invoke-web-browsers-with-keystrokes

Arguments: cg-configuration

This configuration option determines how the function invoke-private-html-browser invokes a third-party HTML-browsing program on the Windows platform.

If the value of this option is true, and the platform is Microsoft Windows, and the default HTML-browsing program is either Firefox (or Mozilla or Netscape), or Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer, and an instance of that program is already running, then the function invoke-private-html-browser will invoke that running HTML browser by emulating keystrokes that enter a URL.

In all other cases, run-shell-command is used instead to invoke the program each time.

Using run-shell-command may be more robust, but it may create a new browser window each time, depending on which browser is the default HTML program and the user's preference settings in that program.

The value can be a list of browser program names to cause the keystroke approach to be used with some browsers but not others. The names in the list can include any of the following keywords: :firefox, :chrome, :explorer, :mozilla, :netscape6, and :netscape4.

The default value is a list of the symbol :explorer, to use the keystroke approach with Internet Explorer but the run-shell-command approach with other browsers. The reason is that Internet Explorer creates a new browser frame window with the run-shell-command approach (and takes a little while to do so), and does not appear to have an option to reuse a single frame window. On the other hand, the keystroke approach has become unreliable with recent versions of Firefox. Firefox can reuse a single browser frame window with the run-shell-command approach, though you may need to turn on its option found at Tools | Options | Tabs | Open new windows in a new tab instead. Google Chrome appears to always reuse a single frame window.

This option affects the showing of IDE help when the ide:use-cg-html-browser option is nil.

cg-configuration should be a configuration object such as returned by configuration (typically (configuration *system*)).

This option is not included on the IDE's Options dialog, but it could be turned off with this form:

(setf (invoke-web-browsers-with-keystrokes (configuration *system*))
      nil)

Compatibility note: Prior to release 8.2, the system acted as if the value was t to use the keystroke approach with all browsers. But the keystroke approach became less reliable with updates to Firefox, and so the default has been changed.

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This page is new in the 8.2 release.
Created 2016.6.21.