What it means: This message is an error from the javascript interpreter that probably would have crashed the browser in versions prior to 5.5.x . It is usually caused by javascript running near infinity (too much recursion possibly). The comment tag which lingers might be truncated code (if the browser stops execution, it seems strange things happen).

What caused it: It turns out our error was caused by having the following code both in the header and inline in the body:

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”tipster.js” mce_src=”tipster.js”></script>

As soon as we noticed the inline version and killed it, the issue stopped.

Microsoft has a page explaining the most common cause:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816362

Some people had some luck suppressing the issue with this hack; though, I always think it is better to figure out the source than to place a bandaid:

<script type=”text/javascript”>
//<![CDATA[
self.onerror = function() { return true; }
//]]></script>

oh, and a quick shout out to twin helix, who build some incredibly useful scripts like tipster.

To keep it interesting, Firefox 3.0 is already well into Alpha (version 5 comes out next week), Beta 1 is expected in July of 2007, and they have posted an estimated release of November on their roadmap. You can get more details from the release schedule posted on the Mozilla website. Curious what they are up to? So were we. Mozilla has a site just for us developers stating some of what’s new. Some cool css improvements, a move to javascript 1.8, support for regular expressions, and much more.

Cross-Browser Compatibility: How Many Can YOU Juggle?

Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Opera … well you get the point.

I have to admit, that as a web developer, trying to keep up with all these versions and maintain cross-browser compatibility is down right exhausting. I highly appreciate the auto-update feature, though I honestly wish it would also push people up to the next full version. From our perspective, imagine a world where everyone was on the same version of Firefox and Internet Explorer! Of course, it might be a nightmare when all the sites we are responsible for explode into a million pieces on every major auto-update. If they handed out a developer tester pre-release version so that we could run around and catch all the bugs before the official upgrade date though, that might be acceptable. Point being, oh great gods of browser development, please help us poor web developers out just a little. Some consistency, and if not, at least minimize the number of platforms we have to bow down to.

Online & Offline Applications

According to an article in PC Magazine:

If development goes according to plan, this will be the first version of Firefox-or of any browser, for that matter-to have the three key components needed to support offline Web applications: DOM Storage; an offline execution model; and synchronization. That critical foundation will let free or low-cost Web suites compete with Microsoft software and possibly break the company’s decades-long domination in office productivity apps.

Sounds neat. Of course, if Adobe could just get Apollo stabilized, we would already have that ability. I have to wonder how Firefox will deliver? I also am extremely curious as to how this new generation of applications will deal with security. After all, having something that can read and write from local files while having the freedom to make calls to and download from the Internet is a constant security risk.

Oh My God … Standards You Say?

So what else? According to a post at arstechinca:

The reflow improvements in Gecko 1.9 (included in the latest Gran Paradiso nightly build, but not the alpha release) finally enable Firefox to pass the Acid 2 test, a CSS test case developed by the Web Standards Project to illuminate flaws in HTML/CSS rendering engines. To pass the Acid 2 test, browsers must comply with W3C standards and provide support for a wide variety of features that are considered relevant by web designers. The Acid 2 test has been passed by several other browsers, including Safari, Konqueror, and Opera, but not Internet Explorer. Passing Acid 2 is considered to be a significant milestone in Firefox development.

Oohhh, standards. Ok, that would be a nice change. If only Microsoft would follow suit.

Mac Users Get Some Loving

Oh and you Mac users will be excited: they seem to be spending significant cycles on making sure the Macintosh version will get the attention it needs.

Firefox Learns How to Share a Little Better

Ever notice that once you have about 10 or so tabs open Firefox becomes a horrid memory hog and eats a bunch of your ram? Heck mine even crashes every so often. Well worry no more, Firefox 3 has supposedly resolved this issue.

Places Everybody…

Next we have Places, the revamped bookmark tool that was dropped from 2.0 development. Places will store both bookmarks and browsing history in a database that users will be able to search for sites they want to revisit. As far as browsers go, bookmarks and [browsing] history haven’t changed much since the get go, so anything is probably an improvement.

Private Mode, PDFs that Behave, Cross-Session Downloads, and More…

All that and a few more cool things to boot:

• A private web browsing mode. I guess this would mean no cache, history, password, or entered form information storage.
• Save web pages as PDF files, integrated with history. That would be just awesome.
• Support pause/resume downloads across sessions.

Download and Try Firefox 3 Alpha

For the Brave and Daring: Firefox 3.0 Alpha Release . That said, Mozilla ( and I) suggests you stay on FF2 for all legitimate development.

Version 4

hehhe .. need more, well no fear, because there is already info on Version 4!

According to Wikipedia, planning is in progress for Mozilla 2.0, the platform on which Firefox 4.0 is likely to be based. These changes include improving and removing XPCOM APIs, switching to standard C++ features, just-in-time compilation with JavaScript 2 (known as the Tamarin project), and tool-time and runtime security checks.

So which pluggins do we love?

Firebug
Webdeveloper Toolbar
ColorZilla
Flash Switcher (win only)
MeasureIt
Load Time Analyzer
PDF Download
foXpose
FontFinder
IETab (win only)

Firebug & Webdeveloper Toolbar

This is like the debugger you’d find in traditional development environmentsbut designed for the Web (which means it has to be on the browser). Firebug lets you view and edit HTML and CSS realtime on any page (the page changes instantly). It clearly displays which CSS rules affect the element you select in the style inspector. Moreover, it breaks down the rules that affect the element directly as well as rules it inherits properties from. Then there are the JavaScript debugger and the validity inspectors. Together, these form a very powerful package when trying to track down those mysterious bugs that often appear in complex sites.

ColorZilla

For every time you begrudged having to do a screen shot and paste it into photoshop to figure out the exact color of something, your woes are over. Now you can have your very own eyedropper and zoom tool directly within your browser.

Flash Switcher

Work in Flash? This nifty tool will let you determine exactly which version of the flash pluggin you are currently using to render a swf file. This way you can test for both flash 8 & flash 9.

MeasureIt

Draws out a ruler to measure the exact pixel dimensions of anything on your screen.

Load Time Analyzer

Measure and graph how long web pages take to load. Load Time Analyzer produces graphs that show the occurrence of events such as requests for the page, images, stylesheets, and scripts, along with events like the execution of an onload script. Pretty nifty if you are trying to figure out what has slowed your page to a crawl.

PDF Download

Fixes the fact that mozilla and adobe can’t play in the same sandbox without fighting. You’d think they could figure it out without a pluggin. Allows you to choose if you want to view a PDF file inside the browser (as PDF or as HTML), if you want to view it outside Firefox with your default or custom PDF reader, or if you want to download it! No more waiting for 2 minutes while everything freezes.

foXpose

Like to work with a large number of tabs open? Allows you to see more than one tab at once and quickly view thumbs of all your tabs to find things quickly.

FontFinder

Simply highlight a single element (e.g. a paragraph or a strong tag ), right-click and select `Font Finder`, then marvel as the full CSS text styling of the selected element appears. oohhh… ahhhh.

IETab (win only)

Save yourself the hassle of having multiple browsers open. You can easily see how your web page displayed in IE with just one click and then switch back to Firefox. Wish they had one for safari as well.

So which pluggins do you use?