Building Lightweight Buttons and Menu Extensions

Abstract

Lightweight browser extensions are a great way to extend the functionality of the IE frame and pages without forcing you to delve deep into the murky waters of COM programming. On the other hand, these extensions are versatile enough to allow for it if you want to take advantage of the additional functionality exposed by COM. All in all, these extensions are simple yet complete, allowing for some interesting and inventive add-on scenarios for IE and your projects.

I began this chapter by discussing the role of lightweight extensions in both the browser frame and individual pages. I presented frame extensions next, covering both toolbar buttons and menu item extensions. I highlighted the role of lightweight extensions in the in-page context menu, describing how you cannot only extend IE but extend pages themselves. Last, I covered some pure JavaScript solutions with regard to the context menu; you can develop custom menus for your pages without ever having to install an extension to a user’s computer.