Firefox bugs

[WabUfvot5]

Ja, some extensions are flaky. One of my current gripes is pop-up blocking. It's not implemented correctly at all IMO and doesn't always work (sometimes the blocked icon appears but no site page to click, sometimes clicking the page doesn't work).

[MsSparkie]

"Awww, if I tell, then that ruins the *air of mystery* doesnt it??"

Why do I picture a nut cracker now???

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Jebediah

Ja, some extensions are flaky. One of my current gripes is pop-up blocking. It's not implemented correctly at all IMO and doesn't always work (sometimes the blocked icon appears but no site page to click, sometimes clicking the page doesn't work).

Of course there are web programmers out there who brag that their popups or popunders will defeat various blockers; it's like the endless war between spammers and SpamAssassin.

So I suppose "doesn't always work" is to be expected.

[WabUfvot5]

I come from using Galeon which is sadly unsupported now. When you'd click a link it would open it, pop-up or not. Sure there were a few that got by but a surprisingly low amount. With Firefox you click and get a a dialog, click on icon to select the site. That's a lot of extra clicking to me.

As for the times it doesn't work it's on sites like MLB.com or other big sites. I can't figure out the reason for the behavior either.

I miss Galeon

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Jebediah

I come from using Galeon which is sadly unsupported now. When you'd click a link it would open it, pop-up or not. Sure there were a few that got by but a surprisingly low amount. With Firefox you click and get a a dialog, click on icon to select the site. That's a lot of extra clicking to me.

Mmmm....most annoying pop-up are the result of Javascript. I have links that open new windows set to open new tabs instead, and I have tabs set to load in the background. Actual pop-ups for me just result in the pop-up blocker bar displaying at the top of the page, which offers you the opportunity to change the policy for that site. You then have to reload the "offending' page if you decide to let it run..but if I change the policy I change it sitewide.

Truly annoying behavior (eg. crawly cockroaches or animated Flashholes who walk out in front of the text you're trying to read while talking) result in severe Adblock death penalties for the serving domain.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Not for a long, long time. I assume you had Java enabled in Tools/Options/Content.

I found it! Apparently some self-extracting zip installers failed to set a registry key that allowed Java in Firefox. I got a registry patch, and everything's Javalicious again.

Which is cool, 'cause I've been learning Java and it would be nice to be able to see the results if I get around to doing any browser stuff.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

I found it! Apparently some self-extracting zip installers failed to set a registry key that allowed Java in Firefox. I got a registry patch, and everything's Javalicious again.

Which is cool, 'cause I've been learning Java and it would be nice to be able to see the results if I get around to doing any browser stuff.

Ah, glad you found the problem. Give me a shout if you have any problems learning Java; I've been working with it since 1996 and hold the SCJP and SCWCD certifications.

I can't say enough good things about The Java Tutorial. And jEdit. BlueJ can be a good learning tool too.

[Happy Monkey]

Thanks. I've been using "Head First Java" in a study group at work. It's a good book for study groups, but not the best for reference afterwards. I've also been using jEdit. Do you happen to know a way to disable the global abbreviation autocompletion set when the Java one is enabled, other than redefining the ones that come up?

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Thanks. I've been using "Head First Java" in a study group at work. It's a good book for study groups, but not the best for reference afterwards. I've also been using jEdit. Do you happen to know a way to disable the global abbreviation autocompletion set when the Java one is enabled, other than redefining the ones that come up?

The Head First books are pretty good for getting concepts across...the Tutorial makes a much better reference.

If I recall correctly the autocomplete in jEdit is done by plugins, so check Plugin Options on the Plugins memu to see which one you have installed; should be a simple matter to configure it to your liking....

Oh, wait...there's also an built-in abbreviations gadget...

Originally Posted by jEdit Help

Abbreviations

Using abbreviations reduces the time spent typing long but commonly used strings. For example, in Java mode, the abbreviation “sout” is defined to expand to “System.out.println()”, so to insert “System.out.println()” in a Java buffer, you only need to type “sout” followed by C+;. An abbreviation can either be global, in which case it can be used in all edit modes, or specific to a single mode.

Abbreviations can be edited in the Abbreviations pane of the Utilities>Global Options dialog box; see the section called “The Abbreviations Pane”. The Java, VHDL. XML and XSL edit modes include some pre-defined abbreviations you might find useful. Other modes do not have any abbreviations defined by default.

Edit>Expand Abbreviation (keyboard shortcut: C+ attempts to expand the abbreviation named by the word before the caret. If no expansion could be found, it will offer to define one.

Automatic abbreviation expansion can be enabled in the Abbreviations pane of the Utilities>Global Options dialog box. If enabled, pressing the space bar after entering an abbreviation will automatically expand it.

If automatic expansion is enabled, a space can be inserted without expanding the word before the caret by pressing Control-E V Space.

The jEdit help facility is really quite good...I happen to know Slava Pestov who was the lead dev on the project; he's quite concientous.

[Happy Monkey]

Thanks, I saw that. But in that "Utilities->Global options" section, there are abbreviations for "Global" and for "Java". I was hoping for a way to disable "Global" when "Java" was enabled, so when I made a variable called "sum" it wouldn't be automatically turned into a Σ. But I've got a workaround (define "sum" to be "sum" in "Java"), so if you haven't run into this before, don't worry about it.

[dar512]

I can highly recommend these books: Core Java Volume I and Core Java Volume II

I was using Eclipse, but I think it has become too complex for it's own good. I now prefer Netbeans for editing/debugging. Netbeans has improved enormously in the last couple of years. If you haven't tried Netbeans recently, it is well worth trying. Like Eclipse, it is free.

I agree with Maggie the tutorials are very useful, but this is the link that I keep handy.

This page is also open a lot while I code: API JavaDoc.

[Happy Monkey]

Cool, thanks. I suspect, however, that Eclipse may become the standard at work.