diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b4c2cc..da7f4ad 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,12 +1,85 @@
-#Clipboard Inserter
+# Native Inserter
-A simple addon whose purpose is to automatically insert contents of clipboard into the page.
+Fork of the Clipboard Inserter whose purpose it is to automatically insert the
+data received by an in this repository included native application into a
+broswer page.
-If you're looking to install this addon, it's available here:
+It is useful for use with text extraction tools like Textractor for looking up
+words in the browser.
- - [Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/clipboard-inserter/)
- - [Chrome web store](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clipboard-inserter/deahejllghicakhplliloeheabddjajm)
+This repository contains the browser plugin, native application and native
+manifest. Textractor plugin is not included.
-Or, if the links don't work, just search for "clipboard inserter" in the appropriate addon market.
+Currently this addon is not available on any of the browsers Addon Store.
-On Chrome, if you want to use this extension with local files (the `file://` protocol), you have to enable the "Allow access to file URLs" setting in the extension details.
+Only tested on GNU/Linux with Firefox.
+
+## Install
+
+You will need:
+
+ - This code
+ - A go compiler
+ - A browser supporting native extensions (eg modern Firefox, Chrome)
+
+1) Compile and install the native application
+2) Put the native application manifest into your browsers expected directory
+3) Install the addon in your browser
+
+For this to be useful you will also need a sender, for example a Textractor
+plugin (not included) and a browser page that the can be inserted to.
+
+## How does it work
+
+The browser plugin starts a native application which creates a raw TCP listen
+socket for incoming connections.
+
+One or more applications (eg Textractor plugin) will connect to this socket and
+send messages. Messages consist of a 4 Byte little-endian length header and
+UTF-8 payload.
+
+The native application will forward the UTF-8 data to the browser plugin which
+in turn will insert the text into a webpage similar to the original clipboard
+version.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+The native application is writing to stderr. Browsers usually forward this to
+their default log.
+
+The browser addon itself
+
+## (Not so) FAQ
+
+#### Why not the clipboard
+
+Abusing the clipboard functionality to transfer data to the browser is ugly. It
+does also not work under Wayland which does not allow unfocused applications to
+access the clipboard.
+
+(No opinion here whether the native application/messaging setup is more or less
+ugly than the clipboard approach)
+
+It also has the bonus of working with VMs without setting up clipboard
+forwarding between host and guest.
+
+#### Why a native application
+
+The APIs including TCP listen sockets are no longer supported by modern
+Browsers. The only alternative would be connecting to a WebSocket server, but
+this has two drawbacks:
+
+1) The API only supports the client side protocol and does not implement a
+server. This would mean the sending side would need to be the server and the
+native application the client, which would not work with multiple senders.
+
+2) The sending side (eg C++ Textractor plugin) will need to implement a
+Websocket server which is a lot more work than raw tcp.
+
+## Bugs
+
+- Native messaging requires native host order prefixed messages. Golang does
+ not have an easy way to retrieve this information. The native application
+ will use little-endian which is the default on most common architectures
+- Messages over the native-messaging 1MB limit will be discarded instead of
+ split up
diff --git a/bg/index.html b/bg/index.html
index b92c5d4..53d007c 100644
--- a/bg/index.html
+++ b/bg/index.html
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+
diff --git a/bg/monitor.js b/bg/monitor.js
index c19a41f..6329829 100644
--- a/bg/monitor.js
+++ b/bg/monitor.js
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
console.log("I'm alive")
-let previousContent = ""
let listeningTabs = []
-let timer = null
let options = defaultOptions
chrome.storage.local.get(defaultOptions,
o => options = o)
