ViewML Browser Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ViewML Browser?

The ViewML Browser is an open source project aimed at producing a small memory footprint, high-quality web browser for the rapidly growing embedded Linux market.  Until now, there has not been available a web browser suitable for the needs of embedded designs that is both open source and completely free.  The ViewML Browser, sponsored and contributed by Century Software and MontaVista, meets these needs by combining high-quality HTML display, a small memory footprint, and an open development environment to the public.

Where does it come from?

The ViewML Browser is based on KDE's kfm (kde file manager), and FLTK (fast light tool kit).  We chose the kfm HTML widget because of it's extensive support of HTML v3.2, and because it is written extremely well.  The kfm HTML widget displays most of today's web site contents without error.  Kfm is written in C++, and originally required the Qt widget set for various user interface controls.  The standard Qt widget set, however, is too large for most embedded requirements, so we wrote a translation layer that allows the kfm HTML widget to use a lightweight toolkit known as FLTK, also written in C++, instead.  The user interface to the browser was then rewritten using FLTK.  The result is a very good HTML display engine with a lightweight, customizable user interface around it.  The display engine also uses FLTK for forms support.

What platforms does it run on?

The ViewML Browser runs on both Microwindows as well as the X Window system.  The Microwindows Project actively supports embedded Linux systems using Intel x86, PowerPC, StrongARM and MIPS processors.  Because the browser is primarly based on the FLTK widget set, it should run on any platform supporting FLTK.  Century Software's founder, Gregory Haerr, is the chief maintainer of the Microwindows Project, and is very interested in making sure both projects work well together.

We view the support for both Microwindows and the X Window System as being essential, since the choice of the graphical windowing system may sometimes not be in the control of the designer.  The X Window System, of course, brings great portability across a vast array of machine architectures, and a large set of already running applications.  There has been alot of work lately at bringing the size of the X Window System down considerably for embedded devices.  For even smaller devices, and for applications not desiring the complexity of X and all that comes with it, the Microwindows Project is a great choice.

How big is it?

The ViewML browser, along with it's user interface comes in around 2MB.  For stand alone systems add the size of Microwindows, with TrueType font support, add another 1MB or so.  We are working on other mechanisms to bring the size down further.

What is it licensed under?

The ViewML Browser project is licensed primarily using the Gnu Public License, GPL.  The FLTK project is licensed under the Lesser Gnu Public License, or LGPL.  Both the GPL and LGPL licenses allow completely free access and customization of the source code, without any cost.

Does it support Java?

Currently, no.  There is some support for JavaScript, but it's currently minimal.

Where can I get it?

The ViewML Browser is available in it's very first release from the viewml.com/download.

How can I contribute?

We are very interested in building the best free, open source embedded browser for Linux.  A CVS will soon be set up that will allow immediate access to the latest source code.  Please join the mailing list at viewml.com/mailinglist, we are very willing to accept contributions and enhancements.

What does Century Software bring?

Century Software's core business is providing web and desktop access to UNIX and IBM host applications.  Our business has been providing exact terminal emulation access to these applications.  We are now developing technology to access host applications from handheld devices and internet appliances.  This technology, known as HostML, allows the host application data to be re-written as HTML or XML and then passed to markup-language viewers, which we dubbed ViewML.  In the course of this development, many people asked if there was a freely available HTML browser.  We decided to create on and open it up to the community as an effort to establish ourselves as a leader in the rapidly growing embedded Linux market.  Century Software is committing resources to creating and maintaining the HTML embedded browser for the Linux platform.  We hope to announce availability of additional ViewML technology on other platforms, as well.

What does MontaVista bring?