MozillaZine

Comparator: Compare the Rendering of a Page in IE and Mozilla

Thursday November 13th, 2003

Vazz wrote in to tell us about Comparator, a Windows tool for comparing the rendering of pages in both Internet Explorer and Gecko. A Comparator preview release is available from the Comparator GotDotNet Workspace. It requires the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1, Mozilla and Internet Explorer.

#1 Been there, done that.

by robdogg

Thursday November 13th, 2003 10:02 AM

Here is an early version that appeared on mozillazine almost 5 years ago.

http://www.mozillazine.org/screenshots/acidbox.html Look at the screenshot in the 4th row, 2nd column.

#2 Can't get it to work

by Malc

Thursday November 13th, 2003 11:42 AM

Does this work with the GRE that ships with Mozilla 1.4.1? I tried the tool but it just clocked out my CPU to 100% without the main application window even appearing. I have the latest versions of IE and .Net.

#3 Been there, done that. .NET

by polidobj

Thursday November 13th, 2003 2:01 PM

This has been done in HTML-Kit which has no framework requirement. Just register a Mozilla control - from netscape 7 even - and you can see the page rendered in both IE and Gecko side by side. But Comparator uses it in the .Net environment. I've gotten the control to work in a simple Visual Basic.Net 2002 program.

Malc: Comparator uses the Mozilla activeX control. It needs to be registered to work and mozilla does not do that for you. I have not tried Comparator though. I used netscape 7's Mozilla control for HTML-kit. For Mozilla 1.4+ the control will be found with the GRE. My Moz 1.4 control was in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\mozilla.org\GRE\1.4f_2003062408.

I also see the control with Kmeleon 0.8 and Moz Firebird 0.7. So they may work too.

#7 Re: Been there, done that. .NET

by Malc

Thursday November 13th, 2003 6:25 PM

Yes, I think I registered it just fine in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\mozilla.org\GRE\1.4.1f_2003100816

That version number looks a bit newer to me. I'd be tempted to get the source and load it up in VS.NET, but I can't be bothered to create a passport (yeah: I'm paranoid).

#10 Re: Re: Been there, done that. .NET

by polidobj

Friday November 14th, 2003 1:49 PM

Source, what source? You mean a few lines of code. It didn't take me long to have my pet project be able to open a page in both controls. Definitly not worth the hassle of getting a passport. Sheesh, why not have your own home page to mirror the downloads or at least a free host page. Hell he'd be just as good if not better off being on MozDev. The only reason I can see having a gotdotnet workspace is to get the project more exposure because it has a different audience.

Another intesting point is that it does make a difference which Mozilla control you register. I see from my pet project (nicknamed Mozdi) that the browser identification (user agent string etc.) of the control comes up as Netscape 7, whose control I registered. It's not surprising though.

#4 Hypertext 'Comparator'

by mikeyc

Thursday November 13th, 2003 4:24 PM

polidobj wrote: "This has been done in HTML-Kit which has no framework requirement."

Exactly. In fact, you can call the MOZ activeX control through an HTA (Hypertext Application) so it doesn't have to be built into a program at all.

I put the following example together in 5 minutes (save it to disk with an .hta extension)...Windows only, sorry:

http://www.zeit.ca/external/zeit_mozie/zeit_mozie.hta

Top frame is Mozilla and bottom is IE. You must register the control for it to work just like you do with 'Comparator' or 'HTML-Kit'. I plan on making it prettier and more functional in time.

#11 Re: Hypertext 'Comparator'

by stvb

Saturday November 15th, 2003 2:56 AM

Thanks for that, it works very well and just a small application

Great!!

#12 Re: Re: Hypertext 'Comparator'

by mikeyc

Saturday November 15th, 2003 10:15 AM

stvb wrote: "Thanks for that, it works very well and just a small application"

No problem. It's very limited at the moment as I just threw it together to demonstrate that the concept is nothing special and you don't need to install the ".NET framework". There is a lot of room for improvement--anyone who downloaded it prior to November 15th should re-download it: http://www.zeit.ca/external/zeit_mozie/zeit_mozie.hta as I've simplified the interface to a single address bar that controls both windows. Stay tuned at: http://www.zeit.ca/

#13 Re: Re: Hypertext 'Comparator'

by mikeyc

Saturday November 15th, 2003 10:15 AM

stvb wrote: "Thanks for that, it works very well and just a small application"

No problem. It's very limited at the moment as I just threw it together to demonstrate that the concept is nothing special and you don't need to install the ".NET framework". There is a lot of room for improvement--anyone who downloaded it prior to November 15th should re-download it: http://www.zeit.ca/external/zeit_mozie/zeit_mozie.hta as I've simplified the interface to a single address bar that controls both windows. Stay tuned at: http://www.zeit.ca/

#5 Passport required?

by maniac

Thursday November 13th, 2003 4:37 PM

I tried to download this and the first thing it shows me is a "Sign in with Passport" page. Do you really have to sign up with Passport just to try this program?

#6 Re: Passport required?

by Malc

Thursday November 13th, 2003 6:22 PM

I didn't. I recall seeing the login screen when I clicked on the source code though.

#8 Why?

by Wellander

Thursday November 13th, 2003 8:47 PM

Hi, Why compare rendering of a browser.

#9 Why compare rendering of a browser

by mikeyc

Thursday November 13th, 2003 8:58 PM

"Hi, Why compare rendering of a browser."

If you're a web designer it's necessary to do so. If you're not a web designer, I suspect it's simply a matter of curiosity.

#14 Cool, but...

by wwwwolf

Sunday November 16th, 2003 12:15 PM

...what I really need is a web-based solution that wouldn't require a Windows client: give an URL and it sends me back a page with huge PNGs of the site rendered in 20 different versions of different browsers. Won't be happening any time soon, though...

#15 Re: Cool, but...

by mikeyc

Sunday November 16th, 2003 5:02 PM

wwwwolf, I'm not sure if what you wrote is meant to be taken 'tongue-in-cheek' or not, but such a solution does exist. It's called BrowserCam... http://www.browsercam.com/

#16 Re: Cool, but...

by wwwwolf

Monday November 17th, 2003 6:50 AM

I was serious - and wasn't honestly aware of this site. Very interesting site indeed, and has probably taken more than a few headaches to implement.

Would be even cooler if I could afford to use it at their rates, but then again I'm not doing professional things right now =)

#17 good info

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#18 looooooooooooooooooool

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