+
chrome.storage.onChanged.addListener((changes, area) => {
if(area === "local") {
const optionKeys = Object.keys(options)
@@ -16,78 +15,45 @@ chrome.storage.onChanged.addListener((changes, area) => {
options[key] = changes[key].newValue
}
}
- updateTimer()
}
})
-chrome.browserAction.onClicked.addListener(() => {
- chrome.tabs.query({ active: true, currentWindow: true },
- ([t]) => toggleTab(t.id))
+chrome.browserAction.onClicked.addListener((tab) => {
+ toggleTab(tab.id)
})
-window.onload = () => {
- document.querySelector("#paste-target").addEventListener("paste", e => {
- if(e.clipboardData.getData("text/plain") === "") {
- e.preventDefault() // prevent anything that is not representable as plain text from being pasted
- }
- })
-}
+napp = browser.runtime.connectNative("native_inserter")
+napp.onDisconnect.addListener((p) => {
+ if (p.error) {
+ console.error(`Disconnected native app due to an error: ${p.error.message}`)
+ }
+})
+napp.onMessage.addListener((msg) => {
+ console.log("Received: " + msg.body)
+ const pasteTarget = document.querySelector("#paste-target")
+ pasteTarget.innerText = msg.body
+ const content = pasteTarget.innerText
+ listeningTabs.forEach(id => notifyForeground(id, content))
+})
function toggleTab(id) {
- const index = listeningTabs.indexOf(id)
- if(index >= 0) {
- uninject(id)
- listeningTabs.splice(index, 1)
- updateTimer()
- chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({ text: "", tabId: id })
- } else {
- chrome.tabs.executeScript({file: "/fg/insert.js"})
- listeningTabs.push(id)
- updateTimer()
- chrome.browserAction.setBadgeBackgroundColor({ color: "green", tabId: id })
- chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({ text: "ON", tabId: id })
- }
+ const index = listeningTabs.indexOf(id)
+ if(index >= 0) {
+ uninject(id)
+ listeningTabs.splice(index, 1)
+ chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({ text: "", tabId: id })
+ } else {
+ chrome.tabs.executeScript({file: "/fg/insert.js"})
+ listeningTabs.push(id)
+ chrome.browserAction.setBadgeBackgroundColor({ color: "green", tabId: id })
+ chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({ text: "ON", tabId: id })
+ }
}
function notifyForeground(id, text) {
- chrome.tabs.sendMessage(id, {
- action: "insert", text, options
- })
+ chrome.tabs.sendMessage(id, { action: "insert", text, options })
}
function uninject(id) {
chrome.tabs.sendMessage(id, { action: "uninject" })
}
-
-function checkClipboard() {
- const pasteTarget = document.querySelector("#paste-target")
- pasteTarget.innerText = ""
- pasteTarget.focus()
- document.execCommand("paste")
- const content = pasteTarget.innerText
- if(content.trim() !== previousContent.trim() && content != "") {
- listeningTabs.forEach(id => notifyForeground(id, content))
- previousContent = content
- }
-}
-
-function updateTimer() {
- function stop() {
- clearInterval(timer.id)
- timer = null
- }
- function start() {
- const id = setInterval(checkClipboard, options.monitorInterval)
- timer = { id, interval: options.monitorInterval }
- }
- if(listeningTabs.length > 0) {
- if(timer === null) {
- start()
- } else if(timer.interval !== options.monitorInterval) {
- stop()
- start()
- }
- } else {
- stop()
- }
-}
diff --git a/manifest.json b/manifest.json
index a5c94d5..b939db8 100644
--- a/manifest.json
+++ b/manifest.json
@@ -1,22 +1,23 @@
{
"manifest_version": 2,
- "name": "Clipboard Inserter",
- "version": "0.3.2",
+ "name": "Native Inserter",
+ "version": "1.0.0",
- "description": "A simple addon that inserts clipboard contents into the page. Uses icon made by Google from www.flaticon.com licensed by CC 3.0 BY",
+ "description": "An addon that inserts contents received from a native application into a page. Forked from clipboard-inserter. Uses icon made by Google from www.flaticon.com licensed by CC 3.0 BY",
"icons": {},
- "applications": {
+ "browser_specific_settings": {
"gecko": {
- "id": "@clipboard-inserter"
+ "id": "@native-inserter",
+ "strict_min_version": "50.0"
}
},
"permissions": [
"activeTab",
- "clipboardRead",
"storage",
+ "nativeMessaging",
"file://*/*"
],
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@
"32": "icon/icon32.png",
"64": "icon/icon64.png"
},
- "default_title": "Toggle clipboard inserter"
+ "default_title": "Toggle Native Inserter"
},
"background": {