Embed an application (exe file) into another exe file (mozEmbed like)

Question

I would like to embed mozilla firefox into my application WITHOUT using any activex control (TWebBrowser wrapper, mozilla ActiveX...). I tried using TWebBrowser (actually bsalsa's embedded webBrowser wich is by far better), but all versions of IE seem incompatible with some features of popular javascript framework and libs (JQuery, ExtJS...).

My question is : can I call firefox's Exe from my application (is it possible with DDE or OLE) and above all SHOW IT inside my app using a TFrame or anything similar ?

waiting for your suggestions Regards, M

Answer 1

You can embed DLLs into your application and "load" then using BTMemoryModule.pas (just google it and you find it).

If this DLL is a COM object it might work to "load" the COM DLL factory and obtaining an instance of the COM interface you want:

var
    // Our own method of COM / OLE object loading!
    Lib:       HMODULE;
    Ptr:       TDllGetClassObject;
    Unl:       TDLLCanUnloadNow;
    I:         IClassFactory;
initialization
    Lib := LoadLibrary( 'zkemkeeper.dll' );
    Ptr := GetProcAddress( Lib, 'DllGetClassObject' );
    Unl := GetProcAddress( Lib, 'DllCanUnloadNow' );
    if Assigned( Ptr ) and ( Ptr( CLASS_CZKEM, IClassFactory, I ) <> S_OK ) then I := nil;
finalization
    I := nil;

OleInitialize( nil );
// Create a IZKEM interface instance
if not Assigned( I ) then Exit;
if I.CreateInstance( nil, IZKEM, CZ ) <> S_OK then Exit;
if not Assigned( CZ ) then Exit;

I do not know how to embed executables.

I hope this info helps.

Answer 2

The simplest way to embed an EXE into your application is to add it as a resource.

Make a .RC file with something like the following text:

OTHER_EXE_FILE  RCDATA "nameofother.exe"

then using brcc32.exe you can compile a .RES file of the same name as the .RC with which you can then include ($I) the new .RES file in your application. The NAMEOFOTHER.EXE has to be in the same folder as the .RC file or be properly pathed, IIRC.

There is supposededly another way of doing this as well. You don't use the command line brcc32.exe compiler and just include ($I) the .RC file into your program and the compiler the compiles the .RC file on the fly.

Can't tell you if the second method works or not as I've never tried it.

Answer 3

You'll need to clean up the code a bit and work out how you'll "talk" to Firefox.
But here is how you can embed any app inside a Delphi form.

DFM File

object frmMain: TfrmMain
  Left = 195
  Top = 154
  Width = 527
  Height = 363
  Caption = 'Containership Test'
  Color = clBtnFace
  Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
  Font.Color = clWindowText
  Font.Height = -11
  Font.Name = 'MS Sans Serif'
  Font.Style = []
  OldCreateOrder = False
  DesignSize = (
    519
    329)
  PixelsPerInch = 96
  TextHeight = 13
  object pnlTop: TPanel
    Left = 0
    Top = 0
    Width = 519
    Height = 292
    Align = alTop
    Anchors = [akLeft, akTop, akRight, akBottom]
    BevelInner = bvLowered
    TabOrder = 0
  end
  object btnLoadApp: TButton
    Left = 172
    Top = 297
    Width = 75
    Height = 25
    Anchors = [akLeft, akBottom]
    Caption = 'Load'
    TabOrder = 1
    OnClick = btnLoadAppClick
  end
  object btnKill: TButton
    Left = 260
    Top = 297
    Width = 75
    Height = 25
    Anchors = [akLeft, akBottom]
    Caption = 'Kill'
    TabOrder = 2
    OnClick = btnKillClick
  end
end

main.pas file

unit main;

interface

uses
  Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
  Dialogs, StdCtrls, ExtCtrls, ShellApi;

type
  TfrmMain = class(TForm)
    pnlTop: TPanel;
    btnLoadApp: TButton;
    btnKill: TButton;
    procedure btnLoadAppClick(Sender: TObject);
    procedure btnKillClick(Sender: TObject);
  private
    { Private declarations }
    AppWnd : DWORD;
  public
    { Public declarations }
  end;

var
  frmMain: TfrmMain;

implementation

{$R *.dfm}

procedure TfrmMain.btnLoadAppClick(Sender: TObject);
var
  ExecuteFile : string;
  SEInfo: TShellExecuteInfo;
begin
  ExecuteFile:='c:\Windows\notepad.exe';

  FillChar(SEInfo, SizeOf(SEInfo), 0) ;
  SEInfo.cbSize := SizeOf(TShellExecuteInfo) ;
  with SEInfo do
  begin
    fMask := SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS;
    Wnd := pnlTop.Handle;
    lpFile := PChar(ExecuteFile) ;
    nShow := SW_HIDE;
  end;
  if ShellExecuteEx(@SEInfo) then
  begin
    AppWnd := FindWindow(nil, PChar('Untitled - Notepad'));
    if AppWnd  0 then
    begin
      Windows.SetParent(AppWnd, SEInfo.Wnd);
      ShowWindow(AppWnd, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED);
      ShowWindow(AppWnd, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED);
    end;
  end
  else
    ShowMessage('Error starting notepad!') ;
end;

procedure TfrmMain.btnKillClick(Sender: TObject);
begin
  if (AppWnd  0) then
  begin
    PostMessage(AppWnd, WM_Close, 0, 0);
    AppWnd := 0;
  end;
end;

end.

Answer 4

I think what the original guy actually wants is a Web browser rendering engine embedded as a control in his application. If so, Gecko (The mozilla rendering part) is available as a plugin for your Application. I don't think you want to run an EXE.

For example, Mozilla Firefox isn't just an EXE file, but requires other stuff including a profiles folder. YOu probably haven't thought about all the problems that would cause.

If you just want a web browser control, this is not the way to do it. Try this instead: http://ftp.newbielabs.com/Delphi%20Gecko%20SDK/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/d-gecko/