Extension Manager:API Rewrite:API

AddonManager

The AddonManager is the global API that allows access to all types of add-ons. It hides the differences in implementations presenting a standard interface to developers.

getInstallForURL

Creates a new object representing an add-on installation from a url. Any information provided will be replaced with real details from the add-on once available. This method operates asynchronously.

url
The URL to install the add-on from
callback
A function to pass an AddonInstall to when created
mimetype
The mimetype of the add-on to be downloaded.
hash
A hash to compare the downloaded add-on to (optional).
name
A human readable name for the add-on to be displayed during install (optional).
iconURL
An icon used to represent the add-on during install (optional).
version
The version of the add-on to be installed (optional).
loadgroup
An nsILoadGroup to attach any download channels to for the purposes of correct cookie sending.

getInstallForFile

Creates a new object representing an add-on installation from a local file, properties for the install will be loaded out of the file. This method operates asynchronously.

file
A nsIFile to install the add-on from
callback
A function that will be passed the AddonInstall for the installation
mimetype
The mimetype of the add-on to be downloaded. If not provided file based detection will be used. (optional)

getAllInstalls

Returns the list of known add-on installs. This method operates asynchronously.

callback
A function that will be passed an array of AddonInstalls

getInstallsByTypes

Returns the list of known add-on installs optionally restricting to a set of types of add-ons. This method operates asynchronously.

types
An array of types of add-ons to return (optional)
callback
A function that will be passed an array of AddonInstalls

startInstallation

Starts the install process for multiple AddonInstalls calling the registered extIWebInstallListener to notify about blocked or started installs. This is primarily intended to start installs triggered by content webpages.

mimetype
The mimetype of the installs.
source
The source nsIDOMWindow that triggered the installs (optional).
uri
The nsIURI that triggered the installs (optional).
installs
An array of AddonInstalls.

addInstallListener

Adds a listener that will be notified about any events in any install. The same listener will not be added multiple times.

listener
An InstallListener

removeInstallListener

Removes a previously added install listener.

listener
An InstallListener

getAllAddons

Gets all the installed add-ons. This method operates asynchronously.

callback
A function that will be passed an array Addons

getAddonByID

Gets an installed add-on. This method operates asynchronously.

id
The ID of the add-on to retrieve
callback
A function that will be passed an Addon representing the add-on or null if there is no installed add-on with the given ID

getAddonsByIDs

Gets an array installed add-ons with specific IDs. This method operates asynchronously.

ids
An array of IDs of the add-ons to retrieve
callback
A function that will be passed an array Addons in the same order as the ids array

getAddonsByTypes

Gets an array of the installed add-ons optionally restricting to a set of types. This method operates asynchronously.

types
An array of types of add-ons to return (optional)
callback
A function that will be passed an array of Addons representing the installed add-ons

getAddonsWithOperationsByTypes

Gets an array of add-ons that currently have pending operations requiring an application restart to complete. This method operates asynchronously.

types
An array of types of add-ons to return (optional)
callback
A function that will be passed an array of Addons representing the add-ons with pending operations.

addAddonListener

Adds a listener that will be notified about changes to add-on states for all installed add-ons. The same listener will not be added multiple times.

listener
An AddonListener

removeAddonListener

Removes a previously added add-on listener.

listener
An AddonListener

Addon

An Addon represents an instance of an installed add-on. Some of these listed properties may be relevant for only XPI style add-ons.

Required Properties

id (string, readonly)

The ID of the add-on. No other installed add-on will have the same ID.

version (string, readonly)

The version of the add-on.

type (string, readonly)

The type of the add-on.

isCompatible (boolean, readonly)

True or false depending on whether the add-on is compatible with the current version and platform of the application.

providesUpdatesSecurely (boolean, readonly)

True if the add-on has a secure means of updating.

blocklistState (number, readonly)

The current blocklist state of this add-on.

appDisabled (boolean, readonly)

True if this add-on cannot be used in the application based on version compatibility, dependencies and blocklisting.

userDisabled (boolean)

True if the user wants this add-on to be disabled. Listeners may be notified of the change asynchronously.

scope (number, readonly)

Indicates what scope the add-on is installed in, per profile, user, system or application.

isActive (boolean, readonly)

True if the add-on is currently functional. For some add-ons this will change immediately based on the appDisabled and userDisabled properties, for others it will only change after an application restart.

name (string, readonly)

The name of the add-on.

creator (string, readonly)

The creator of the add-on.

pendingOperations (number, readonly)

A bitfield holding all of the current operations that are waiting to be performed for this add-on. Operations are generally deferred when a restart is necessary to accomplish them.

permissions (number, readonly)

A bitfield holding all the the operations that can be performed on this add-on. Operations my be restricted based on system policies (e.g. the system administrator may not allow certain add-ons to be uninstalled), add-on type (e.g. themes may not be disabled) or add-on state (e.g. an incompatible add-on cannot be enabled).

