[[UPDATED - 08/11/22 to include Linux paths]]
A lot of people have been having problems getting extensions to work with Prism. This is kind of an expected situation considering that the extensions that are being targeted are designed for use under Firefox, which has a different UI than Prism. This can cause a lot of headaches trying to figure out what’s wrong. There are ways around some of these problems, especially if the extension includes a xul overlay that is compatible with the browser xul for Prism. Or if you can load the chrome url to the main xul overlay in Prism’s input url (which of course requires that you already have the extension installed). Other extensions however, have no hope of working with Prism unless changes are made to the overlays.

I’ve also been running into a problem described by commenter Marcel, here. I’ve been getting a similar error under Windows for different extensions when I try to install them. Don’t know why, and what makes it worse is that these errors crop up in extensions that I’ve had no problems installing before on other computers (maybe I need to have Webrunner installed along side Prism?). I’ve also had problems with version 0.9 not installing and using the included icons for webapp files. I’m going to have to look into that one a bit further before I can comment more on it though.

At any rate, I’m going to list as much information in this post as I can find on Prism to refer back to, then I’m going to create a new post on how to install an extension for Prism manually. I’d also like to post a how-to on getting POW to work under Prism as well, but I don’t know whether or not I’ll get to that (maybe over Thanksgiving break). So, first some links.

LINKS:
Mozilla Labs’ Prism Page – A broad overview of the goals of the Mozilla Prism Project
Mozilla Developer Center’s Prism Page
MDC’s Prism Page on Extensions
Mozilla Labs’ Prism Forum
Mozilla Wiki Prism Page – Along with the Dev Center’s page, a good source for documentation on  Prism
Mark Finkle’s Blog (one of Prism’s developers – BTW – THANK YOU MARK!!!)
SVN for Prism’s source code
List of Prism Contributors on ohloh.net
Douglas Meyer’s Blog post on getting Google Gears to work with Prism
Commenter Manlo’s blog post on getting RTM working with Prism (does not appear to be working)
Wikipedia Entry

Next, here’s a list of all the files that Prism makes use of in the user’s profile directory on Windows and Mac OS X – Linux to come (I don’t have access to my Linux box at the moment).

Default Prisim Folders in User’s Home directory (Windows as of Prism v0.9):

Under C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data\

Prism\
Prism\profiles.ini
Prism\Profiles\
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\cert8.db
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\compatibility.ini
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\compreg.dat
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\cookies.sqlite
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions.cache
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions.ini
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\key3.db
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\localstore.rdf
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\mimeTypes.rdf
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\permissions.sqlite
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\places.sqlite
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\prefs.js
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\secmod.db
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\xpti.dat
Prism\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions\

Under C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data\

Prism\Prism\
Prism\Prism\updates\
Prism\Prism\updates\0\

For Each WebApp Prism creates (Windows as of Prism v0.9):

Under C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data\Prism\

{webapp name}\
{webapp name}\profiles.ini
{webapp name}\Profiles\
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\cert8.db
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\compatibility.ini
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\compreg.dat
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\cookies.sqlite
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions.cache
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions.ini
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions.rdf
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\key3.db
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\localstore.rdf
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\mimeTypes.rdf
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\permissions.sqlite
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\places.sqlite
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\pluginreg.dat
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\prefs.js
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\secmod.db
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\signons3.txt
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\xpti.dat
{webapp name}\Profiles\{random string}.default\extensions\

Under C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data\WebApps\

{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\localstore.json
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\override.ini
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\webapp.ini
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\webapp.js
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\icons\
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\icons\default\
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}\icons\default\{icons included in webapp bundle}

Under C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data\Prism\

{webapp name}\
{webapp name}\Prism\
{webapp name}\Prism\updates\
{webapp name}\Prism\updates\0\
{webapp name}\Profiles\
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\XPC.mfl
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\XUL.mfl
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\_CACHE_001_
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\_CACHE_002_
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\_CACHE_003_
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\_CACHE_MAP_
{webapp name}\Profiles\l05apnbh.default\Cache\{other cache files}

