Google toolbar blocks showDocument

[Mickey Segal]

We use the Java method "showDocument" in our applets to pop up browser windows
when the user clicks on help buttons. After installing the Google toolbar
(http://toolbar.google.com/) in Internet Explorer, the browsers windows get
blocked if the user enabled the "Popup blocker" option. In contrast, Netscape's
popup blocking does not block showDocument.

Is there a better way to pop up a browser window and get a friendly reception,
as in Netscape? Is there some way to detect the Google Toolbar from within the
applet and offer an explanation and describe how to turn off the popup blocking
in a site-specific way?

We use showDocument with the "_blank" option so as not to destroy our applet.
The problem occurs in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows with either the Microsoft
or Sun JVM. There is no problem popping up an applet Frame.

 

[Mickey Segal]

A sample applet demonstrating this problem is at:
http://segal.org/java/pop_window/

 

[Andrew Thompson]

We use the Java method "showDocument" in our applets to pop up browser windows
...
Is there a better way to pop up a browser window and get a friendly reception,
as in Netscape?

I myself open Dialogs in my Periodic Table Applet
but am trying to find a way _around_ that.

[ Thought I should get that out of the way before I launch into.. ]
...If Netscape was 'friendly' with Pop-Up windows I would not use
it. If I am surfing the Net and reach a site that has pop-ups, I
hit the 'back' button. I (and the internet poulation in general)
_hate_ pop-ups.

Further, if a web site must comply with the 'accessibility'
guidelines of America, Australia (or - I presume) most of Europe,
pop-ups would be effectively ruled out.

Are you _certain_ you need the new window?

 

[Andrew Thompson]

windows
..

I tried your URL in Mozilla 1.3a (XP) and got nothing,
it completely ignored the 'applet' call, so I dropeed it to the
html validator..
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://segal.org/java/pop_window
%2F&doctype=HTML+4.01+Transitional&charset=iso-8859-1+%28Western+Europe%29

It shows one error, complaining about a </p> enclosing
the <applet>. Perhaps adding the Doctype and Charset
(I forced them) might help..

 

[Mickey Segal]

I tried your URL in Mozilla 1.3a (XP) and got nothing,
it completely ignored the 'applet' call, so I dropeed it to the
html validator..
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://segal.org/java/pop_window
%2F&doctype=HTML+4.01+Transitional&charset=iso-8859-1+%28Western+Europe%29

I added enough to make the validator happy, but the Google Toolbar still blocks
the pop-up.

We use showDocument because the applets have buttons that the user clicks to
pop-up new browser windows with documentation. The set of HTML pages in the
documentation is very large, not even counting the images, so taking all the
text and putting it into Frames or Dialogs would be a big problem unless the
Dialog/Frame could be made to display Web pages.

 

[Mickey Segal]

I heard back from Google already and they say "We are aware of this error and
our engineering team is working to correct it. At this time, it is not possible
to detect if visitor's to your site have the Google Toolbar or not."

 

[Andrew Thompson]

I heard back from Google already and they say "We are aware of this error and
our engineering team is working to correct it. At this time, it is not possible
to detect if visitor's to your site have the Google Toolbar or not."

Given that vague answer, how do you intend
to proceed? (I face similar problems regularly
and am always looking for new approaches)

Have you looked into the Google Web API's?
They seem (at a quick glance) to be only for searching
on Google itself, but may include some other stuff
for detecting the Toolbar.

[ Your answer implies _no_, but I have struck many
situations where a well meaning but uninformed tech
support person advises 'no' when the answer is actually
'yes'. ]

 

[Mickey Segal]

Given that vague answer, how do you intend to proceed?

For now, we post a warning in red on the Web page loading our applet. This has
a hyperlink to a workaround page with the following text:

Here are two workarounds if you have enabled the popup blocker:
1. Each occurrence: When clicking a help button or other button that should
pop-up a browser window, hold down the Ctrl or Shift key.
2. Once and for all: Click the "blocked" button to enable popups on
SimulConsult.com

However, the problem is even worse than we first appreciated. If the button is
in a Frame, no yellow explosion icon appears informing the user that the Google
Toolbar has blocked a popup. This is illustrated in a second test applet, also
submitted to Google:
http://www.segal.org/java/pop_window2/

Have you looked into the Google Web API's?
They seem (at a quick glance) to be only for searching
on Google itself, but may include some other stuff
for detecting the Toolbar.

I've looked through the Google Hacks book and found nothing helpful, and I
haven't tried anything else. If there is some creative solution here I'd be
interested in hearing about it. If I hear anything relevant from Google after
they examine the pop_window2 case I'll pass along the information.