Optional Properties

description (string, readonly)

The description of the add-on.

installDate (Date, readonly, optional)

The Date that the add-on was first installed.

updateDate (Date, readonly, optional)

The Date that the add-on was most recently updated.

optionsURL (string, readonly, optional)

The url of the options dialog to display for this add-on.

aboutURL (string, readonly, optional)

The url of the about dialog to display for this add-on.

iconURL (string, readonly, optional)

The url of the icon that represents this add-on.

homepageURL (string, readonly)

The homepageURL of the add-on.

screenshots (array of string, readonly, optional)

The urls of preview images for the add-ons.

developers (string array, readonly, optional)

The developers of the add-on.

translators (string array, readonly, optional)

The translators of the add-on.

contributors (string array, readonly, optional)

The contributors of the add-on.

applyBackgroundUpdates (boolean, automatic)

Whether updates found in the background for this add-on will be applied automatically.

pendingUpgrade (Addon, readonly, optional)

If a this add-on will be replaced on the next restart this property will hold the new Addon object.

install (AddonInstall, readonly, optional)

The AddonInstall that will install this addon. Only available if this addon is in the process of being installed.

Required Methods

isCompatibleWith

Tests whether this add-on is known to be compatible with a particular application and platform version.

appVersion
An application version to test against
platformVersion
A platform version to test against

findUpdates

Starts an update check for this add-on. This will perform asynchronously and deliver results to the given listener.

listener
An UpdateListener for the update process
reason
A reason code for performing the update. Can be one of the following:
  • AddonManager.UPDATE_WHEN_USER_REQUESTED
  • AddonManager.UPDATE_WHEN_NEW_APP_DETECTED
  • AddonManager.UPDATE_WHEN_NEW_APP_INSTALLED
  • AddonManager.UPDATE_WHEN_PERIODIC_UPDATE
  • AddonManager.UPDATE_WHEN_ADDON_INSTALLED
appVersion
An application version to check for updates for (optional)
platformVersion
A platform version to check for updates for (optional)

Optional Methods

uninstall

Uninstalls this add-on. If possible the uninstall will happen immediately otherwise it will wait until the next application restart. Listeners may be notified of the uninstall asynchronously.

This method must be defined if an add-on has the permission PERM_CAN_UNINSTALL.

cancelUninstall

Cancels uninstalling an add-on if it is pending uninstall.

This method must be defined if an add-on ever has the pendingOperation PENDING_UNINSTALL.

hasResource

Checks whether a file resource is available for this add-on. For XPI style add-ons for example it tests whether the named file was included in the package.

path
A "/" separated path for the resource.

getResourceURL

Gets a url to the file resource.

path
A "/" separated path for the resource.

AddonInstall

Represents an add-on installation through various states from being available through to being installed. Some of the properties may not be accurate depending on where the install came from and may change once the add-on has been downloaded and checked.

name (string, readonly)

The name of the add-on being installed.

version (string, readonly)

The version of the add-on being installed.

iconURL (string, readonly)

The icon of the add-on being installed.

infoURL (string, readonly)

The URL of release notes for this install.

type (string, readonly)

The type of the add-on being installed.

state (number, readonly)

The state of the installation.

sourceURL (string, readonly)

The url that the add-on is being installed from.

file (nsIFile, readonly)

The file that the add-on is being installed from. This may be null if the add-on is coming from the internet and has yet to be downloaded.

progress (number, readonly)

The progress of any necessary downloads.

maxProgress (number, readonly)

The expected size of any necessary downloads or -1 if unknown.

certificate (nsIX509Cert, readonly)

If the add-on to be installed is signed this is the certificate of the signer. Only available after downloading is complete.

certName (string, readonly)

If the add-on to be installed is signed this is the simple display name of the signer.

existingAddon (Addon readonly)

The #Addon that this install will update. May be null if it isn't updating anything installed. This is guaranteed to be correct after downloading is complete but may be set earlier.

addon (Addon readonly)

The full #Addon that this install will install. Only available after downloading is complete.

install

Starts the install process for the add-on, continuing from whatever state this AddonInstall is already in.

cancel

Stops the install process for this AddonInstall. Normally the install will fall into the Cancelled state and not be restartable.

addListener

Adds an #InstallListener that will only receive events for this install instance.

removeListener

Removes an #InstallListener registered to receive events for this install instance.

