Ideas about mshtml for GSoC 2014

[Zhenbo Li]

Hello,

I'm Zhenbo Li, a student in Shanghai JiaoTong University, China. I
have been a Wine user for almost 4 years, and I've been preparing for
GSoC for several month.

Since 2013, I've translated some wiki pages into Chinese[1], reported
nearly 40 bugs[2], involved in Appdb[3], and sent few patches[4]. I'm
glad to do more contribution to Wine in 2014.

While using Wine, it is common to face a bug in mshtml[5]. Native
iexplore may be a workaround, but it can cause other problems, too. So
my idea is to implement some functions in mshtml.dll.

I have a rough plan now, and I wish to get your advice. As I have
about 3 months, I want to implement some functions in IHTMLTable,
IHTMLTableCol, etc., and write testcaes for them. I've written some
draft patches for IHTMLTableRow, and I'll send them to wine-patches
after improving them with your advice. I hope I can establish a proper
schedule after communicating with my mentor.

I'm also open to any suggestion, and any comment or advice is great appreciated.

Thank you.

FYI, my first name is Zhenbo, and my last(family) name is Li. So
Zhenbo Li and Li Zhenbo means the same person lol.

[1]: I contributed to FAQ, RegressionTesting, Bugs, etc.
[2]: http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?email1=litimetal%40gmail.com&emailrep...
[3]: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=maintainerView&iId=2816...
[4]: http://source.winehq.org/git/wine.git/?a=search&h=HEAD&st=author&...
[5]: http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?cmdtype=runnamed&list_id=141898&n...

[Zhenbo Li]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my IRC nickname is endle,
and you can find me on #winehackers at 20:30 - 23:30 (UTC +8)
nearly every day.

As it's time to submit proposal, I'll send mine in this week.
I'm open to your suggestions. Thank you.

2014-03-10 12:21 GMT+08:00 Zhenbo Li :
> Hello,
>
> I'm Zhenbo Li, a student in Shanghai JiaoTong University, China. I
> have been a Wine user for almost 4 years, and I've been preparing for
> GSoC for several month.
>
> Since 2013, I've translated some wiki pages into Chinese[1], reported
> nearly 40 bugs[2], involved in Appdb[3], and sent few patches[4]. I'm
> glad to do more contribution to Wine in 2014.
>
> While using Wine, it is common to face a bug in mshtml[5]. Native
> iexplore may be a workaround, but it can cause other problems, too. So
> my idea is to implement some functions in mshtml.dll.
>
> I have a rough plan now, and I wish to get your advice. As I have
> about 3 months, I want to implement some functions in IHTMLTable,
> IHTMLTableCol, etc., and write testcaes for them. I've written some
> draft patches for IHTMLTableRow, and I'll send them to wine-patches
> after improving them with your advice. I hope I can establish a proper
> schedule after communicating with my mentor.
>
> I'm also open to any suggestion, and any comment or advice is great appreciated.
>
> Thank you.
>
> FYI, my first name is Zhenbo, and my last(family) name is Li. So
> Zhenbo Li and Li Zhenbo means the same person lol.
>
> [1]: I contributed to FAQ, RegressionTesting, Bugs, etc.
> [2]: http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?email1=litimetal%40gmail.com&emailrep...
> [3]: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=maintainerView&iId=2816...
> [4]: http://source.winehq.org/git/wine.git/?a=search&h=HEAD&st=author&...
> [5]: http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?cmdtype=runnamed&list_id=141898&n...
>
> --
> Have a nice day!
> Zhenbo Li

[Jacek Caban]

Hi Zhenbo,

On 03/10/14 05:21, Zhenbo Li wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm Zhenbo Li, a student in Shanghai JiaoTong University, China. I
> have been a Wine user for almost 4 years, and I've been preparing for
> GSoC for several month.
>
> Since 2013, I've translated some wiki pages into Chinese[1], reported
> nearly 40 bugs[2], involved in Appdb[3], and sent few patches[4]. I'm
> glad to do more contribution to Wine in 2014.
>
> While using Wine, it is common to face a bug in mshtml[5]. Native
> iexplore may be a workaround, but it can cause other problems, too. So
> my idea is to implement some functions in mshtml.dll.
>
> I have a rough plan now, and I wish to get your advice. As I have
> about 3 months, I want to implement some functions in IHTMLTable,
> IHTMLTableCol, etc., and write testcaes for them. I've written some
> draft patches for IHTMLTableRow, and I'll send them to wine-patches
> after improving them with your advice. I hope I can establish a proper
> schedule after communicating with my mentor.
>
> I'm also open to any suggestion, and any comment or advice is great appreciated.

I think that MSHTML may make a good GSoC project. The application will
probably need some more concrete task. We will also need to see that
you're prepared to the task and sending those patches is a good start.
Here are some comments to your patches:

+
+    ret = nsAString_Init(&val, v);
+    if (!ret){
+        ERR("nsAString_Init(%s) failed!\n", debugstr_w(v));
+        return E_FAIL;
+    }

In case where you control the value assigned to nsAString, like in this
case, use nsAString_InitDepend to avoid unneeded alloc and copy. This is
also infailable, so no error checks are needed.

