---Update----
After experimenting more with this, I've determined that the contentScript I have written is not the problem here. For example, if I reduce the extension to merely:
var buttons = require('sdk/ui/button/action');
var data = require("sdk/self").data;
var self = require("sdk/self");
var button = buttons.ActionButton({
id: "library-link",
label: "External Resource Locator",
icon: self.data.url("icon-16.png"),
});
The button will still appear when I run the extension through the SDK, but will not appear when I install the xpi in a current firefox browser (version 38, on some platforms). This problem seems to be occurring at a very basic level in their design process.
I am trying to write a simple extension for firefox which appends a form to the current page and posts data to another site. It can be called by an action button or through a context menu item.
I have been developing with the add-on sdk and it is working perfectly when I use cfx run to test it. However, after doing cfx xpi and installing the extension into my firefox browser, it does not work at all. The action button and context menu item do not appear, and although the extension shows up under add-ons -> extensions as installed and enabled, none of the images packaged with the xpi will display.
I am not sure what could be causing this, and my code is fairly brief, so I will add my entire main.js:
var buttons = require('sdk/ui/button/action');
var data = require("sdk/self").data;
var contextMenu = require("sdk/context-menu");
var self = require("sdk/self");
var menuItem = contextMenu.Item({
label: "Look for selected text in the Library of Babel",
context: contextMenu.SelectionContext(),
contentScript: 'self.on("click", function () {' +
'var text = window.getSelection().toString();' +
'var formext = document.createElement("form");' +
'formext.setAttribute("method", "POST");' +
'formext.setAttribute("action", "https://libraryofbabel.info/resourcelocator.cgi");' +
'var hiddenField = document.createElement("input");' +
' hiddenField.setAttribute("type", "hidden");' +
'hiddenField.setAttribute("name", "extension");' +
' hiddenField.setAttribute("value", window.getSelection().toString());' +
' formext.appendChild(hiddenField);' +
' document.body.appendChild(formext);' +
' formext.submit();' +
'});',
image: self.data.url("icon-16.png")
});
var button = buttons.ActionButton({
id: "library-link",
label: "External Resource Locator",
icon: {
"16": "./icon-16.png",
"32": "./icon-32.png",
"64": "./icon-64.png"
},
onClick: function() {
require("sdk/tabs").activeTab.attach({
contentScriptFile: data.url("form.js")
});
}
});
I've noticed that when I run cfx xpi the automatically generated install.rdf file says the maximum version for compatibility is 30.0. However, I have also found that on some computers running versions of firefox up to and including 38 it will work perfectly. Is there anything in this code which would prevent compatibility with newer versions of firefox? I will add the ContentScriptFile in case that may be responsible:
function getSelectedText() {
var text = "";
if (window.getSelection) {
text = window.getSelection().toString();
} else if (document.selection && document.selection.type != "Control") {
text = document.selection.createRange().text;
}
return text;
}
var bodytext = document.getElementsByTagName("BODY")[0];
var formext = document.createElement("form");
formext.setAttribute("method", "POST");
formext.setAttribute("action", "https://libraryofbabel.info/resourcelocator.cgi");
//formext.setAttribute("target","_blank");
var hiddenField = document.createElement("input");
hiddenField.setAttribute("type", "hidden");
hiddenField.setAttribute("name", "extension");
hiddenField.setAttribute("value", getSelectedText() || document.body.innerHTML); // take selected text OR bodytext
formext.appendChild(hiddenField);
document.body.appendChild(formext);
formext.submit();
cfx xpilike install.rdf. – Jonathan Basile