Blitz meets FireFox!

DoorMan 0.1, fully operational test.
Download: http://crumbsoftware.f2o.org/files/BlitzPlugin.zip
Because I do not know how to write the installer for this, you will need to follow the steps below.
How to install:
--Dump SelfEmbedder.exe, along with BlitzClose.dll, in C:\. Sorry to you weird non-C-drive people... I hard-coded this test.
--Go into the folder for your web browser... There is hopefully a plugins directory. Into there, dump npbasic.dll.
--Now, run BlitzPlugin.htm using the web browser into which you have dumped the plugin.

Hopefully, it will work.

Background information is in the HTML file.

Other notes:
-If you don't believe that this works, or want to see something to further demonstrate the awsomeness of this technique, check the "Put Blitz 3d inside of anything" thread that BlitzPlugin.htm has a link to. Run Main.exe with this new SelfEmbedder in place. You'll see that it still works perfectly :)
-Contrary to popular belief, scroll bars work perfectly on here.
-I have problems where the app completely panics when another instance of itself pops up, but that usually happens with B3d. I guess that's more reason to be using Max for the actual program. Although, the program that I'm striving to be better than (Blaxxun Contact) also does this... AND it has a memory leak :)
-Does anyone happen to know of/have code that acts as a full alternative to Blitz's mouse input commands? The default commands appear to be affected in a bad way by the window gaining and losing focus.

Enjoy!
What do you think?

Wow. Now that is cool.. So you have to have the blitz app on your harddrive for it to work?

Yes, it has to be on the hard drive.
The plugin could be programmed to download it automatically, though. (Although, then again, the plugin also as to be on the hard drive until I get it properly registered...)

Good work, Mr Pick. Following this with interest.

maximo

Of what use it is if it can't run on Internet Explorer? If you can get this working with IE as well and I'll even buy it it you decide not to give it for free! ;)

Hotcakes

Well you could use this for Firefox and OSA for IE. =]

maximo

#10

>OSA for IE.

What OSA?

#11

Yes this is very good. It's odd how people stumble upon things at similar times. We've got a similar project in development designed purely for delivery of games, it can actually deliver any .exe via the web. We currently use OSA for IE and will be using our plugin for Firefox and compatible browsers.

Our method differs slightly from what is being done here, we do not rely on your application being able to attach it'self to a window handle, we attach to you. We've had no issues so far with regard to mouse or keyboard controllers - we do have some minor issues and expect that everything will be finished and shipping within a week or so.

Here is a link of the plug in action : http://indiepath.com/tim/firefox.avi

#12

To run this in IE: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/plugins/plugin-host-control.html

I just haven't gotten around to it yet :)

Neat little thing... I have Stevie G.'s TANX game working within the web browser. I just added my SelfEmbedder startup code to the top, if api_isWindow(Parent)=0 then end, to the main loop, and compiled.
http://crumbsoftware.f2o.org/files/TANX_selfembedder.zip ... Just replace C:\SelfEmbedder.exe with this.

If you want, you can do the same using the SelfEmbedder framework here:

;SelfEmbedder Framework, ©2005, by Dylan McCall

;Include "Consts_Win32.bb"
Const GWL_STYLE           = (-16)
Const WS_CLIPCHILDREN     = $02000000
Const WS_BORDER           = $00800000
Const WS_CAPTION          = $00C00000

Global hWnd = SystemProperty("AppHWND") ;the blitz runtime window

Global Parent = CommandLine() ;handle of parent window passed to embedder via the command line
style=GetWindowLong(Parent,GWL_STYLE)
style = style Xor WS_CLIPCHILDREN 
SetWindowLong Parent,GWL_STYLE,style
	
api_SetParent hWnd,Parent

;Create the 3d scene according to parent
Graphics3D GadgetWidth(Parent),GadgetHeight(Parent),0,2
;Redecorating Blitz Runtime Window
api_MoveWindow(hWnd,0,0,GadgetWidth(Parent),GadgetHeight(Parent),1)
style=GetWindowLong(hWnd ,GWL_STYLE)
style = style Xor WS_BORDER + WS_CAPTION ;style = style Xor WS_DISABLED
SetWindowLong hwnd,GWL_STYLE,style

;Your Code Here

Repeat	
	;Your Code Here
Until api_IsWindow(Parent)=0
End




;From WinBlitz3d, by Kev
Function GadgetX(gadget)

	gadgetRect = CreateBank($24)
	apiGetWindowRect(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(gadgetRect)) 
	
	parentRect = CreateBank($24)
	parenthWnd = apiGetParent(gadget)
	
	If(apiGetWindowRect(parenthWnd,GRAB_BankAddr(parentRect)))
		
		WINDOWINFO = CreateBank($3C)
		PokeInt WINDOWINFO,0,BankSize(WINDOWINFO)
		