+    nsres = nsIDOMHTMLTableRowElement_SetAlign(This->nsrow, &val);
+    if (NS_FAILED(nsres)){
+        ERR("Set Align(%s) failed!\n", debugstr_w(v));
+        nsAString_Finish(&val);
+        return E_FAIL;
+    }
+
+    nsAString_Finish(&val);

Release the string just after SetAlign call so that you don't need to do that on each branch.

Same for other patches and they are ready to go to wine-patches.

Cheers,
Jacek

[Zhenbo Li]

Thank you very much!

2014-03-11 17:35 GMT+08:00 Jacek Caban :
> I think that MSHTML may make a good GSoC project. The application will
> probably need some more concrete task. We will also need to see that
> you're prepared to the task and sending those patches is a good start.

If I concentrate on implementing most IHTMLTable* functions, would it be a
good idea?
> Here are some comments to your patches:
> -
> - ret = nsAString_Init(&val, v);
> - if (!ret){
> -
>    ERR("nsAString_Init(%s) failed!\n", debugstr_w(v));
> -
>    return E_FAIL;
> - }
>
> In case where you control the value assigned to nsAString, like in this
> case, use nsAString_InitDepend to avoid unneeded alloc and copy. This is
> also infailable, so no error checks are needed.
> - nsres = nsIDOMHTMLTableRowElement_SetAlign(This->nsrow, &val);
> - if (NS_FAILED(nsres)){
> -
>    ERR("Set Align(%s) failed!\n", debugstr_w(v));
> -
>    nsAString_Finish(&val);
> -
>    return E_FAIL;
> - }
> -
> - nsAString_Finish(&val);
>
> Release the string just after SetAlign call so that you don't need to do that on each branch.
>
> Same for other patches and they are ready to go to wine-patches.

Thank you for your advice. I'll send my fixed patches soon.
> Cheers,
> Jacek

[Jacek Caban]

Hi Zhenbo,

On 03/11/14 15:32, Zhenbo Li wrote:
> Thank you very much!
>
> 2014-03-11 17:35 GMT+08:00 Jacek Caban :
> > I think that MSHTML may make a good GSoC project. The application will
> > probably need some more concrete task. We will also need to see that
> > you're prepared to the task and sending those patches is a good start.
>
> If I concentrate on implementing most IHTMLTable* functions, would it be a
> good idea?

Sorry for the delay. I'm not sure that's the best strategy for having
results that will help users in general. Having all functions
implemented is a nice thing, but many of them don't cause problems in
real world application and web pages. I think I would prefer testing
random web pages and implementing things that they need. This, however,
would be tricky to set goals required for GSoC application. Maybe you
could come up with a mix of both? Start with selected area (say,
IHTMLTable*, not necessarily whole) and move to random APIs required by
pages as the project progresses?

Cheers,
Jacek

[Zhenbo Li]

Hi Jacek,

2014-03-14 22:22 GMT+08:00 Jacek Caban :
> Sorry for the delay. I'm not sure that's the best strategy for having
> results that will help users in general. Having all functions implemented is
> a nice thing, but many of them don't cause problems in real world
> application and web pages. I think I would prefer testing random web pages
> and implementing things that they need. This, however, would be tricky to
> set goals required for GSoC application. Maybe you could come up with a mix
> of both? Start with selected area (say, IHTMLTable*, not necessarily whole)
> and move to random APIs required by pages as the project progresses?

I think work on both of them is a great idea, And I'm glad to do such job.
As you said, it is not easy to set up goals.
I have nearly 12 weeks, so my previous plan is to split them into several
parts:
IHTMLTableCell                              3 weeks
IHTMLTableCol & IHTMLTableRow    3 weeks
IHTMLTableSection                         2 weeks
IHTMLTable                                    4 weeks
(test-cases included)

I don't know if this meets the need of GSoC. Also, is it necessary to add
"fix real work webpage/app problem" in this schedule?

Thank you very much.
> Cheers,
> Jacek

[Austin English]

On Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 8:21 PM, Zhenbo Li  wrote:
> Hi Jacek,
>
> 2014-03-14 22:22 GMT+08:00 Jacek Caban :
> > Sorry for the delay. I'm not sure that's the best strategy for having
> > results that will help users in general. Having all functions
>
> implemented is
> > a nice thing, but many of them don't cause problems in real world
> > application and web pages. I think I would prefer testing random web
>
> pages
> > and implementing things that they need. This, however, would be tricky to
> > set goals required for GSoC application. Maybe you could come up with a
>
> mix
> > of both? Start with selected area (say, IHTMLTable*, not necessarily
>
> whole)
> > and move to random APIs required by pages as the project progresses?
>
> I think work on both of them is a great idea, And I'm glad to do such job.
> As you said, it is not easy to set up goals.
> I have nearly 12 weeks, so my previous plan is to split them into several
> parts:
> IHTMLTableCell                              3 weeks
> IHTMLTableCol & IHTMLTableRow    3 weeks
> IHTMLTableSection                         2 weeks
> IHTMLTable                                    4 weeks
> (test-cases included)
>
> I don't know if this meets the need of GSoC. Also, is it necessary to add
> "fix real work webpage/app problem" in this schedule?
>
> Thank you very much.
> > Cheers,
> > Jacek
>
> --
> Have a nice day!
> Zhenbo Li

There are 92 mshtml bugs open in bugzilla, you might browse those for
related reports:

https://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NE...