Reliable and highly scalable web browser with small footprint for the QNX Photon microGUI windowing system

The QNX Voyager™ embedded browser is a highly modular web browser that can run in compact or full mode depending on footprint requirements. It is ideal for high performance embedded devices in environments with limited memory and CPU resources.

This comprehensive technology development kit includes development components, design files, icons, images, and source code.

Technology overview

The implementation of a web browser can take many forms in embedded systems. In some cases, a browser needs to be embedded within other graphical applications where the user may not know a browser is being used. In other cases, a web browser is a stand-alone application with user-controllable preferences for appearance, disk caching, history, bookmarks, etc.

To properly manage different use cases requires a clean separation between the rendering program and the browser control interface. The rendering program (also called the browser engine or browser server) displays the HTML and other browser content in a rectangular graphic surface. The control interface (client program) sends commands to the engine and receives status messages in return. For example, commands to "Go Back" or "Go to a specific URL" can be made. Status information such as "Is the page rendered yet?", "What percent of the page has been rendered?", or "What link is the cursor currently positioned over?" are returned to the control interface.

The control interface is encapsulated within a Photon widget for both command and status as well as for the setup of the graphics drawing surface. This allows for the embedding of web browsers within Photon applications.

Benefits to client/server design

• Both the browser server and the client program can be independently updated
  
• A failure in the browser server can be detected by the control program and the server can recover gracefully. This even includes the ability to restart the server after a severe failure without any restart of the control program
  
• The control interface can be embedded inside any Photon application and controlled programmatically
  
• Different browser servers can be used without any change in client code
  

Technology highlights

QNX Voyager user interface

• Customizable user interface
  
  • Supports standard browser servers - QNX Voyager (HTML 3.2) and QNX Voyager 2™with ACCESS Netfront Technology (HTML 4)
    
  • Allows you to re-skin the user interface (UI) and set resources to enable/disable features to minimize footprint
    
  • UI can be integrated to other browser servers such as ACCESS NetFront and Mozilla using a standard interface
    
• Support for multi-language character set encodings
  
  • German, Japanese, Chinese, and more
    

QNX Voyager browser

• Core embedded browser functionality (HTML 3.2) for closed or tethered environments such as kiosks, terminals, and walled garden clients
  
  • HTML 3.2, HTTP 1.0
    
  • Netscape extensions - frames, tag attributes, Javascript
    
  • Client pull and authentication
    
  • Images - Jpeg, progressive display, transparent and animated GIFs
    
  • Document encoding
    
• Small footprint
  
  • Ideal for limited devices that need to display content from closed systems
    
  • Can run in full or compact display mode to meet footprint requirements
    
• Instant connection to Internet service provider
  
  • Includes Internet dial-up point-to-point (PPP) connector with easy-to-use dialogs and a script editor for automatic login
    
• Plug-in support
  
  • Conforms to Netscape plug-in interface
    

Business benefits

Adapt to changing market needs

• Easily increase capabilities of your Photon applications by including embeddable web browser support
  

Get to market faster

• Save integration time by using a high-level browser widget that is controlled with a simple state and event model
  
• Increase system reliability by having the browser client automatically detect and recover from browser engine errors, ultimately reducing testing and integration time
  

Add in browser support without increasing hardware costs

• Ensure footprint needs are met by tuning browser resources such as disk, page and image cache sizes
  

Specifications

• Application builder
  
  • Includes design files in multiple form factors for UI customization, including a full desktop capable browser
    
• Source code
  
  • QNX Voyager user interface
    
• Development kit
  
  • QNX Voyager 2 (ACCESS NetFront) user agent in binary form
    
• Binary redistribution rights
  
  • QNX Voyager UI and QNX Voyager HTML 3.2 user agent*
    
• Right to manufacture
  
  • Royalty-free license to distribute QNX Voyager web browser technology for use in OEM devices in association with valid licensed copies of the QNX Neutrino RTOS
    

*Royalties apply to the use of the ACCESS NetFront user agent. Contact your sales representative for more details.

QNX Voyager server support

For a list of Voyager 2 features, see the QNX Voyager 2 embedded browser.

HTML 3.2 support

• Lists
  
• Tables
  
• Forms
  
• Image maps
  

Netscape extensions

• Frames
  
• Many tag attributes
  
• Javascript
  

Client pull authentication

• Basic
  
• Digest
  
• Cookies
  

HTTP

• HTTP 1.0
  

Proxy support

• Provide access through firewalls
  

Images

• JPEG
  
• Progressive display
  
• Transparent GIFs
  
• Animated GIFs
  
• Configurable image cache
  

Document encoding

• International support
  

Other

• SOCKS
  
• Global history
  
• Client pull
  
• FingerGopher
  

System requirements

• QNX Momentics® development suite v6.3 (development)
  
• QNX Neutrino RTOS v6.3 (runtime)
  
• QNX Photon microGUI® windowing system (runtime)
  
• PowerPC, SH-4, ARM, MIPS or x86 target