INFO: Internet Explorer's Netscape Plug In Support

 Last reviewed: February 18, 1998
Article ID: Q166694
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming), versions 3.01, 3.02, 4.0,
4.01

SUMMARY

While Internet Explorer (IE) does support Netscape Plug-ins, there are some limitations to this support. Below is a list of several known issues:

  • Internet Explorer does not support the type= attribute for plug-in instantiation in Internet Explorer 3.x.
  • Internet Explorer does not support NPN_PostURLNotify and NPN_GetURLNotify.
  • Internet Explorer (16 bit) does not support NPN_PostURL.
  • Internet Explorer does not support the NP_ASFILEONLY flag on calls to NPP_StreamAsFile(). Use NP_ASFILE instead.
  • Internet Explorer 4.0 and 4.01 (32 bit) will crash if NPN_PostUrl() is called.

  • Internet Explorer does not support JRI.
  • All plug-ins are notified that they are 0.9 level even though IE does not support some functionality.

If plug-in vendors check only the version number, they should also check the user agent string. If the user-agent is Internet Explorer, then they should not make calls through NPN_GETURLNOTIFY and NPN_POSTURLNOTIFY.

REFERENCES

For an explanation of user agent strings, search http://www.microsoft.com for "Browscap.ini".

Also information on user agent strings can be found in the HTTP specification "Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0" available at http://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1945.txt. 

Keywords          : msiexplore kbinterop kbusage
Version           : Win:3.01,4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

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Last reviewed: February 18, 1998
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