getstarted.html revision 21d179b334e59e9a3bfcaed4c4430bef1bc5759d
1<!DOCTYPE html><!-- This page is a placeholder for generated extensions api doc. Note: 2 1) The <head> information in this page is significant, should be uniform 3 across api docs and should be edited only with knowledge of the 4 templating mechanism. 5 3) All <body>.innerHTML is genereated as an rendering step. If viewed in a 6 browser, it will be re-generated from the template, json schema and 7 authored overview content. 8 4) The <body>.innerHTML is also generated by an offline step so that this 9 page may easily be indexed by search engines. 10--><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> 11 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> 12 <link href="css/ApiRefStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> 13 <link href="css/print.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print"> 14 <script type="text/javascript" src="/third_party/jstemplate/jstemplate_compiled.js"> 15 </script> 16 <script type="text/javascript" src="js/api_page_generator.js"></script> 17 <script type="text/javascript" src="js/bootstrap.js"></script> 18 <script type="text/javascript" src="js/sidebar.js"></script> 19 <title>Tutorial: Getting Started (Hello, World!) - Google Chrome Extensions - Google Code</title></head> 20 <body> <div id="gc-container" class="labs"> 21 <div id="devModeWarning"> 22 You are viewing extension docs in chrome via the 'file:' scheme: are you expecting to see local changes when you refresh? You'll need run chrome with --allow-file-access-from-files. 23 </div> 24 <!-- SUBTEMPLATES: DO NOT MOVE FROM THIS LOCATION --> 25 <!-- In particular, sub-templates that recurse, must be used by allowing 26 jstemplate to make a copy of the template in this section which 27 are not operated on by way of the jsskip="true" --> 28 <div style="display:none"> 29 30 <!-- VALUE --> 31 <div id="valueTemplate"> 32 <dt> 33 <var>paramName</var> 34 <em> 35 36 <!-- TYPE --> 37 <div style="display:inline"> 38 ( 39 <span class="optional">optional</span> 40 <span class="enum">enumerated</span> 41 <span id="typeTemplate"> 42 <span> 43 <a> Type</a> 44 </span> 45 <span> 46 <span> 47 array of <span><span></span></span> 48 </span> 49 <span>paramType</span> 50 <span></span> 51 </span> 52 </span> 53 ) 54 </div> 55 56 </em> 57 </dt> 58 <dd class="todo"> 59 Undocumented. 60 </dd> 61 <dd> 62 Description of this parameter from the json schema. 63 </dd> 64 <dd> 65 This parameter was added in version 66 <b><span></span></b>. 67 You must omit this parameter in earlier versions, 68 and you may omit it in any version. If you require this 69 parameter, the manifest key 70 <a href="manifest.html#minimum_chrome_version">minimum_chrome_version</a> 71 can ensure that your extension won't be run in an earlier browser version. 72 </dd> 73 74 <!-- OBJECT PROPERTIES --> 75 <dd> 76 <dl> 77 <div> 78 <div> 79 </div> 80 </div> 81 </dl> 82 </dd> 83 84 <!-- FUNCTION PARAMETERS --> 85 <dd> 86 <div></div> 87 </dd> 88 89 </div> <!-- /VALUE --> 90 91 <div id="functionParametersTemplate"> 92 <h5>Parameters</h5> 93 <dl> 94 <div> 95 <div> 96 </div> 97 </div> 98 </dl> 99 </div> 100 </div> <!-- /SUBTEMPLATES --> 101 102 <a id="top"></a> 103 <div id="skipto"> 104 <a href="#gc-pagecontent">Skip to page content</a> 105 <a href="#gc-toc">Skip to main navigation</a> 106 </div> 107 <!-- API HEADER --> 108 <table id="header" width="100%" cellspacing="0" border="0"> 109 <tbody><tr> 110 <td valign="middle"><a href="http://code.google.com/"><img src="images/code_labs_logo.gif" height="43" width="161" alt="Google Code Labs" style="border:0; margin:0;"></a></td> 111 <td valign="middle" width="100%" style="padding-left:0.6em;"> 112 <form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse" style="margin-top:0.5em"> 113 <div id="gsc-search-box"> 114 <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="002967670403910741006:61_cvzfqtno"> 115 <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8"> 116 <input type="text" name="q" value="" size="55"> 117 <input class="gsc-search-button" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search"> 118 <br> 119 <span class="greytext">e.g. "page action" or "tabs"</span> 120 </div> 121 </form> 122 123 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script> 124 <script type="text/javascript">google.load("elements", "1", {packages: "transliteration"});</script> 125 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/t13n?form=cse&t13n_langs=en"></script> 126 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/brand?form=cse&lang=en"></script> 127 </td> 128 </tr> 129 </tbody></table> 130 131 <div id="codesiteContent" class=""> 132 133 <a id="gc-topnav-anchor"></a> 134 <div id="gc-topnav"> 135 <h1>Google Chrome Extensions (<a href="http://code.google.com/labs/">Labs</a>)</h1> 136 <ul id="home" class="gc-topnav-tabs"> 137 <li id="home_link"> 138 <a href="index.html" title="Google Chrome Extensions home page">Home</a> 139 </li> 140 <li id="docs_link"> 141 <a href="docs.html" title="Official Google Chrome Extensions documentation">Docs</a> 142 </li> 143 <li id="faq_link"> 144 <a href="faq.html" title="Answers to frequently asked questions about Google Chrome Extensions">FAQ</a> 145 </li> 146 <li id="samples_link"> 147 <a href="samples.html" title="Sample extensions (with source code)">Samples</a> 148 </li> 149 <li id="group_link"> 150 <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions" title="Google Chrome Extensions developer forum">Group</a> 151 </li> 152 </ul> 153 </div> <!-- end gc-topnav --> 154 155 <div class="g-section g-tpl-170"> 156 <!-- SIDENAV --> 157 <div class="g-unit g-first" id="gc-toc"> 158 <ul> 159 <li class="leftNavSelected">Getting Started</li> 160 <li><a href="overview.html">Overview</a></li> 161 <li><a href="whats_new.html">What's New?</a></li> 162 <li><h2><a href="devguide.html">Developer's Guide</a></h2> 163 <ul> 164 <li>Browser UI 165 <ul> 166 <li><a href="browserAction.html">Browser Actions</a></li> 167 <li><a href="contextMenus.html">Context Menus</a></li> 168 <li><a href="notifications.html">Desktop Notifications</a></li> 169 <li><a href="omnibox.html">Omnibox</a></li> 170 <li><a href="options.html">Options Pages</a></li> 171 <li><a href="override.html">Override Pages</a></li> 172 <li><a href="pageAction.html">Page Actions</a></li> 173 </ul> 174 </li> 175 <li>Browser Interaction 176 <ul> 177 <li><a href="bookmarks.html">Bookmarks</a></li> 178 <li><a href="cookies.html">Cookies</a></li> 179 <li><a href="events.html">Events</a></li> 180 <li><a href="history.html">History</a></li> 181 <li><a href="management.html">Management</a></li> 182 <li><a href="tabs.html">Tabs</a></li> 183 <li><a href="windows.html">Windows</a></li> 184 </ul> 185 </li> 186 <li>Implementation 187 <ul> 188 <li><a href="a11y.html">Accessibility</a></li> 189 <li><a href="background_pages.html">Background Pages</a></li> 190 <li><a href="content_scripts.html">Content Scripts</a></li> 191 <li><a href="xhr.html">Cross-Origin XHR</a></li> 192 <li><a href="idle.html">Idle</a></li> 193 <li><a href="i18n.html">Internationalization</a></li> 194 <li><a href="messaging.html">Message Passing</a></li> 195 <li><a href="npapi.html">NPAPI Plugins</a></li> 196 </ul> 197 </li> 198 <li>Finishing 199 <ul> 200 <li><a href="hosting.html">Hosting</a></li> 201 <li><a href="external_extensions.html">Other Deployment Options</a></li> 202 </ul> 203 </li> 204 </ul> 205 </li> 206 <li><h2><a href="apps.html">Packaged Apps</a></h2></li> 207 <li><h2><a href="tutorials.html">Tutorials</a></h2> 208 <ul> 209 <li><a href="tut_debugging.html">Debugging</a></li> 210 <li><a href="tut_analytics.html">Google Analytics</a></li> 211 <li><a href="tut_oauth.html">OAuth</a></li> 212 </ul> 213 </li> 214 <li><h2>Reference</h2> 215 <ul> 216 <li>Formats 217 <ul> 218 <li><a href="manifest.html">Manifest Files</a></li> 219 <li><a href="match_patterns.html">Match Patterns</a></li> 220 </ul> 221 </li> 222 <li><a href="permission_warnings.html">Permission Warnings</a></li> 223 <li><a href="api_index.html">chrome.