Xulrunner Issues in StreamBase

Contents

Xulrunner 2.0 Issues with 2011 Linux Distributions
Xulrunner 1.9.1 Issues with StreamBase 6.4

Xulrunner 2.0 Issues with 2011 Linux Distributions

Some Linux distribution updates released in 2011 include xulrunner 2.0 or 1.9.2. These xulrunner versions work fine with currently supported StreamBase releases 6.6 and later, but may show the following symptoms when running StreamBase Studio 6.4.x:

  • Studio starts, but the background color of the Welcome page is solid white instead of blue-purple.

  • Studio starts and runs, but running Help → Help Contents shows the help system in a web browser instead of starting a standalone help viewer application.

  • The sbhelp utility does start as a standalone help viewer, but it shows large, ungainly fonts in the contents column.

The solution for running older StreamBase releases on newer Linux distributions is to locate and install the xulrunner 1.8 package for your distribution as described in the next section.

Xulrunner 1.9.1 Issues with StreamBase 6.4

Note

The problems and fixes described in this section DO NOT AFFECT and DO NOT APPLY TO release 6.5 or later of StreamBase Studio. This section remains available in the documentation as a reference for StreamBase Systems Technical Support to provide to customers using StreamBase 6.4.

StreamBase Studio 6.4 has the following additional requirements when installed on a Linux system that also has Firefox 3.x or another Mozilla-based browser:

  • You must install the Mozilla xulrunner 1.8 package.

    The xulrunner compatibility package is installed in association with Firefox, usually as a related but separate installation package. The package name to install may begin with xulrunner-1.x.x or mozilla-xulrunner1xx, depending on the Linux distribution. Make sure you locate the 1.8 version, not the newer 1.9 releases.

    Your installation of Firefox or other Mozilla-based browser may have already installed xulrunner 1.9.x as a companion package. You must explicitly locate and install the xulrunner 1.8 package, which can be installed alongside your existing xulrunner 1.9.x package.

  • You must verify that the package you installed places xulrunner 1.8 into /usr/lib/xulrunner. Use the following command: 

    /usr/lib/xulrunner/xulrunner --version

    Look for a returned version number 1.8.x like the following example: 

    Mozilla XULRunner 1.8.1.16_0000000000

  • In the script you use to start Studio, or in the global environment of the terminal from which you type sbstudio &, you must set the environment variable STREAMBASE_STUDIO_VMARGS to include the following property setting: 

    -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath=/usr/lib/xulrunner

    For example, use the following command: 

    export STREAMBASE_STUDIO_VMARGS="-Xms256M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M \
    -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath=/usr/lib/xulrunner"

    (This example is shown for publication clarity on two lines, but should be entered as one long line.)

    Remember that, when using the STREAMBASE_STUDIO_VMARGS environment variable, you must re-specify the arguments specified by the default invocation of StreamBase Studio, and then add the -D option.

StreamBase Studio 6.4 is based on Eclipse 3.4, and there are known complications when using Eclipse 3.4-derived products on a Linux system that also has certain newer releases of the Mozilla xulrunner package, including releases 1.9.0.x and 1.9.1.x. The symptoms of these complications can include the following:

  • Studio might fail to start, instead showing an org.eclipse.swt.SWTError error or an error that refers to XPCOM.

  • Studio starts, but the Welcome page is solid white instead of showing its default bubble graphic.

  • Studio starts and runs, but running Help → Help Contents shows the help system with large, ungainly fonts and the help system has lost functionality, compared to previous releases.

  • The sbhelp utility, which is also Eclipse-based, shows the same large fonts in the contents column.

Studio inherits these issues from Eclipse 3.4. Eclipse 3.4 itself, as well as all other Eclipse 3.4-based applications, all have the same issues, and the same xulrunner 1.8 solution.