Mariner (layout engine)
Encyclopedia
Mariner was a canceled project to add performance and stability enhancements to the layout engine
used in the Netscape Communicator
web browser
. Mariner became open source
in March 1998 when Netscape released its client code and started the Mozilla
project.
Mariner added support for page reflow, a feature lacking in previous Netscape releases, making the layout of text and tables much faster. In addition, development work was done on a Document Object Model
(level 1) and stability was improved. Enhancements to HTML
and CSS
were also made but these were not technically part of the Mariner project.
The original intention was to ship Mariner in Netscape Communicator 5.0, with subsequent releases using the newer NGLayout engine (now called Gecko
). However, in October 1998, Netscape decided to abandon the old layout engine in favour of NGLayout and work on Mariner ceased. Netscape Communicator 5.0 and Mariner never shipped. The next major Netscape revision (Netscape 6
, released in November 2000) was built around Gecko.
Layout engine
A web browser engine, , is a software component that takes marked up content and formatting information and displays the formatted content on the screen. It "paints" on the content area of a window, which is displayed on a monitor or a printer...
used in the Netscape Communicator
Netscape Communicator
Netscape Communicator was an Internet suite produced by Netscape Communications Corporation. Initially released in June 1997, Netscape Communicator 4.0 was the successor to Netscape Navigator 3.x and included more groupware features intended to appeal to enterprises.- Editions :Netscape...
web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
. Mariner became open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
in March 1998 when Netscape released its client code and started the Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
project.
Mariner added support for page reflow, a feature lacking in previous Netscape releases, making the layout of text and tables much faster. In addition, development work was done on a Document Object Model
Document Object Model
The Document Object Model is a cross-platform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML and XML documents. Aspects of the DOM may be addressed and manipulated within the syntax of the programming language in use...
(level 1) and stability was improved. Enhancements to HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
and CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
were also made but these were not technically part of the Mariner project.
The original intention was to ship Mariner in Netscape Communicator 5.0, with subsequent releases using the newer NGLayout engine (now called Gecko
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
). However, in October 1998, Netscape decided to abandon the old layout engine in favour of NGLayout and work on Mariner ceased. Netscape Communicator 5.0 and Mariner never shipped. The next major Netscape revision (Netscape 6
Netscape 6
Netscape 6 was the name of Netscape Communications Corporation's proprietary cross-platform internet suite from versions 6.0–6.2.3. It superseded Netscape Communicator 4.8 and was replaced by the simply-named Netscape...
, released in November 2000) was built around Gecko.