NPAPI:GuidAttribute

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Status

Under Consideration

Problem Summary

Nearly 100% of all users have at least one plugin installed. Keeping them up to date is not a trivial task as most have multi-step installers and knowing where and how to get the latest version is not clear. The Mozilla Plugins Database is a central repository for tracking plugin versions and installer locations.

Currently plugin detection via Mozilla's Plugin Checker (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/) is based on the plugin's name and mimetype. This makes detection difficult as the algorithm to match plugins is not trivial (https://wiki.mozilla.org/PFS2#General_Algorithm). A unique method of identifying plugins via a guid (similar to addons on addons.mozilla.org) allows for a very simple API for browsers to use to find updates to installed plugins.

Existing Discussions and Documentation

Related Documentation

API Requirements

  • Adding a 'guid' attribute

Current Proposal

  • Last modified: July 27, 2010
  • Author: Ryan Doherty (Mozilla)

Open Issues