Increasingly, students choose to use general search engines for research rather than taking advantage of the resources provided by university libraries. As university libraries offer services such as the careful selection of material and subscriptions to peer-reviewed journals, it is important that the library become integrated into research workflows. Existing technologies on library servers do not provide the level of integration we believe is most helpful to users. LibX is a browser add-on designed to assist research by making library resources more accessible than they are through the library's own tools. It provides a client-side interface to these library services through the web browser. This integration enhances productivity and augments the user's existing information-seeking behavior. We extended the existing Firefox version of LibX into a browser-agnostic framework, allowing LibX services to be provided on multiple browser platforms. We created a toolbar and context menu system, written in C#, to extend the existing LibX features to the Internet Explorer web browser. The primary focus of this work is on the software engineering challenges presented in creating this version. We also designed a new framework for web localization, allowing pages viewed by the user to be modified on the client side by rules written by LibX developers, library staff, or individual users. The framework also provides a way for these rules to be distributed, updated, and composed, enhancing the browsing experience by augmenting it with additional information. The design and behavior of this framework is a secondary focus of this work. / Master of Science

Företaget GUTAB använder idag en frågeanalysmodul som är utvecklat i Visual Basic for Applications i Microsoft Excel. GUTAB fann det intressant att veta om modulen kunde konverteras till webbläsaren Internet Explorer samt vilken teknologi som var lämplig för detta. GUTAB var även intresserade av att veta vilken teknologi som kunde användas för att skapa grafiska manipulerbara objekt.En skrivbordsundersökning genomfördes som omfattade teknologierna ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, ActiveX samt Java applets. Skrivbordsundersökningen utgjordes av två delar där den första delen redogjorde för de två klientbaserade teknologierna ActiveX och Java applets med vilka grafiska manipulerbara objekt kunde realiseras. GUTAB ansåg att ActiveX program var mest lämpliga för detta ändamål.Baserat på skrivbordsundersökningens andra del bestämde GUTAB att ASP och ASP.NET skulle användas för att testa teknologiernas kapacitet att konvertera programlogik samt grafiska objekt från VBA-applikationen i en webbapplikation då dessa två teknologier ansågs som mest lämpliga för en konvertering.Testet som genomfördes visade att det var fullt möjligt att konvertera utvald funktionalitet med båda teknologierna. Dock kunde inte grafiska objekt skapas i asp varför befintliga objekt användes för det ändamålet. Många fördelar identifierades med ASP.NET varför GUTAB beslutade att ASP.net var den mest lämpliga teknologin att använda vid en eventuell konvertering.

HTML 5 and CSS 3 are basic languages, without which today exists in principle any web presentation. Currently, there are in development new versions of these languages, HTML 5 and CSS 3, which gradually begin to be implemented in new versions of most popular browsers. The objective of this thesis is to present an overview of new elements in these languages and the main differences unlike previous versions. Thesis also includes a practical demonstration, in which the new properties are presented. On this practical demonstration was also made the test of support of new elements in four different browsers and results of this test are also part of this thesis.

With Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft changed the way of storing web related information. Instead of the old index.dat files, Internet Explorer 10 uses an ESE database called WebCacheV01.dat to maintain its web cache, history and cookies. This database contains a wealth of information that can be of great interest to a forensic investigator. This thesis explores the structure of the new database, what information it contains, how it behaves in different situations, and also shows that it is possible to recover deleted database records – even when the InPrivate browsing mode has been used.

The goal of the project was to create an extension to Internet Explorer forStatens Tjänstepensionsverk (SPV) which would give the staff the experience ofSingle sign-on (SSO) to external web service providers as well as manage andupdate their passwords in a secure manner. The survey focused on the providersPalasso, ProCompetence and Wera. The extension was created as a BrowserHelper Object (BHO) with C# in .NET. The solution was implemented as aCOM object in a DLL-file that was running in-process with the browser. Theprogram used a locally stored XML file containing URLs, usernames andencrypted passwords to the providers. When a user came to a login page theprogram collected the HTML elements on the page and populated them withdata from the file and logged in the user. Encryption and decryption was solvedwith a symmetric key that was stored in the program. In the XML file was alsothe date for the latest update of the password. If one month had passed, theprogram either gave the user an indication that the password needed to beupdated, or updated it automatically with a new generated password, dependingon the provider. The conclusion was that the extension worked as planned butthat there were improvements to be made regarding the possibility to add newsites to the system. The project also included an analysis of alternative optionsto solve the problem using JavaScript, Add-in Express, or via a portal page. Theconclusion was that none of these were an equally powerful tool as a BHO.

