Support Thunderbird 68

[Qqwy]

After updating to Thunderbird 68, the add-on has become disabled.

I would be very happy if it could be updated to work with this new version 🙂 .

[light-wizard]

Hi there!
First of all, I'd like to thank @adam-p for his amazing work: I use markdown-here in Thunderbird on a daily basis, and it works great!
For this very reason, I was really sad to see it disabled in Thunderbird 68. Is there any plan and ETA to make it supported again?

Thanks

[yhager]

I don't know much (read: nothing) about add-ons development, but I really need this one to work on tb 68. I hacked the sources a bit and managed to install it. I don't know if it's good enough or not, but might be a start for whomever wants to take it further:

diff --git a/src/manifest.json b/src/manifest.json
index f3c5af4..4d1fae5 100644
--- a/src/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifest.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     "128": "common/images/icon128.png",
     "512": "common/images/icon512.png"
   },
-  "permissions": ["contextMenus", "storage"],
+  "permissions": ["menus", "storage"],
   "background": {"page": "chrome/background.html"},
   "content_scripts": [
     {
@@ -46,7 +46,15 @@
 
   ,"applications": {
     "gecko": {
-      "id": "markdown-here-webext@adam.pritchard"
+      "id": "markdown-here-webext@adam.pritchard",
+      "strict_min_version": "68.0"
+    }
+  }
+  ,"legacy": {
+    "type": "xul",
+    "options": {
+      "page": "common/options.html",
+      "open_in_tab": true
     }
   }
 }

I roughly followed this guide: https://developer.thunderbird.net/add-ons/updates

[dngray]

This seems to be a duplicate of #536

[Qqwy]

This seems to be a duplicate of #536

Is it, though? That issue talks about Thunderbird version 64.

[sklages]

This is probably a dead project by now .. a pity.
Interestingly there is no alternative to this add-on on addons.thunderbird.net.

[dngray]

Is it, though? That issue talks about Thunderbird version 64.

Thunderbird 64 was the beta, which is now what Thunderbird 68 became. So anything after Thunderbird 60.x wasn't going to work with this, including Thunderbird 69 which is the next version.

ADD-ON SUPPORT: Restartless add-ons contineu to work if their authors have made the necessary minor adjustments. Non-restartless add-ons using XUL overlays are only supported if add-on authors have adapted them, and Lighting/Calendar is the only one we know that has been adapted.

Does this addon actually use XUL in any way? we should check the source.

It may require a fork as it seems that @adam-p isn't responding, he didn't respond to the email I sent him either clarifying whether or not he was still maintaining this. Though I do see he is still active based on his github contributions so who knows what is going on.

This is probably a dead project by now .. a pity.
Interestingly there is no alternative to this add-on on addons.thunderbird.net.

Yeah, and there is no alternative to Header Tools Lite that I know of either. It was when you want to reply to a mailing list, thread that you do not have in your email. You could edit the References to have the correct Message-ID, to maintain threading.

[Martii]

@yhager (and perhaps everyone else too):

Thanks for that kick-start up there. 😸

Spent a little bit of time crash learning WebExtensions (still fresh). With your patch, #459, and along with the remainder of the build instructions enabled (clever build system btw) $ make build builds an install-able version here.

i.e.

diff --git a/src/manifest.json b/src/manifest.json
index f3c5af4..4d1fae5 100644
--- a/src/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifest.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     "128": "common/images/icon128.png",
     "512": "common/images/icon512.png"
   },
-  "permissions": ["contextMenus", "storage"],
+  "permissions": ["menus", "storage"],
   "background": {"page": "chrome/background.html"},
   "content_scripts": [
     {
@@ -46,7 +46,15 @@
 
   ,"applications": {
     "gecko": {
-      "id": "markdown-here-webext@adam.pritchard"
+      "id": "markdown-here-webext@adam.pritchard",
+      "strict_min_version": "68.0"
+    }
+  }
+  ,"legacy": {
+    "type": "xul",
+    "options": {
+      "page": "common/options.html",
+      "open_in_tab": true
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/utils/build.js b/utils/build.js
index 9274aab..7a32bf1 100644
--- a/utils/build.js
+++ b/utils/build.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 var fs = require('fs');
 var file = require('file');
 var archiver = require('archiver');
-var MetaScript = require('MetaScript');
+var MetaScript = require('metascript');
 
 
 var BASE_DIR = '..';
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ var THUNDERBIRD_EXTENSION = file.path.join(DIST_DIR, 'thunderbird.xpi');
 
 var CHROME_INPUT = [/^manifest\.json$/, /^common(\\|\/)/, /^chrome(\\|\/)/, /^_locales(\\|\/)/];
 var FIREFOX_INPUT = CHROME_INPUT;
-var THUNDERBIRD_INPUT = [/^chrome.manifest$/, /^install.rdf$/, /^common(\\|\/)/, /^firefox(\\|\/)/];
+var THUNDERBIRD_INPUT = [/^manifest\.json$/, /^chrome.manifest$/, /^install.rdf$/, /^common(\\|\/)/, /^firefox(\\|\/)/, /^_locales(\\|\/)/];
 
 var CHROME_PLATFORM = 'chrome';
 var FIREFOX_PLATFORM = 'firefox';

This is the bare minimum I think to get it at least working "out of the box". I never used the Options of this extension so I have no idea what was working versus what wasn't/isn't. I might spend a little more time on a diff patch that can be applied with $ git apply < diff.diff.txt if I have time to debug.

