Firefox/Projects/Console

Summary

Create an interactive Console to help web developers understand everything that happens during the creation of a web-page. Console entries will be time-stamped objects representing errors, network traffic, javascript events, DOM/HTML mutation and logging output. The Console will also have an interactive command line for evaluating javascript against the current webpage and an interactive Workspace window for entering and evaluating larger blocks of code.

For web-developers, the Console should include a logging API and a richer interactive environment for executing live javascript against the active webpage.

The Console should fully-replace the existing Error Console window.

Current Status

Prototype underway, but currently stalled as priorities shift. Still hoping to return to it though not sure we'll have a decent alpha-level for end of this quarter.

Next Steps

• Return to code, maybe some hacking with ddahl.
• proper eval of js from command-line
• Migrate workspace (tentative name) to separate xul file
• shorten timestamps in log output
• create proper, threadsafe hud-service
• add console object / API to globals (window)

I think these key features represent a suitable 0.1 release milestone.

Related Bugs

bug 529086

Team

• Project Lead: robc

Designs

initial Console mockup, courtesy Johnathan Nightingale

Goals/Use Cases

• Replace Error Console
• Provide rich logging experience for web developers
• Provide interactive JS editing environment
• Provide simple object inspection (either via console or separate UI)

Non Goals

• chrome manipulation
• provide enough information to actually recreate the webpage from the logs
  • e.g., displaying images in expanded boxes
• overly pretty display. it's text!