AddonListener

AddonListeners are notified about changes to the state of add-ons. Certain state changes may not take effect until the next application restart.

onEnabling

Called when an add-on is about to be enabled.

addon
The Addon that has been enabled
needsRestart
True if an application restart is necessary for the change to take effect

onEnabled

Called when an add-on has been enabled.

addon
The Addon that has been enabled

onDisabling

Called when an add-on is about to be disabled.

addon
The Addon that has been disabled
needsRestart
True if an application restart is necessary for the change to take effect

onDisabled

Called when an add-on has been disabled.

addon
The Addon that has been disabled

onInstalling

Called when a new add-on is about to be installed.

addon
The Addon that has been installed
install
The AddonInstall that is responsible for the install or null if there is no AddonInstall managing the install.
needsRestart
True if an application restart is necessary for the change to take effect

onInstalled

Called when a new add-on has been installed.

addon
The Addon that has been installed.

onUninstalling

Called when an add-on is about to be uninstalled.

addon
The Addon that has been uninstalled
needsRestart
True if an application restart is necessary for the change to take effect

onUninstalled

Called when an add-on has been uninstalled.

addon
The Addon that has been uninstalled

onOperationCancelled

Called when a pending operation for an add-on is cancelled.

addon
The Addon that has had a pending operation cancelled

UpdateListener

Notification about events during an update check for an add-on are passed to an update listener. For a single update check:

  • Either onCompatibilityUpdateAvailable on onNoCompatibilityUpdateAvailable will be called once.
  • Either onUpdateAvailable or onNoUpdateAvailable will be called once.
  • onUpdateFinished will always be called last.

onCompatibilityUpdateAvailable

Called when the update check found compatibility information for the application and platform version that the update check was being performed for.

addon
The Addon that was being checked for updates

onNoCompatibilityUpdateAvailable

Called when the update check found no new compatibility information for the application and platform version that the update check was being performed for.

addon
The Addon that was being checked for updates

onUpdateAvailable

Called when a new version of an add-on has been found for install.

addon
The Addon that was being checked for updates
install
An AddonInstall for the updated version

onNoUpdateAvailable

Called when no new version of an add-on has been found for install.

addon
The Addon that was being checked for updates

onUpdateFinished

Called when the update check is complete.

addon
The Addon that was being checked for updates
error
An error code or 0 if there was no error

InstallListener

An InstallListener is notified during add-on downloads and installs.

onNewInstall

Called when a new instance of AddonInstall is created, primarily so UI can display some kind of progress for all installs.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onDownloadStarted

Called when downloading begins for an add-on install. Only called for add-ons that need to be downloaded. A listener may return false to cancel the download.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onDownloadProgress

Called as data is received during a download. Check the AddonInstall's progress property for the amount of data downloaded and the maxProgress property for the total data expected. A listener may return false to cancel the download.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onDownloadEnded

Called when downloading completes successfully for an add-on install. Only called for add-ons that need to be downloaded.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onDownloadCancelled

Called when downloading is cancelled. Only called for add-ons that need to be downloaded.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onDownloadFailed

Called if there is some error downloading the add-on. Only called for add-ons that need to be downloaded.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install
error
An exception representing the error

onInstallStarted

Called when installation of an add-on begins. A listener may return false to cancel the install.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onInstallEnded

Called when installation of an add-on is complete. The newly installed add-on may require a restart in order to become active.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install
addon
The newly installed Addon

onInstallCancelled

Called when installation is cancelled.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install

onInstallFailed

Called when there is a failure installing the add-on.

install
The AddonInstall representing the install
error
An exception representing the error

onExternalInstall

Called when an add-on is installed through some system other than an AddonInstall.

addon
The newly installed Addon
existingAddon
An Addon that will be replaced by this install or null if no add-on is being replaced
requiresRestart
True if the installation requires a restart