* APIs</a></li> 224 <li><a href="api_other.html">Other APIs</a></li> 225 </ul> 226 </li> 227 <li><h2><a href="samples.html">Samples</a></h2></li> 228 <div class="line"> </div> 229 <li><h2>More</h2> 230 <ul> 231 <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/webstore/docs/index.html">Chrome Web Store</a></li> 232 <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/apps/docs/developers_guide.html">Hosted Apps</a></li> 233 <li><a href="themes.html">Themes</a></li> 234 </ul> 235 </li> 236 </ul> 237 </div> 238 <script> 239 initToggles(); 240 </script> 241 242 <div class="g-unit" id="gc-pagecontent"> 243 <div id="pageTitle"> 244 <h1 class="page_title">Tutorial: Getting Started (Hello, World!)</h1> 245 </div> 246 <!-- TABLE OF CONTENTS --> 247 <div id="toc"> 248 <h2>Contents</h2> 249 <ol> 250 <li> 251 <a href="#load">Create and load an extension</a> 252 <ol> 253 <li style="display: none; "> 254 <a>h3Name</a> 255 </li> 256 </ol> 257 </li><li> 258 <a href="#code">Add code to the extension</a> 259 <ol> 260 <li style="display: none; "> 261 <a>h3Name</a> 262 </li> 263 </ol> 264 </li><li> 265 <a href="#summary">Now what?</a> 266 <ol> 267 <li style="display: none; "> 268 <a>h3Name</a> 269 </li> 270 </ol> 271 </li> 272 <li style="display: none; "> 273 <a href="#apiReference">API reference</a> 274 <ol> 275 <li> 276 <a href="#properties">Properties</a> 277 <ol> 278 <li> 279 <a href="#property-anchor">propertyName</a> 280 </li> 281 </ol> 282 </li> 283 <li> 284 <a href="#methods">Methods</a> 285 <ol> 286 <li> 287 <a href="#method-anchor">methodName</a> 288 </li> 289 </ol> 290 </li> 291 <li> 292 <a href="#events">Events</a> 293 <ol> 294 <li> 295 <a href="#event-anchor">eventName</a> 296 </li> 297 </ol> 298 </li> 299 <li> 300 <a href="#types">Types</a> 301 <ol> 302 <li> 303 <a href="#id-anchor">id</a> 304 </li> 305 </ol> 306 </li> 307 </ol> 308 </li> 309 </ol> 310 </div> 311 <!-- /TABLE OF CONTENTS --> 312 313 <!-- Standard content lead-in for experimental API pages --> 314 <p id="classSummary" style="display: none; "> 315 For information on how to use experimental APIs, see the <a href="experimental.html">chrome.experimental.* APIs</a> page. 316 </p> 317 318 <!-- STATIC CONTENT PLACEHOLDER --> 319 <div id="static"><div id="pageData-name" class="pageData">Tutorial: Getting Started (Hello, World!)</div> 320<div id="pageData-showTOC" class="pageData">true</div> 321 322<p> 323This tutorial walks you through creating a simple extension. 324You'll add an icon to Google Chrome 325that, when clicked, displays an automatically generated page. 326The icon and page will look something like this: 327</p> 328 329<img src="images/hello-world-small.png" width="300" height="221" alt="a window with a grid of images related to HELLO WORLD"> 330 331<p> 332You can develop extensions using any release of Google Chrome, 333on Windows, Mac, or Linux. 334</p> 335 336<h2 id="load">Create and load an extension</h2> 337<p> 338In this section, you'll write an extension 339that adds a <em>browser action</em> 340to the toolbar of Google Chrome. 341</p> 342 343<ol> 344 <li> 345 Create a folder somewhere on your computer to contain your extension's code. 346 </li> 347 <li> 348 Inside your extension's folder, 349 create a text file called <strong><code>manifest.json</code></strong>, 350 and put this in it: 351<pre>{ 352 "name": "My First Extension", 353 "version": "1.0", 354 "description": "The first extension that I made.", 355 "browser_action": { 356 "default_icon": "icon.png" 357 }, 358 "permissions": [ 359 "http://api.flickr.com/" 360 ] 361}</pre> 362 </li> 363 <li> 364 Copy this icon to the same folder:<br> 365 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border:0"> 366 <tbody><tr> 367 <td style="text-align:center; border:0;"><a href="examples/tutorials/getstarted/icon.png"><img src="examples/tutorials/getstarted/icon.png" width="19" height="19" border="0"></a><br> 368 <a href="examples/tutorials/getstarted/icon.png">Download icon.png</a></td> 369 </tr> 370 </tbody></table> 371 </li> 372 <li id="load-ext"> Load the extension. 373 <ol type="a"> 374 <li style="margin-top:0"> 375 Bring up the extensions management page 376 by clicking the wrench icon 377 <img src="images/toolsmenu.gif" width="29" height="29" alt="" style="margin-top:0"> 378 and choosing <b>Tools > Extensions</b>. 379 (On Mac, use <b>Window > Extensions</b>.) 380 </li> 381 382 <li> 383 If <b>Developer mode</b> has a + by it, 384 click the + to add developer information to the page. 385 The + changes to a -, 386 and more buttons and information appear. 387 </li> 388 389 <li> 390 Click the <b>Load unpacked extension</b> button. 391 A file dialog appears. 392 </li> 393 394 <li> 395 In the file dialog, 396 navigate to your extension's folder 397 and click <b>OK</b>. 398 </li> 399 </ol> </li> 400 </ol> 401 402<p> 403If your extension is valid, 404its icon appears next to the address bar, 405and information about the extension 406appears in the extensions page, 407as the following screenshot shows. 408</p> 409 410<p> 411<a href="images/load_after.png"><img src="images/load_after_small.png" width="300" height="132"></a> 412</p> 413 414<h2 id="code">Add code to the extension</h2> 415<p> In this step, you'll make your extension <em>do</em> something besides just look good. </p> 416<ol> 417 <li> 418 <p> Edit <code>manifest.json</code> to add the following line:</p> 419<pre> ... 420 "browser_action": { 421 "default_icon": "icon.png"<b>, 422 "popup": "popup.html"</b> 423 }, 424 ... 425</pre> 426 <p> Inside your extension's folder, 427 create a text file called <strong><code>popup.html</code></strong>, 428 and add the following code to it:</p> 429 <blockquote> <a href="http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/chrome/common/extensions/docs/examples/tutorials/getstarted/popup.html?content-type=text/plain" target="_blank">CSS 430 and JavaScript code for hello_world</a></blockquote> 431 </li> 432 <li> 433 Return to the extensions management page, 434 and click the <b>Reload</b> button 435 to load the new version of the extension.</li> 436 <li>Click the extension's icon. 437 A popup should appear that displays the contents of 438 <code>popup.html</code>. </li> 439</ol> 440<p> It should look something like this:</p> 441 442<img src="images/hello-world.png" width="500" height="369" alt="a popup with a grid of images related to HELLO WORLD"> 443 444<p> If you don't see the popup, 445try the instructions again, 446following them exactly. 447Don't try loading an HTML file that isn't in the extension's folder — 448it won't work! </p> 449 450<h2 id="summary">Now what?</h2> 451 452<!-- [PENDING: Summarize what we did, what it means, what else we would've done if this were a real extension (e.g. package/zip it), and where to find more information.] --> 453 454<p> 455Here are some suggestions for what to read next: 456</p> 457 458<ul> 459 <li> 460 The <a href="overview.html">Overview</a>, 461 which has important conceptual and practical information 462 </li> 463 <li> 464 The 465 <a href="tut_debugging.html">debugging tutorial</a>, 466 which starts where this tutorial leaves off 467 </li> 468 <li> 469 The <a href="hosting.html">hosting</a> page, 470 which tells you about options for distributing your extension 471 </li> 472</ul> 473 474<p> 475If you don't feel like reading, try these: 476</p> 477<ul> 478 <li> 479 Keep up to date with the latest news: 480 <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions/subscribe">subscribe to chromium-extensions</a> 481 </li> 482 <li> 483 Look at some 484 <a href="samples.html">sample extensions</a> 485 </li> 486 <li> 487 Watch some 488 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CA101D6A85FE9D4B">videos</a>, such as 489 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3McMaHvlBY&feature=PlayList&p=CA101D6A85FE9D4B&index=3">How to build an extension</a> 490 </li> 491</ul> 492</div> 493 494 <!-- API PAGE --> 495 <div class="apiPage" style="display: none; "> 496 <a name="apiReference"></a> 497 <h2>API reference: chrome.apiname </h2> 498 499 <!-- PROPERTIES --> 500 <div class="apiGroup"> 501 <a name="properties"></a> 502 <h3 id="properties">Properties</h3> 503 504 <div> 505 <a></a> 506 <h4>getLastError</h4> 507 <div class="summary"> 508 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> 509 <span>chrome.extension</span><span>lastError</span> 510 </div> 511 <div> 512 </div> 513 </div> 514 515 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> 516 517 <!-- METHODS --> 518 <div class="apiGroup" id="methods"> 519 <a name="methods"></a> 520 <h3>Methods</h3> 521 522 <!-- iterates over all functions --> 523 <div class="apiItem"> 524 <a></a> <!-- method-anchor --> 525 <h4>method name</h4> 526 527 <div class="summary"><span>void</span> 528 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> 529 <span>chrome.module.methodName</span>(<span><span>, </span><span></span> 530 <var><span></span></var></span>)</div> 531 532 <div class="description"> 533 <p class="todo">Undocumented.</p> 534 <p> 535 A description from the json schema def of the function goes here. 536 </p> 537 538 <!-- PARAMETERS --> 539 <h4>Parameters</h4> 540 <dl> 541 <div> 542 <div> 543 </div> 544 </div> 545 </dl> 546 547 <!-- RETURNS --> 548 <h4>Returns</h4> 549 <dl> 550 <div> 551 <div> 552 </div> 553 </div> 554 </dl> 555 556 <!-- CALLBACK --> 557 <div> 558 <div> 559 <h4>Callback function</h4> 560 <p> 561 The callback <em>parameter</em> should specify a function 562 that looks like this: 563 </p> 564 <p> 565 If you specify the <em>callback</em> parameter, it should 566 specify a function that looks like this: 567 </p> 568 569 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> 570 <pre>function(<span>Type param1, Type param2</span>) <span class="subdued">{...}</span>;</pre> 571 <dl> 572 <div> 573 <div> 574 </div> 575 </div> 576 </dl> 577 </div> 578 </div> 579 580 <!-- MIN_VERSION --> 581 <p> 582 This function was added in version <b><span></span></b>. 583 If you require this function, the manifest key 584 <a href="manifest.html#minimum_chrome_version">minimum_chrome_version</a> 585 can ensure that your extension won't be run in an earlier browser version. 586 </p> 587 </div> <!-- /description --> 588 589 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> 590 591 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> 592 593 <!-- EVENTS --> 594 <div class="apiGroup"> 595 <a name="events"></a> 596 <h3 id="events">Events</h3> 597 598 <!-- iterates over all events --> 599 <div class="apiItem"> 600 <a></a> 601 <h4>event name</h4> 602 603 <div class="summary"> 604 <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> 605 <span class="subdued">chrome.bookmarks</span><span>onEvent</span><span class="subdued">.addListener</span>(function(<span>Type param1, Type param2</span>) <span class="subdued">{...}</span>); 606 </div> 607 608 <div class="description"> 609 <p class="todo">Undocumented.</p> 610 <p> 611 A description from the json schema def of the event goes here. 612 </p> 613 614 <!-- PARAMETERS --> 615 <h4>Parameters</h4> 616 <dl> 617 <div> 618 <div> 619 </div> 620 </div> 621 </dl> 622 623 </div> <!-- /decription --> 624 625 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> 626 627 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> 628 629 <!-- TYPES --> 630 <div class="apiGroup"> 631 <a name="types"></a> 632 <h3 id="types">Types</h3> 633 634 <!-- iterates over all types --> 635 <div class="apiItem"> 636 <a></a> 637 <h4>type name</h4> 638 639 <div> 640 </div> 641 642 </div> <!-- /apiItem --> 643 644 </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> 645 646 </div> <!-- /apiPage --> 647 </div> <!-- /gc-pagecontent --> 648 </div> <!-- /g-section --> 649 </div> <!-- /codesiteContent --> 650 <div id="gc-footer" --=""> 651 <div class="text"> 652 <p> 653 Except as otherwise <a href="http://code.google.com/policies.html#restrictions">noted</a>, 654 the content of this page is licensed under the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons 655 Attribution 3.0 License</a>, and code samples are licensed under the 656 <a rel="license" href="http://code.google.com/google_bsd_license.html">BSD License</a>. 657 </p> 658 <p> 659 ©2010 Google 660 </p> 661 662<!-- begin analytics --> 663<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"></script> 664<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js" type="text/javascript"></script> 665 666<script type="text/javascript"> 667 // chrome doc tracking 668 try { 669 var engdocs = _gat._getTracker("YT-10763712-2"); 670 engdocs._trackPageview(); 671 } catch(err) {} 672 673 // code.google.com site-wide tracking 674 try { 675 _uacct="UA-18071-1"; 676 _uanchor=1; 677 _uff=0; 678 urchinTracker(); 679 } 680 catch(e) {/* urchinTracker not available. */} 681</script> 682<!-- end analytics --> 683 </div> 684 </div> <!-- /gc-footer --> 685 </div> <!-- /gc-container --> 686</body></html> 687