Refs:

• Tested in Linux under TB 68.1.0 (64-bit) Release update channel
• diff.diff.txt applied at 1df5aee

[Martii]

P.S. Don't forget to do:

$ cd utils
$ npm install
$ cd ..

... before building since the routine currently utilizes node.

---

@dngray

Does this addon actually use XUL in any way? we should check the source.

See adam-p/markdown-here/blob/1df5aee/src/chrome.manifest. Some targets that still utilize XUL and plenty of overlays.

[Martii]

Noticed a glitch with the manifest.json.

Needs:

diff --git a/src/manifest.json b/src/manifest.json
index 4d1fae5..e496210 100644
--- a/src/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifest.json
@@ -50,11 +50,5 @@
       "strict_min_version": "68.0"
     }
   }
-  ,"legacy": {
-    "type": "xul",
-    "options": {
-      "page": "common/options.html",
-      "open_in_tab": true
-    }
-  }
+  ,"legacy": true
 }

... which seems to correct it so there aren't two entries in the menu (Tools -> Add-on Preferences)... one being "dead". The remaining options dialog menu entry still opens and opens in a new tab here. The duplication is possibly from the install.rdf <em:optionsURL>... entry and maybe how the XUL component works in this Thunderbird. IDK atm.

---

Doesn't appear to save (or retrieve which seems to be why the alert box shows up) preferences (Options) either. More work todo perhaps. Again I only utilize the basic functions of this AO so haven't twiddled beyond that.

[EBoisseauSierra]

Kudos to @Martii for the patch.
I've cloned the repo and applied it, done the npm install bit… but then I'm a bit lost regarding how to build/enable the patched add-on in TB.
➥ Could you please details a bit more the required steps?

[light-wizard]

@Martii , thanks for the patch, it works like a charm (at least for the functionalities I use...)

It may require a fork as it seems that @adam-p isn't responding, he didn't respond to the email I sent him either clarifying whether or not he was still maintaining this. Though I do see he is still active based on his github contributions so who knows what is going on.

I agree with @dngray , this is too good a project to die like this, it should be forked. Still, @adam-p should have a say in it. Let's hope he gets back in touch...

@EBoisseauSierra (and/or anyone who's interested), here's the procedure I followed to make it work:

1. Clone the repo with git or svn $ git clone https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here.git

2. Apply the patch $ git apply < path/to/diff/file/diff.diff.txt

3. Install modules with npm and return to root folder

    $ cd utils
    $ npm install
    $ cd ..
   

4. Build an install-able version $ make build

5. Built extensions files will be saved in "dist" sub-folder

6. Open Thunderbird, go to the Add-ons Preferences page, click on the gear icon and choose "Install Add-on From File..."

7. Install .xpi built addon

8. Thunderbird will need to restart in order to enable the Add-on

9. Enjoy!

Cheers!

[StuntsPT]

@light-wizard Thank you for the detailed instructions. I have this extension working again in thunderbird 68.0.
And of course, thank you to @Martii @yhager for the patch.
But indeed, a fork might be in order. I was involved in a similar fork two years ago, and the project moved from a single author to community driven.
Of course, everything was done with full approval of the original author. Maybe markdown-here could benefit from a similar event? If only @adam-p could let us know his plans for this awesome project...

[Martii]

Sure wish https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/permissions had better explanations of the permissions. Chromium/Chromes references at https://developer.chrome.com/apps/declare_permissions seems to be filled in a bit more.

The reason why I say this... is the change of permissions doesn't seem to be even needed for TB, in legacy mode, but does need to be there for, at least, Chromium/Chrome. So the:

-  "permissions": ["contextMenus", "storage"],
+  "permissions": ["menus", "storage"],

... probably breaks building the extension .zip for the other applicable browsers because menus isn't symmetric between browsers (yet?). Anywho... topic is Thunderbird so I'll stick to that for the time being.

---

On another brief tangent...

"Important: Chrome will be removing support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux." * https://developer.chrome.com/apps/declare_permissions , https://blog.chromium.org/2016/08/from-chrome-apps-to-web.html , and https://developers.chrome.com/apps/migration

Oh dear. There goes several clients web cam apps. :\ This explains why it took forever to find one Chrome App for a specific cam series I think. It wasn't searchable in the Chrome Web Store but referenced in the cam software. Blehh.

[Martii]

Hmmm... converting the preferences (Options) store to a WebExtension seems to have hit a wall/hiccup (mine or TB's IDK atm). chrome is currently undefined when creating a new message. It throws many errors when trying to access chrome.storage. I am able to retrieve and save the preferences from the Options tab, because chrome.storage there exists, but when I go to compose a message chrome isn't there to get the values necessary to do the markdown conversion.

In simple, resultant, English that means it breaks using markdown for sending a message completely. I think I see why dev is stalled here.

I need some rest and perhaps look at this fresh after a wee break.

[Martii]

Composed a rather complex markdown message in TB 68.1.x and it failed to send with diff.diff.txt only. Had to revert to TB 60.x. Not sure latest TB is ready for this AO yet even slightly modified.