape/Mozilla plugins

[Rob Riggs]

D. Stimits wrote:

>A sample would be that I'd like my "reply-to" button to check for given
>reply addresses, and if it sees one, pop up a menu and ask if I'd like
>to switch to some other reply address.
>
This is not something that a plugin can really handle. However, 
Mozilla's source is available to hack on, which is what would be needed 
in this case.

>Another sample, I'd like to create a PostegreSQL address book and
>bookmarks menu, vastly more searchable and categorizable. One odd
>alteration I would also like to do is add CORBA support to this, and
>possibly to the mail box itself (and thus any mail client could use the
>same data if it could reach the program).
>
This one is a little easier if you are prepared for another option. 
Mozilla supports LDAP, which can be layered on top of a database. I've 
used LDAP for a company wide directory in the past and it works quite 
well. Most Linux distributions include the OpenLDAP package. I'm not 
sure if it supports any relational database back-ends yet.

>But neither of the above are MIME handlers. Both of the above would
>require hooks into non-MIME handler parts of the browser/email client.
>
Correct. The plugin mechanism was created for one specific purpose: 
handling new content types as they are invented. It's responsible for 
such horrors as the Flash-only web page. However, with Mozilla you have 
something better -- you can modify the application itself.

-Rob