Creating a CCK distribution without the actual CCK program - a guide

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Howto:
Get the full Netscape Setup file (Windows version). Double-click on it to start installation. This will unzip all necessary Netscape files to a temporary folder on your hard drive, depending on your windows version, in Windows 2000/XP it's

C:\documents and settings\Win-User\Local Settings\Temp\ns_temp.

Copy the content of this folder to a save place.

1. CONFIG.INI

The main configuration file is CONFIG.INI. Open this file with a text editor. It's a very well-documented file, so you shouldn't have any problems with it.
In CONFIG.INI you can alter most of the things that are shown during setup, like the Welcome screens, the explanations, the program folders, the names and so on. This may sound complicated, but it's definitely not, you'll see.

The most important thing in CONIFG.INI is the possibility to add more programs (extensions, plugins), so that people can choose them during setup.
The section for this starts at

[Setup Type0]

where the components for the installations are listed. You'll see how it works. Each component needs an entry here to be recognized and installed properly. For example:

C5=Component Flash

This entry would tell the setup routine to install Flash for Setup Type0.
You can add as many programs as you like, the important thing is to keep the structure in order. So if you add an component called "enhancement1" add the following:

C10=Component enhancement1

Note: the "C10" depends on how many components are already listed. Make sure that any new componend is between"Component Marker...Start" and "Component Marker... End" and that the numbering is ascending,  starting with C0.

Note: Here you can also delete any components you don't want included in your customized version. Just keep in mind to keep the order numbering.

Now you also have to add the actual components. This starts at

[Component XPCOM]

You'll see how a new component is added.
I recommend adding any new components after

[Component US region pack]

For example:

[Component enhancement1]
;*** LOCALIZE ME BABY ***
Description Short=Enhancement1
;*** LOCALIZE ME BABY ***
Description Long=This is an enhancement
Archive=enhancement1.xpi
Install Size=1056
Install Size System=1
Install Size Archive=5
Attributes=SELECTED|ADDITIONAL

You'll get the picture. What kind of attributes can be selected is also documented in the config. ini file, right above where the Component section starts. In this case, our enhancement1 will be shown in the "Additional" section during installation. The description parts should be self-explanatory. The Component name must of course be the same as the one you used in the C0... section. Ah yes, and don't forget to copy the XPIs you want to add to the installation folder. :-)

Again, please note: Here you can also delete any component you don't want in your version of Netscape.

It's a good idea to check out the CONFIG.INI line by line, you'll find out how it works eventually. It's really no magic at all.

One section in the CONFIG.INI that might be of interest is the

;Uncompress FileX sections

here you can add components that you gave the Attribute "Download_Only". In my customized version, I have added a plugin (Beatnik), that needs a file in the Windows folder (patches.hsb) to work correctly. This can be done here.

Well. I think that's it regarding the CONFIG.INI. (At least I can't think of anything else right now).


2. INSTALL.INI
Not much to do here, except perhaps tweaking the Font for displaying the setup routine in:
FONTNAME=Tahoma
FONTSIZE=8


3. ADDITIONAL TWEAKING

Unzip BROWSER.XPI (you can use Winzip for that or your preferred ZIP program).
In bin\defaults\pref you can change default settings for the browser.

Find COMM.JAR, unzip it and edit "communicatorOverlay.xul" to add an entry in the help menu, for example:

    <menuitem id="addonsURL" hidden="true" />
     <menuitem label="Your text here"
        position="9"
        oncommand="openTopWin('http://www.yoururlhere.com');" />
    <menuitem id="addonsUrl" hidden="true" />

After you're done here, zip up COMM.JAR again, and then of course the whole BROWSER.XPI thing.

If you want to distribute a default bookmark package:
Extract regus.xpi and find \bin\defaults\profile\US and do all changes there (such as default bookmarks, userContent.css). Also of interest "Search plugins" and the US.jar (which also can be unzipped for further studies). After you're done zip up regus.xpi again.

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Holger Metzger, July 2003