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<title>JsAccount Usage and Architecture</title>
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<h1>Overview</h1>
<p>
JsAccount is a technology that allows message account types to be created
in Mozilla Mailnews code using JavaScript. Although this is primarily
targeted at allowing extensions to create new accounts, it might also be
useful as a bridge to convert existing account types from being C++ based
to JavaScript based.
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<h2>Existing C++-based architecture of mailnews accounts</h2>
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In mailnews code, an account type is a set of classes that allow
implementation of a messaging particular protocol. The account type is
given a short string identifier ("imap", "news", "pop3") and is then used
to create objects of the appropriate type by appending that string to the
end of a base XPCOM contractID. So, for example, to create an imap server,
you generate a contractID using a base ID,
"@mozilla.org/messenger/server;1?type=", then append "imap" to get:
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<p>@mozilla.org/messenger/server;1?type=imap</p>
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In the C++ code, there is a base object implementing shared functionality.
An account-specific class inherits that base functionality, then extends
it to represent the account-specific behavior that is needed. This same
basic concept is used to represent a whole series of classes that are
necessary to implement a specific mailnews account type.
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For the server example, there is a base class named
nsMsgIncomingServer.cpp that implements that base interface
nsIMsgIncomingServer.idl. For imap, there is a specific class
nsImapIncomingServer.cpp that inherits from nsMsgIncomingServer.cpp,
overrides some of the methods in nsIMsgIncomingServer.idl, and also
implements an imap-specific interface nsIImapIncomingServer.idl. All of
this works fine using C++ inheritance and polymorphism.
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<p>
Although JsAccount is intended mostly for mailnews accounts, the same
basic method of using a base class extended for specific types is also
used in other ways in mailnews code, including for addressbook types and
views. The technology may also be applied to those other object types as
well.
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<h2>Role of JsAccount</h2>
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The JavaScript class system works very differently than the C++ system,
and you cannot use normal language constructs to override a C++ class with
a JavaScript class. What JsAccount allows you to do is to create XPCOM
objects in JavaScript, and use those objects to override or extend the
methods from the C++ base class in a way that will function correctly
whether those objects are executed from within C++ code or JavaScript
code. This allows you to create a new account using JavaScript code, while
using the same base class functionality that is used by the core C++
account types. Thus a new account type may be created in JavaScript-based
extension. The technology may also be used to create JavaScript versions
of existing account types in an incremental manner, slowly converting
methods from C++ to JavaScript.
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