Plugins:PluginDirectory/HowPluginDetectionWorks: Difference between revisions

Plugins:PluginDirectory/HowPluginDetectionWorks (view source)

20 bytes added , 19 February 2010

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 For example, use the '''Tools > Add-ons''' menu in Firefox to open the Add-ons dialog
 and view the Plugins tab. If you have "Shockwave for Director" installed, you may see
-it reported as version 11.5.6.606.  However, this version is not usually available via
+it reported as version 11.5.6.606.
+However, this version is not usually available via
 <code>navigator.plugins</code>. Instead, client-side detection code has to
-inspect the description - which reads "Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 11.5". We can extract the version "11.5" from that text.
+inspect the description. On Windows, this reads "''Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 11.5''". We can extract the version "''11.5''" from that text.
-So, suppose that there were two releases of Shockwave for Director - say, versions 11.5.6.606 and
+Now, suppose that there were two releases of Shockwave for Director - say, versions 11.5.6.606 and
-.5.7.235. Now suppose that they both list "11.5" as the version in the
+.5.7.235. If they both list "11.5" as the version in the
-description. Since client-side code can't see the real '''fully qualified version number'''
+description, we're stuck. Since client-side code can't see the real '''fully qualified version number'''
 for either plugin, it can't tell a difference between the two. And, if it can't
 tell a difference, then there's no way to decide whether an upgrade is advisable.