Add-on Compatibility for Firefox 17

November 8, 2012

Firefox 17 will be released on November 20th. Here’s the list of changes that went into Firefox 17 that can affect add-on compatibility. There is more information available in Firefox 17 for Developers, so you should read that too.

General

Flip __exposedProps__ to default-safe. We have been talking about this upcoming change for a while. Read Exposing add-on objects to content safely for more information.
enablePrivilege. This feature has been deprecated for a while, and its code is being progressively removed from Firefox. It no longer works as expected, so you should look for alternatives if you rely on it.
Remove XHR.onuploadprogress. This property is non-standard, so it was removed. For alternatives, look at the XHR docs.
Turn javascript.options.xml.content off by default. This disables E4X entirely for content. E4X is also on a removal path, so you shouldn’t use it.
Implement toString of function objects by saving source. If your add-on uses eval and function.toString to monkey-patch existing functions, this change will most likely break it. As usual, we recommend avoiding this technique as much as possible.
Certificate of a signed extension is validated on each startup. The change here is that the signature in a signed extension will only be checked once on install instead of every time Firefox starts.
Don’t allow alert/confirm/prompt in onbeforeunload, onunload and onpagehide. The title says it all. This prevents some cases where pages force users to stay.
Throw an exception when attempting to add a non-preserved weak map key. This should only concern you if you use WeakMap.

XPCOM

Add a new nsIFilePicker::ShowAsync method. nsIFilePicker::Show is now deprecated, and the asynchronous alternative is what you should favor.
Eliminate checkLoadURI() and checkLoadURIStr(). checkLoadURIWithPrincipal() should be used instead.
Separate message managers into senders and broadcasters. This changes the way messages are sent an received, and eliminates the nsIChromeFrameMessageManager interface.
Javascript-global-constructor objects should be passed a window reference. If your add-on registers a global constructor and it takes arguments, you should look into this bug.
Update GetCodebasePrincipal callers to use the correct “data jar”. This bug temporarily renamed the getCodebasePrincipal function, breaking some add-ons on Beta. The change was reversed, so no code change is required.

New!

Top-level XUL windows should support size constraints. This means we now fully support minwidth, minheight, maxwidth, and maxheight for top-level XUL windows.
Need the ability to extract the most representative color from a favicon. I thought this was interesting and potentially useful. The new interface is documented here.

Additionally, the load handler problem that appeared in Firefox 16 should now be fixed in Firefox 17.

Please let me know in the comments if there’s anything missing or incorrect on these lists. If your add-on breaks on Firefox 17, I’d like to know.

The automatic compatibility validation and upgrade for add-ons on AMO will happen next week, so check your email.

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15 comments on “Add-on Compatibility for Firefox 17”

custom.firefox.lady wrote on November 8, 2012 at 4:20 pm:

Link text in first paragraph should read “Firefox 17 for Developers” (not 16).

My Stay-Open Menu version 2.0 breaks on Firefox 17, but an updated version 2.0.1 with the fix has already released on AMO.
1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 9, 2012 at 9:44 am:
  
  Thanks for the correction!
André wrote on November 9, 2012 at 12:13 am:

my addins work all, but version 17 seems to have Javascript issues. Some forum software like IPB is partial broken in Firefox 17 for me.
1. André wrote on December 6, 2012 at 10:08 am:
  
  Firefox 18 Beta 2 fixed it for me.
anonymous wrote on November 10, 2012 at 2:42 pm:

firefox 17 breaks “tab utilities” (one of the best firefox add-ons):
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-utilities/
1. Dimitri wrote on November 14, 2012 at 3:45 pm:
  
  And the bug 590755 doesn’t show any recent activity. Sigh. The Tab Utilities’ developer mentions that he probably can to catch Fx for the release 18 or 19:
  http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=12481673#p12481673
2. Bertram wrote on December 20, 2012 at 8:08 pm:
  
  Is there a method to check your active Firefox add-on usage before upgrading?
  
