How to install WebKit builds?
 

I may be confused on how to install a WebKit build. After downloading the .dmg file and opening the WebKit.app on the disk image Safari is launched. At this point, is the build installed? If not, how do I install it?

When I run System Profiler, it says:

"WebKit:

Version: 418
Last Modified: 4/4/06 4:15 PM
Get Info String: 418, Copyright 2005 Apple Computer, Inc.
Location: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework
Private: No"

How do I corollate the "418" with the WebKit build #?

Thanks,

Dave Burbank

When WebKit is launched, it looks just like Safari. However, its icon is different (gold rimmed compass rather than silver) so you will be able to tell that you are running the WebKit version rather than Safari by looking in your Dock. Note that if you launch Safari as well, it will look like you have two Safaris running at once.

[QUOTE=JKT]When WebKit is launched, it looks just like Safari. However, its icon is different (gold rimmed compass rather than silver) so you will be able to tell that you are running the WebKit version rather than Safari by looking in your Dock. Note that if you launch Safari as well, it will look like you have two Safaris running at once.[/QUOTE]

Thank you Jonathan. I had been thinking that OmniGroup was recommending that we install a newer version of WebKit which the OmniWeb sneaky peak would use. But I guess that's not the case?

I assumed that when OmniGroup says:

"OmniWeb is using a modified version of WebKit based off of revision 13295. You can download a nightly build of WebKit.app based on a similar version of WebKit from WebKit Nightlies. There isn't a WebKit Nightly directly corresponding with this revision however. We recommend testing against Revision 13302."

So, what we are really doing is having the ability to compare how the WebKit application renders a page to how OmniWeb renders a page?

And, downloading a nightly build of WebKit will not affect how the OmniWeb application functions because it uses its own "built-in" WebKit code?

Thanks,

Dave

The idea of having the WebKit to compare against is so you can:

1. check to see if strange behaviour is due to OmniWeb or WebKit
2. check to see if a regression has been introduced into WebKit versus the Safari.

Using WebKit has no impact on either Safari or OmniWeb as it is self-contained.

You got it, Dave.

WebKit is a no-frills browser which is extended to build OmniWeb or Safari. The extension occurs at the level of coding and compiling, so we end users can't mix and match on our own.

Sneaky peeks will have problems. The problem can be in either WebKit or in the code Omni adds to extend WebKit. If an OmniWeb problem also appears in WebKit, then the issue is with WebKit code and should be reported to and fixed by Apple. If it appears only in OW then it is probably in the code Omni added onto WebKit, and thus something for Omni coders to fix.

WebKit development is ongoing. For stability and sanity, OmniWeb is based on one fairly recent WebKit code version. The corresponding WebKit compiled application, or something very near it, is what they recommend for testing to see if sneaky peek bugs are in WebKit or Omni code. If you find a bug and determine that it is in the WebKit used as basis for OmniWeb, you can then check against a more recent WebKit Nightly release to see if Apple has corrected it.

At first I was confused, but now I'm pretty sure this is how it works.

Tom

[QUOTE=Burbank]Thank you Jonathan. I had been thinking that OmniGroup was recommending that we install a newer version of WebKit which the OmniWeb sneaky peak would use. But I guess that's not the case?[/QUOTE]

No, that is the case. I think the confusion stems from the WebKit system framework and WebKit nightly (build) being both often referred to simply as "WebKit." The nightly is basically the Safari wrapper on the WebKit system framework.

The context the OG supplies is a link to the nightly build with a similar version as to the one OW 5.5 is using. Omni is not asking for you to download the WebKit source code and build it yourself.

WebKit confusion
 

I myself found the instructions confusing. I downloaded the recommended webkit, launched it, found it to launch instead of install, found that it looked like Safari, quit it, copied it to Applications and left it there.

do we need WebKit or not?
should it be running in the background or placed in a special place?

Sounds like you had it working fine. It helps to determine if a bug is in OW or WebKit.

[QUOTE=Gregory]I myself found the instructions confusing. I downloaded the recommended webkit, launched it, found it to launch instead of install, found that it looked like Safari, quit it, copied it to Applications and left it there.

do we need WebKit or not?
should it be running in the background or placed in a special place?[/QUOTE]
In a nutshell:

1. OmniWeb 5.5 is based on WebKit but the version it uses (I assume) will be a part of the OmniWeb package itself.

2. Safari will use the system-wide version of the WebKit framework (I assume)

3. The WebKit application you download is like OmniWeb - its version of WebKit is bundled as part of the application. It looks exactly like Safari when it is running because it is Safari, just using a newer version of WebKit.

Note: You can run all three at once if you want to because they all use independent versions of WebKit.

The confusion stems from the developers of WebKit the framework choosing to call their Nightly builds WebKit [i]as well[/i], even though it is a bundled application.

Now, why do you want to have the WebKit, as the bundled application, that OmniWeb is currently based on?

So that any issues with rendering or other UI bugs can be checked against the WebKit application - if that app suffers the same issue then the bug is in the WebKit framework and needs to be reported to Apple and the WebKit developers. If it is only in OmniWeb then it needs to be reported to OmniGroup. Make sense now?

perfect sense! thank you.