		If(apiGetWindowInfo(parenthWnd,GRAB_BankAddr(WINDOWINFO))) 
			Return PeekInt(gadgetRect,0) - PeekInt(parentRect,0) - PeekInt(WINDOWINFO,$34)		
		Else
			Return -1 
		EndIf
	Else
		Return PeekInt(gadgetRect,0)
	EndIf
	
End Function

Function GadgetY(gadget)

	; buggy 'runtimewindow'
	
	gadgetRect = CreateBank($24)
	apiGetWindowRect(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(gadgetRect)) 
	
	parentRect = CreateBank($24)
	parenthWnd = apiGetParent(gadget)
	
	If(apiGetWindowRect(parenthWnd,GRAB_BankAddr(parentRect)))
		
		WINDOWINFO = CreateBank($3C)
		PokeInt WINDOWINFO,0,BankSize(WINDOWINFO)
		
		If(apiGetWindowInfo(parenthWnd,GRAB_BankAddr(WINDOWINFO))) 
	
			TITLEBARINFO = CreateBank($2C)
			PokeInt TITLEBARINFO,0,BankSize(TITLEBARINFO)
			apiGetTitleBarInfo parenthWnd,GRAB_BankAddr(TITLEBARINFO)
			
			barsize = PeekInt(parentRect,4)-PeekInt(TITLEBARINFO,4) - 1
			Return barsize + PeekInt(gadgetRect,4)-PeekInt(parentRect,4) 
		
		Else
			Return -1 
		EndIf
	Else
		Return PeekInt(gadgetRect,4)
	EndIf

End Function

Function GadgetWidth(gadget)

		WINDOWINFO = CreateBank($3C)
		PokeInt WINDOWINFO,0,BankSize(WINDOWINFO)

		If(apiGetWindowInfo(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(WINDOWINFO)))
		
			gadgetRect = CreateBank($24)
			apiGetWindowRect(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(gadgetRect)) 
			
			GadgetWidth = PeekInt(gadgetRect,8) - PeekInt(gadgetRect,0)
			
			Return GadgetWidth
				
		Else
			Return -1
		EndIf
		
End Function

Function GadgetHeight(gadget)

		WINDOWINFO = CreateBank($3C)
		PokeInt WINDOWINFO,0,BankSize(WINDOWINFO)

		If(apiGetWindowInfo(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(WINDOWINFO)))
		
			gadgetRect = CreateBank($24)
			apiGetWindowRect(gadget,GRAB_BankAddr(gadgetRect)) 
			
			GadgetWidth = PeekInt(gadgetRect,12) - PeekInt(gadgetRect,4)
			
			Return GadgetWidth
				
		Else
			Return -1
		EndIf


End Function

Function GRAB_BankAddr(bank)

	Local CUSTOM_Bank_ADDR

	; create the bank to get address of bank for our custom winproc.
	If CUSTOM_Bank_ADDR = 0 Then
		;
		CUSTOM_Bank_ADDR = CreateBank(256)
		Restore CUSTOM_GET_BANK_ADDR
		Repeat
			Read e_data
			If e_data = 999 Then Exit
			PokeByte CUSTOM_Bank_ADDR,next_entry_data,e_data
			next_entry_data = next_entry_data + 1
		Forever
	EndIf

	Bank_Addr = apiCallWindowProc(CUSTOM_Bank_ADDR,apiGetDesktopWindow(),0,0,bank)

	; return bank.
	Return Bank_Addr

End Function
.CUSTOM_GET_BANK_ADDR
Data $3E,$8B,$44,$24,$10 				; MOV EAX,DWORD PTR DS:[ESP+10]
Data $C3 				 				; RET
Data 999

Please report anything that does and does not work.

For some reason, it would appear that Blitz applications cannot make sounds when they aren't in a top-level window. A bit of a shame, but it could be fixed.

I've decided that the best way to remove that horrible hard-coded stuff from my plugin is to pass an argument to it through HTML... It may be interesting.

That's interesting, Indiepath :)
I've actually been hoping to do this for about a year, but I only recently discovered how to do a web plugin thanks to Wikipedia (and reverse thanks to Google).
How are you grabbing the window? (Methinks you are using CreateProcess and keeping track of it from there, but that's only a wild uneducated guess.)

#13

Ah that's a little secret for now (handles and parents). I've just sorted out all the window positioning, stupid API!

BlackJumper

#14

This continues to look very interesting. Thanks for pioneering and for sharing your findings. Keep up the good work.

Is it likely that dynamic HTML variables could be used to influence the embedded Blitz window ? (e.g. use Javascript form elements to communicate with the game)

splinux

#15

great! very useful!

#16

Quick Question, how are you terminating the process in the plugin? how are you killing the blitz.exe?