The first browser war took place during the second half the 1990s, and Internet Explorer cameout as the winner over Netscape Navigator. Today a new browser war is being fought withmany competitors and the future is uncertain. The purpose of the thesis is to find out how theweb browser market has developed since the start of the previous conflict, and we ask ourselveshow it will continue to develop in the future. This is accomplished with, among otherthings, interviews, tests and already existing statistics. The thesis' conclusions shows that theweb browser market has developed in a positive way from several perspectives, both for theusers as well as for the web developers. The conclusions also show that the web browser market'sfuture looks stable and indicate a probability that the browser war will transition into anormal, healthy market situation with several competitors.The first browser war took place during the second half the 1990s, and Internet Explorer cameout as the winner over Netscape Navigator. Today a new browser war is being fought withmany competitors and the future is uncertain. The purpose of the thesis is to find out how theweb browser market has developed since the start of the previous conflict, and we ask ourselveshow it will continue to develop in the future. This is accomplished with, among otherthings, interviews, tests and already existing statistics. The thesis' conclusions shows that theweb browser market has developed in a positive way from several perspectives, both for theusers as well as for the web developers. The conclusions also show that the web browser market'sfuture looks stable and indicate a probability that the browser war will transition into anormal, healthy market situation with several competitors.

Mitteilungen des URZ 1/2003

<p>In the last decade, web browsers have seen a remarkable increase of performance, especially in the JavaScript engines. JavaScript has over the years gone from being a slow and rather limited language, to today have become feature-rich and fast. It’s speed can be around the same or half of comparable code written in C++, but this speed is directly dependent on the choice of the web browser, and the best performance is seen in browsers using JIT compilation techniques.</p><p>Even though the language has seen a dramatic increase in performance, there’s still major problems regarding memory usage. JavaScript applications typically consume 3-4 times more memory than similar applications written in C++. Many browser vendors, like Opera Software, acknowledge this and are currently trying to optimize their memory usage. This issue is hopefully non-existent within a near future.</p><p>Because the majority of scientific papers written about JavaScript only compare performance using the industry benchmarks SunSpider and V8, this thesis have chosen to widen the scope. The benchmarks really give no information about how JavaScript stands in comparison to C#, C++ and other popular languages. To be able to compare that, I’ve implemented a GIF decoder, an XML parser and various elementary tests in both JavaScript and C++ to compare how far apart the languages are in terms of speed, memory usage and responsiveness.</p>

<p>Under 1990-talet utspelade sig en bitter kamp om marknadsandelar mellan de två ledande webbläsare Internet Explorer och Netscape Navigator, det så kallade webbläsar-kriget. Kriget hade till följd att webbläsarna blev nästan helt inkompatibla. Sedan dess pågår en ständig utveckling av gemensamma standarder för webben. Idag är förutsättningarna för kompatibilitet mycket bättre än för tio år sidan, men problemet är inte fullständigt avhjälpt. De moderna webbläsare Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 1.5, Opera 8.5 och Safari kan återge en och samma webbsida visas på olika sätt trots att det finns gemensamma standarder. Syftet med denna uppsats är att ta reda på de tekniska orsakerna bakom problemet samt att ta fram lösningsförslag för att skapa en webbsida som är helt kompatibel i de moderna webbläsarna. Uppsatsen innehåller ett omfattande teorikapitel som behandlar definitioner, historik och problem. Teorin kompletteras av tre fältintervjuer med professionella webbutvecklare. Undersökningarna visar att kompati-bilitetsproblem beror på flera faktorer och att det är omöjligt att skapa en heltäckande lösning som kommer åt alla problem. Men genom att kombinera olika tekniker kan man skapa en metod som täcker en stor del av såväl generella som specifika kompatibilitetsproblemen utan att kollidera med rekommenderade standarder.</p> / <p>During the 1990’s the two leading web browsers, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, fought each other in a battle for market shares, the so-called browser war. This war caused almost complete incompatibility between the web browsers. Since then, there has been a continual development of common standards for the web. Today conditions for compatibility are a lot better compared to ten years ago, but the problem is not completely solved. The modern web browsers Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 1.5, Opera 8.5 and Safari can display the exact same web page differently despite common standards. The aim of this essay is to investigate the technical causes of the problem and to develop suggested solutions for creating a web page that is fully compatible in modern browsers. The essay contains an extensive literature study, considering definitions, history and problems. The theory was completed with three field interviews with professional web designers. The investigations show that compatibility problems depend on several factors and that it is impossible to create one exhaustive solution that encompasses all problems. However, by combining different techniques one can create a method that covers a large part of both general and specific compatibility problems without colliding with recommended standards.</p>

In the last decade, web browsers have seen a remarkable increase of performance, especially in the JavaScript engines. JavaScript has over the years gone from being a slow and rather limited language, to today have become feature-rich and fast. It’s speed can be around the same or half of comparable code written in C++, but this speed is directly dependent on the choice of the web browser, and the best performance is seen in browsers using JIT compilation techniques. Even though the language has seen a dramatic increase in performance, there’s still major problems regarding memory usage. JavaScript applications typically consume 3-4 times more memory than similar applications written in C++. Many browser vendors, like Opera Software, acknowledge this and are currently trying to optimize their memory usage. This issue is hopefully non-existent within a near future. Because the majority of scientific papers written about JavaScript only compare performance using the industry benchmarks SunSpider and V8, this thesis have chosen to widen the scope. The benchmarks really give no information about how JavaScript stands in comparison to C#, C++ and other popular languages. To be able to compare that, I’ve implemented a GIF decoder, an XML parser and various elementary tests in both JavaScript and C++ to compare how far apart the languages are in terms of speed, memory usage and responsiveness.