What exactly are the browser requirements for groov display? Java? html5 support? What does a browser need to successfully display a groov page?
What exactly are the browser requirements for groov display? Java? html5 support? What does a browser need to successfully display a groov page?
Does anybody know this??? The software engineers must have some idea of what they are building for, yes? I want to know if I can use this on a WinCE device running IE (which previously failed because it was missing some component) or perhaps a Linux box, but what exactly do I need? It seems as if each browser has it’s own issues and I am currently having the best luck with Microsoft Edge. Yes, better than IE or even Chrome. So what are the exact browser requirements? What technology does groov depend on?
Hi nickvnlr,
Sorry for the delay, been out of the office…
Not an easy question (which is perhaps why you and I are the only two here at the moment?)…
There are different aspects to each of the ‘requirements’ that you list in your first post. For example, javascript, yes, groov needs javascript, but as you have found (and state), each browser implements it a little differently… Ahhh standards… gota love em.
Lets look at the one, iron clad, rock solid, must have feature that groov needs… SVG, scalable vector graphics.
If you are going to use groov, your browser must support this feature. It is this feature that cuts off IE 8 and older.
I love the caniuse.com website for its clear way of showing what works in what.
So, here is SVG; Can I use... Support tables for HTML5, CSS3, etc
Please take a moment to review all the sections.
As you can see, we do have some greens, so we have some support for this critical feature.
If you can install Firefox or Chrome on a Linux install, you should be good there as well.
Note they do not have any WinCE browsers listed. (Google ‘wince svg’ and see how much support it has).
Lets take another example, CSS, groov uses that and needs it.
Again, some green, but, then there is some solid red as well… Including Edge, which you said you found worked well.
Clearly, groov, at this point in time, does not use the ‘CSS all property’ function, if it did, Edge support would break.
What we need to do then is to carefully balance the features of groov with the bulk of the browsers compatibility. Not an easy line to walk.
And that’s the main point, depending on gadgets you use on each page it will change how well that page will render on the browser you are using, on the device you are using it on.
So, in the docs we simply state, to use groov you need to use a modern browser.
We have thought about doing a bit of an open source matrix so people can fill in their findings. The shear number of browsers and platforms is impossible to test all groov gadgets against. Crowd sourcing our QA is not something we expected to consider, but we also cant purchase every device that has a web browser either.
I know, not the answer you wanted to hear. There are a lot of variables. A. Lot.
Thank you. This has helped more than you think. I now have some minimums to look for/include in a compact build of Linux.
Speaking of compact builds of Linux, I can’t recommend it, but wanted to try it because that’s just the kind of guy I am, I tested the Epiphany browser on the Raspberry Pi viewing some groov pages… it worked… Was not stellar fast, but it worked.
Lets know what you find. I love all things Linux, so would love to hear what you test and find.
I don’t need speed. I just need it to work. If it updates every 15-ish sec. I am good with that.
It was just a goofy test of my own… My point was, we (Opto 22) do not test Epiphany against groov at all… I was just wondering if something like that would work and it did.
Re your comment about getting an update every 15 seconds or so… Keep in mind that groov currently has a fixed refresh rate of 1 second. If your network is slow, you will see time out warnings (the yellow triangle).
In other words, you may be happy with 15 seconds, but you are going to have to build for 1 second updates.