Matt McFarland

#17

check out this firefox competition: http://www.codersworkshop.com/viewpost.php?id=41139

#18

Wow, thanks Matt :D
*Glances at Indiepath with evil eyes*
jk :)

Quick Question, how are you terminating the process in the plugin? how are you killing the blitz.exe?

I'm terminating the Blitz exe through the Blitz exe:

Repeat	
	;Your Code Here
Until api_IsWindow(Parent)=0

#19

Hmnn okay.. I need to do some more work on killing the process.

#20

I'm sorry, I seem to be missing something here.

What is the actual purpose?
How is this any different (apart from being very clever) from asking someone to download a normal demo from your site?

#21

Money! Having a game that is accessible to more people = more orders. More orders = More money $$$ Ching Ching.

#22

How is this any different (apart from being very clever) from asking someone to download a normal demo from your site?

It's not about providing demos of games! Think about the wide array of applications you could develop, when you can have them actually brought up automatically, by a web browser, in order to view particular kinds of files... You could make the next Flash plugin, have a file viewer plugin for your own program, or design a new video file format and have it instantly able to run inside of a web browser :)

This plugin allows you to do stuff like those big plugins such as Quicktime, Flash and RealPlayer. The user downloads the program to be plugged in, and now a brand new way to view content over the Internet is instantly unlocked!

#23

Sorry - still not getting this.

You're still asking the user to download something first (a plugin, whatever).
Ok, then you hold the actual content/scene to be viewed on your server.
How do your get the plugin to utilise the resources on the server?

#24

How do your get the plugin to utilise the resources on the server?

At the moment, the embedded program is completely standalone. Accessing the plugin's DLL via the Blitz program would fix this... I am considering running a few experiments.

The idea is that the application becomes more useful once it's popped into a plugin interface, because it is activated automatically when needed, it recieves arguments from the HTML document (I got that fully operational just now), and it can be embedded directly inside of the web browser (which gives an excellent feeling of integration).

For now, until I somehow miraculously manage to get the NPAPI to the extent where it can be accessed by Blitz, downloading server content is performed via the embedded program. (Blitz).

#25

it recieves arguments from the HTML document

Hah! Now I see where you're going. Nice one, round of applause and good luck!

Najdorf

#26

I think this has been done already, aint it?

http://www.miniclip.com/supergerball/supergerball.htm

#27

Not with Firefox it ain't.

Dock

#28

Best of luck with this - I can't wait to see this fully fledged in action. The potential for a browser lead blitz3d app is huge.

BlackD

#29

Meh. OSA-kit already does this on the browser that most people are using (including downloading the app). But it'll be nice to see it working on a cross-platform browser. :)

+BlackD

maximo

#30

I just tested OSA-kit and none of the samples worked after I installed it. It was just a page with an image missing and some text saying it's safe to install it. So much for this kit. If I can't run it, there must be lots of other not being able to run it. I tested it using IE.

#31

Meh. OSA-kit already does this on the browser that most people are using (including downloading the app). But it'll be nice to see it working on a cross-platform browser. :)

The idea for this is different from the numerously previously mentioned product. It is to produce file-viewers and such.
What I mean by this is that the web browser can individually decide to use your Blitz-built plugin, if it is installed, in order to view a file. This file could be anything, ranging from images to movies or even your own creation!
The plugin can also, if need be, be called explicitly -- or even be just a plugin that does the same thing as OSA-Kit, being called explicitly with an argument containing the EXE file to be executed (or downloaded and executed).

The important thing that makes this totally different from OSA-Kit and others like that is that it is not accessed directly by the HTML file. The HTML document simply has the Embed tag for a particular file type, or a particular plugin, and then the browser will decide to run your plugin, or any other plugin that handles that file type, in order to view the file.

For the purpose of running demos of games without needing to download them, I am certain that OSA-Kit does a better job, because it downloads directly through the web browser, whereas a Blitz app doing that would be openning up an entirely new connection, and using a regular Blitz downloading routine... which isn't exactly fast.

As an example of how this plugin which I have built is unique, I will use this example: I could write a plugin with a MIME type of images/jpeg, and a file type setting of .jpg. This plugin could be built to, instead of displaying the image, display a scene depicting a bunch of tanks duking it out where the image would otherwise be.

I'll have my full thing coming soon (except, presently, without sound...), at which point hopefully all will be better explained... Just sorting out passing arguments to the HTML file. Why are there so many ways to create a string???!!!!
It is now able to boot up the correct file. (A temporary feature for debugging purposes which the programmer is expected to remove, replacing FilePath with a relative path to the executable in the browser plugin folder... or a path stored in the registry).

Dock

#32

Do you think it would be possible for the Blitz app to pass values back to the server also? Could it, for example, be used as a primative paint application, or anything that the user does?

#33

Only time will tell...
The Blitz app could potentially communicate with the same DLL that executed it (the web plugin dll)... so it is quite possible. Not yet, though... I only started this a week ago :)