Default Prisim Folders in User’s Home directory (Mac OS X as of Prism v0.9):
Under /Users/{user name}/Library/Application Support/Prism/

Profiles/
Profiles/profiles.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/
Profiles/{random string}.default/cert8.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/compatibility.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/compreg.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/cookies.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions.cache
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/key3.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/localstore.rdf
Profiles/{random string}.default/mimeTypes.rdf
Profiles/{random string}.default/permissions.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/places.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/pluginreg.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/prefs.js
Profiles/{random string}.default/secmod.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/xpti.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions/

For Each WebApp Prism creates (Mac OS X as of Prism v0.9):

Under /Users/{user name}/Library/Application Support/{webapp name}/

Profiles/
Profiles/profiles.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/
Profiles/{random string}.default/cert8.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/compatibility.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/compreg.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/cookies.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions.cache
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions.ini
Profiles/{random string}.default/key3.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/localstore.rdf
Profiles/{random string}.default/mimeTypes.rdf
Profiles/{random string}.default/permissions.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/places.sqlite
Profiles/{random string}.default/pluginreg.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/prefs.js
Profiles/{random string}.default/secmod.db
Profiles/{random string}.default/xpti.dat
Profiles/{random string}.default/extensions/

Under /Users/{user name}/Library/WebApps/{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/

{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/localstore.json
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/override.ini
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/webapp.ini
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/webapp.js
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/icons/
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/icons/default/
{webapp name}@{webappaddr}/icons/default/{icons included in webapp bundle}

Default Prisim Folders in User’s Home directory (Linux as of Prism v0.9):

Under /home/{user name}/

.prism/prismdir.lin.txt
.prism/profiles.ini
.prism/{randomstring}.default/
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/
.prism/{randomstring}.default/cert8.db
.prism/{randomstring}.default/compatibility.ini
.prism/{randomstring}.default/compreg.dat
.prism/{randomstring}.default/cookies.sqlite
.prism/{randomstring}.default/extensions/
.prism/{randomstring}.default/extensions.cache
.prism/{randomstring}.default/extensions.ini
.prism/{randomstring}.default/key3.db
.prism/{randomstring}.default/localstore.rdf
.prism/{randomstring}.default/mimeTypes.rdf
.prism/{randomstring}.default/.parentlock
.prism/{randomstring}.default/permissions.sqlite
.prism/{randomstring}.default/places.sqlite
.prism/{randomstring}.default/prefs.js
.prism/{randomstring}.default/secmod.db
.prism/{randomstring}.default/XPC.mfasl
.prism/{randomstring}.default/xpti.dat
.prism/{randomstring}.default/XUL.mfasl
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_001_
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_002_
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_003_
.prism/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_MAP_

For Each WebApp Prism creates (Linux as of Prism v0.9):

Under /home/{user name}/.prism/

{webapp name}/
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/Cache/
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_001_
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_002_
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_003_
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/Cache/_CACHE_MAP_
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/cert8.db
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/compatibility.ini
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/compreg.dat
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/cookies.sqlite
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/extensions/
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/extensions.cache
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/extensions.ini
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/key3.db
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/localstore.rdf
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/mimeTypes.rdf
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/.parentlock
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/permissions.sqlite
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/places.sqlite
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/prefs.js
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/secmod.db
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/XPC.mfasl
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/xpti.dat
{webapp name}/{randomstring}.default/XUL.mfasl
{webapp name}/profiles.ini

From the above lists of file locations, it should be apparent (okay, if you really really look, hard) that there are two ways to go about installing an extension for Prism. The first is install that extension “globally”, which is to say that you install that extension for every webapp. For this method the extension gets installed into Prism’s extension directory. The second method is to install the extension “locally”, or on a per-webapp basis. In this case each extension is installed in the individual webapp’s extension directory.

The first method is more difficult because by default, installing an extension will be done when you have a webapp loaded, so it will install the extension into that webapp’s extension folder. In order to install a webapp globally, you’ll need to perform a manual installation or open a new webapp that loads the addon’s xul (chrome://global/content/config.xul). I should mention that this worked on Prism/Webrunner 0.8, but I have yet to test this on Prism 0.9, so this may no longer work.