  (What would be nice in the Firefox options for upgrading is to allow upgrades only once all actively used add-ons have full support in the new Firefox version. After all computers should do what they do best, admin work, such as checking and cross checking status of items.)
Xavier wrote on November 14, 2012 at 8:33 am:

Thanks for this information.

What about E4X ? I get conflicting information between
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/E4X
that says ” E4X is deprecated. It will be disabled by default for content in Firefox 16, disabled by default for chrome in Firefox 17, and removed in Firefox 18.”
and
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Firefox_17_for_developers
that says E4X is disabled for content in FF 17

And I see it still working for chrome in release 18.0a2

I have created a document bug : https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=811746 just in case.

Thanks !

PS: sorry if this got posted several time, using Google Chrome browser I got a blank page, and retried.
PPS: sorry for using Google Chrome.
a. porter wrote on November 21, 2012 at 9:33 am:

IT IS ALL WELL AND GOOD THAT YOU FIX BUGS, UPDATE/MAKE BETTER (BETTER THAN WHAT?) FIREFOX. BUT HERE I SIT, 45 MIN., A TOTAL BEGINNER, (READ: “EMBRYO,”) AT THIS WHOLE NET/FF/et al-THING (I HAVE INTERNET SINCE SEP. 2012-STAYING IN FRANCE FOR THE MOMENT), AND NOW HAVE LOST THE PERFECT (MY POINT OF VIEW) TAB MIX PLUS, WHICH FF SIMPLY ANNOUNCED, A F T E R, I HAD UPDATED TO FF17, IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FF17. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHICH ADD ON FOR MY TABS IS AS GOOD AS (READ: EASY TO USE AND UNDERSTAND) AS TAB MIX PLUS? OR, HOW DO I UN-UPDATE TO FF17? HELP…LOST I AM.
1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 21, 2012 at 9:37 am:
  
  We recommend that you keep the add-on disabled until the new version is released. We know the developer is working on a fix, so it will probably be available soon.
  1. Dimitri wrote on November 21, 2012 at 10:16 am:
    
    I see a big
    “NEXT VERSION UPDATE WILL BE ON JANUARY 2013”
    
    in the main page of Tab Mix Plus in amo.
    
    “Works with Firefox 4.0 and later”
    At least the compatibility info should to be updated…
    1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 21, 2012 at 10:48 am:
      
      If you try installing it now, Firefox should tell you it’s incompatible. AMO will continue saying it is compatible with 4.0 and later, unfortunately.
Milo wrote on November 26, 2012 at 3:33 pm:

Since update 17 some javascript seems to be broken for my website too, the menus with hover over display don’t display at all. The javascript comes from a DotNetNuke menu.
1. André wrote on December 6, 2012 at 10:08 am:
  
  Install the Firefox 18 Beta 2. This fixed it for me.
Naota wrote on January 20, 2013 at 8:30 am:

Add on developers can’t keep up with this ridiculous rapid release cycle, that constantly disables addons .

This negates the main reason for using Firefox.

Might as well switch to Chrome or IE.

General

XPCOM

New!

custom.firefox.lady wrote on November 8, 2012 at 4:20 pm:

Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 9, 2012 at 9:44 am:

André wrote on November 9, 2012 at 12:13 am:

André wrote on December 6, 2012 at 10:08 am:

anonymous wrote on November 10, 2012 at 2:42 pm:

Dimitri wrote on November 14, 2012 at 3:45 pm:

Bertram wrote on December 20, 2012 at 8:08 pm:

Xavier wrote on November 14, 2012 at 8:33 am:

a. porter wrote on November 21, 2012 at 9:33 am:

Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 21, 2012 at 9:37 am:

Dimitri wrote on November 21, 2012 at 10:16 am:

Jorge Villalobos wrote on November 21, 2012 at 10:48 am:

Milo wrote on November 26, 2012 at 3:33 pm:

André wrote on December 6, 2012 at 10:08 am:

Naota wrote on January 20, 2013 at 8:30 am: