kidproof Local HTML browser (was Re: [kidsgames] BOUNCE kidsgames@smluc.org)

[Doug Loss <dloss@suscom.net>]

Kidsgames Project Coordinator - Jeff Waddell wrote:

> Something that I would REALLY like to see though, is
> a kidproof Local HTML browser.
>
> I can't find a safe enough HTML browser for little kids to
> use.  They all have all those buttons and menus across
> the top. What I need is a browser that can be invoked
> with a command line arguments that turn all the menus off
> and launch it for an index file on the command line, like
> this:
>
> mysterybrowser --nomenus solar_system.html
>
> so that the internal links will work, but there aren't any
> distracting menus for stray mouse clicks.
>
> This would also be useful as a demonstration/presentation
> tool, I would imagine.
>

> I would imagine that one of the existing GPL browsers could
> be hacked to do this, but this is an example of something
> that is probably beyond me [I don't think I have that
> much time].  Anybody really know how hard this is?  Does
> it already exist somewhere?

I may be talking past my actual knowledge a bit here (actually, I know I am), but I can think of
a few possibilities.  First, there's Plume <http://tcltk.anu.edu.au>.  I can't get to that
website just now, but you can also download Plume from
<http://www.neosoft.com/tcl/ftparchive/sorted/apps/plume-0.6.2/>.  Plume is an HTML browser
written entirely in Tcl/Tk, which should make it easily customizable.

Next, there's Grail <http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/grail/>.  It's an HTML browser written in
Python and Tk, designed to be extensible.

Finally (and here I don't know too much about the possibilities), there's Gecko, the rendering
engine for Mozilla.  That may be overkill for what you're looking for, but it's supposed to be
embeddable in other apps.

--
Doug Loss                 Even if you're on the right track,
Data Network Coordinator  you'll get run over if you just
Bloomsburg University     sit there.
dloss@bloomu.edu                Will Rogers


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