Skip to content

cefclient

Directory actions

More options

Directory actions

More options

Latest commit

 

History

History

cefclient

README.md

CEF Client Sample Application

This directory contains the comprehensive CEF sample application demonstrating advanced browser integration features and CEF capabilities.

Overview

cefclient is the primary CEF sample application showcasing:

  • Complete feature set - Demonstrates most CEF APIs and integration patterns
  • Test framework - Built-in tests for various CEF functionality
  • Advanced features - OSR (off-screen rendering), process messaging, scheme handlers, and more
  • Multi-window support - Window management, popups, and DevTools
  • Cross-platform - Full implementations for Windows, Linux, and macOS

Comparison with cefsimple

Feature cefclient cefsimple
Purpose Comprehensive feature demo & testing Minimal learning example
Complexity ~100+ source files ~10 source files
Features Full CEF API coverage Basic browser only
Best for Reference implementation, testing Learning CEF basics

For learning CEF: Start with cefsimple to understand the basics, then explore cefclient for advanced features.

Learning Resources

Understanding cefclient architecture:

  1. CEF Tutorial - Covers cefsimple architecture, which provides the foundation
  2. CEF General Usage - Complete CEF API documentation
  3. This application - Explore the built-in tests and advanced implementations

Architecture

Core Components

  • MainContext (browser/main_context*) - Application state and CEF initialization
  • RootWindowManager (browser/root_window_manager*) - Window creation and management
  • ClientHandler (browser/client_handler*) - CEF client implementation with event handlers
  • RootWindow (browser/root_window*) - Individual browser window management
  • TestRunner (browser/test_runner*) - Test coordination and execution

Directory Structure

  • browser/ - Browser process implementation (main application logic)
  • renderer/ - Renderer process code (runs in isolated renderer processes)
  • common/ - Shared code used by multiple processes
  • resources/ - HTML/JS/CSS test pages and resources
  • mac/, win/ - Platform-specific resources and helpers

Platform Entry Points

  • cefclient_gtk.cc - Linux (GTK) entry point
  • cefclient_mac.mm - macOS (Cocoa) entry point
  • cefclient_win.cc - Windows (Win32) entry point

Key Features Demonstrated

Basic Browser Features

  • Window creation and management
  • Navigation and lifecycle
  • JavaScript execution
  • Resource loading and scheme handlers

Advanced Features

  • Off-Screen Rendering (OSR) - Windowless rendering with custom painting
  • Process messaging - Communication between browser and renderer processes
  • DevTools integration - Chrome Developer Tools
  • Downloads - Download handling and management
  • Dialogs - File dialogs, JavaScript dialogs, context menus
  • Performance - DOM access, frame rate control
  • Extensions - Chrome extension loading (Chrome style)

Testing

The application includes numerous tests accessible via the Tests menu:

  • Binding tests (JavaScript ↔ C++ communication)
  • Window management tests
  • Request/response tests
  • JavaScript execution tests
  • Scheme handler tests
  • And many more...

UI Frameworks

cefclient supports multiple UI approaches:

  • Native - Platform-specific UI (GTK, Cocoa, Win32)
  • Views - Cross-platform CEF Views framework
  • OSR - Custom rendering without native windows

Browser Styles

cefclient uses the Chrome bootstrap and supports two browser styles:

  • Chrome style (default) - Modern Chrome browser with advanced features (autofill, extensions, gamepad, etc.) and standard Chrome UI (toolbars, dialogs, etc.)
  • Alloy style - Traditional CEF browser based on the Chromium Content API, provides more flexibility for custom UI

Use command-line flags to select the browser style and other options.

Exploring Features

Try these different modes to explore various cefclient features:

# Chrome style (default): cefclient # Alloy style: cefclient --use-alloy-style cefclient --use-alloy-style --use-native cefclient --off-screen-rendering-enabled # Multi-threaded message loop (Windows/Linux only): cefclient --multi-threaded-message-loop cefclient --use-alloy-style --multi-threaded-message-loop # Chrome style + native parent (Windows/Linux only): cefclient --use-native

What each mode demonstrates:

  • Default - Chrome style with Views framework
  • --use-alloy-style - Traditional CEF browser
  • --use-native - Platform-specific native UI instead of Views
  • --off-screen-rendering-enabled - OSR mode (windowless rendering)
  • --multi-threaded-message-loop - Alternative threading model

Note: On macOS, use open cefclient.app --args <flags> to pass command-line arguments.

Once running, explore the Tests menu to see demonstrations of various CEF features.

C API Version

Unlike cefsimple, cefclient does not have a C API equivalent due to its complexity. For a C API example, see cefsimple_capi.

References