…

So, why they heck would I list all the files and directories here? Well, I want a reference to point at when I start explaining which files to make changes to in order to install an extension manually.

Code Snippit for Prism Extensions’ install.rdf

<em:targetApplication>
  <!– Prism –>
  <Description>
    <em:id>prism@developer.mozilla.org</em:id>
    <em:minVersion>0.8</em:minVersion>
    <em:maxVersion>1.0.0.*</em:maxVersion>
   </Description>
</em:targetApplication>

Code Snippit for Prism Extensions’ extension.rdf (information is required from the **install.rdf**)

<RDF:Description
    RDF:about="urn:mozilla:item:{**extension id from install.rdf**}"
    NS1:installLocation="app-profile"
    NS1:version="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:optionsURL="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:iconURL="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:name="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:description="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:creator="**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:homepageURL="http://**from install.rdf**"
    NS1:contributor="**from install.rdf**">

More to come…

Link to LifeHacker Post

LifeHacker’s linked to my post on how to install extensions in Prism/Webrunner. For anyone having trouble with some extensions, have a look at my comment dated today (080404), I’ve addressed Better GCal specifically, but this should also work for Better Gmail and a few others as well.

Prism/Webrunner extensions post

This is just a quick howto on making your own WebRunner/Prism webapp file. This is a very simple process and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of your time. There are a couple of tools you need however, to get started.

• a file archiver – my favorite is 7-zip, but you can just as easily use any archiving program that is compatible with zip files
• a text plain text editor

For more advanced webapps, a more advanced context highlighting text editor can be helpful for coding custom style sheets or adding javascript customizations. And don’t forget icons! I use a combination of Paint.Net and @icon sushi (which covers everything but MacOS, which is because I can’t seem to find software for Linux or Windows to accommodate icons for it – recommendations anyone?).

The No “.webapp” WebApp

There are several ways to open webpages with Prism or WebRunner. The first and easiest is to install Prism, then create a link to it on your desktop. Then change that link adding the option “-uri” and the url of the page you want to open. Here are two examples:

Windows:
c:\your\path\to_prism\prism.exe -uri http://web_url_of_site c:\your\path\to_prism\prism.exe -uri c:\location\of\local_file

GNU/Linux:
/your/path/to_prism/prism -uri http://web_url_of_site /your/path/to_prism/prism -uri /location/of/local_file

This method does not require a webapp file, it just launches the website or file you specify. This means, no icons are required, but you also don’t get to add any custom themes or js files. This would be a really good method to use with applications like Wiki on a Stick (woas).

WebApp Bundles

The second method is also pretty straight forward (until you make it complex by adding more functionality). For the most basic webApp bundle you only need to create one file; the webapp.ini. Here’s the content from the example webapp.ini on the Prism wiki:

[Parameters] id=unique-app-id@unique-author-id.whatever uri=http://[the-url-what-you-want-to-connect-to]/ status=yes location=no sidebar=no navigation=no

The “id” parameter is required to be unique. I’ve been using my website’s url (as most others have done as well) preceded by the name of the site, but any unique identifier will work. The “uri” parameter is required and will accept both url of the target website as well as local file paths. Everything after that appears to be optional and the values show are the defaults. These remaining parameters are options to tell Prism whether or not to show certain GUI elements (“status” = status bar;”location” = address bar;”sidebar” = sidebar;”navigation” = well, quite frankly, I have no idea – maybe navigation buttons that haven’t been implemented yet?).

The next step after saving your changes to this document, is to use your archiving program to zip up this file creating, as an example, “your_webapp.zip”. Replace the “zip” extension with “webapp” and you’re ready to roll! Now either double click the webapp file or you can launch the webapp from the command line thusly:

Windows:
c:\your\path\to_prism\prism.exe -webapp your_webapp_bundle

GNU/Linux:
/your/path/to_prism/prism -webapp your_webapp_bundle

For more advanced webapps you can add icons, scripting and style sheet support (see the Prism page for more details).

Happy coding!

Prism
Prism/WebApp Bundle
Prism/Scripting
Prism/Styling
7-Zip
Paint.Net
@icon sushi
Wiki on a Stick