GBM plugin for Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/SeaMonkey

Introduction

This is a plugin for the Webbrowsers Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox and SeaMonkey available for OS/2, eComStation and Windows that extends them with the support of reading all bitmap formats supported by GBM.DLL.

For being able to use it, the following additional files are required:

Note:
GBM.DLL version lower than 1.73 are not supported and will prevent loading of the plugin. Please upgrade to GBM.DLL version 1.73 or higher. If you install the plugin as XPI package, this is automatically ensured.

Note:
This plugin requires that the browser cache is enabled which is normally the browser default.


Supported features

There is the embedded mode with reduced functionality and the fullscreen mode with full functionality. Both viewers automatically detect the file format, so also wrongly named bitmaps often found in the world wide web can be shown.

Fullscreen mode viewer with a load of features:
Embedded mode viewer with slightly reduced functionality compared to the fullscreen mode viewer:

Installing GBM for Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/SeaMonkey

It is recommened to install the plugin as XPI extension.

Install as XPI extension

Simply install the plugin via the Firefox/SeaMonkey built-in mechanism for extensions. For uninstalling remove the extension via Firefox/SeaMonkey Add On Manager. Automatic updates are provided just like for other extensions.

Install manually

Copy npgbm.dll into the plugin directory of your browser. Please check the requirements listed for gbm.dll above. You may copy gbm.dll beside npgbm.dll. This is similar to installation of the XPI extension. The gbm.dll beside npgbm.dll is always preferred.

On OS/2 and eComStation gbm.dll may be shared with other applications by putting it in a directory included in the library search path for DLLs (LIBPATH in CONFIG.SYS). This mechanism is not supported by the Windows plugin version to prevent DLL hijacking attacks. On Windows gbm.dll must reside beside npgbm.dll, otherwise the plugin will not load.

On OS/2 and eComStation the plugin comes with an extended file dialog (built-in GBM File Dialog). The plugin will try to load the GBM File Dialog online help using the following naming scheme:

Save options for bitmap export cannot be specified in the Windows file dialog and thus the plugin will use the default export options of each bitmap format.

The zoom quality the plugin uses to show images as well as other settings can be set by the preferences dialog available from the plugin menu. It may also directly by customized via the configuration file npgbm.cfg. Simply create the configuration file right beside the plugin DLL npgbm.dll using your favourite ASCII text editor and add the options. There is also an example file included in the package. You can use the # sign to start a comment. Everything behind this sign is ignored on this line. If the configuration file does not exist, the plugin will use the default options.

Example of npgbm.cfg :

# The scaling algorithm can be one of the following:
# scaler={simple,nearestneighbor,bilinear,bell,bspline,quadratic,gaussian,mitchell,catmullrom,lanczos,blackman,kaiser}
#
# By default the simple scaler is used. This is the fastest scaler which uses
# less resources compared to all other scalers. Though it provides acceptable
# quality for normal viewing.
scaler=simple

# Defines the number of pages of a multipage image that should be
# calculated in background for faster drawing (costs more memory).
# Always progressive_render_pages/2 pages backward and forward will
# be calculated in background. If not specified, no progressive
# rendering will be used.
progressive_render_pages=2

Testing the plugin:
You can test the correct installation of the GBM plugin with the links provided below.


License of GBM for Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/SeaMonkey

Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Heiko Nitzsche

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:

  1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
  2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.
  3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.

Screenshots

SeaMonkey showing embedded PNM and TIFF images by using the GBM plugin:

GBM plugin embedded (OS/2) GBM plugin embedded (Windows 7)
GBM embedded plugin on OS/2 (German localized view) GBM embedded plugin on Windows 7 (German localized view)


SeaMonkey showing a TIFF image fullscreen by using the GBM plugin:

GBM plugin fullscreen (OS/2) GBM plugin fullscreen (Windows 7)
GBM fullscreen plugin on OS/2 (German localized view) GBM fullscreen plugin on Windows 7 (German localized view)