cef/tests/shared/README.md

CEF Shared Test Code

This directory contains common code and utilities shared across CEF test applications (cefclient and ceftests).

Overview

The shared directory provides reusable components that handle common CEF integration patterns, reducing code duplication across test applications and demonstrating best practices for CEF application development.

Used by:

• cefclient - Comprehensive feature demonstration and testing application
• ceftests - Automated unit test suite

Not used by:

• cefsimple - Minimal C++ example (self-contained)
• cefsimple_capi - Minimal C API example (self-contained)

Directory Structure

browser/

Browser process utilities including:

• Application framework with delegate pattern (client_app_browser)
• Message loop implementations (standard, external pump, multi-threaded)
• Cross-platform resource loading (resource_util)
• File system operations and geometry utilities

common/

Code shared across all process types:

• Base application handler (client_app)
• Process type detection and command-line parsing
• Custom scheme registration
• String and binary data utilities

renderer/

Renderer process handler with delegate pattern for V8 context management and JavaScript extension registration.

resources/

Shared test resources (HTML pages, icons, sample files).

Key Concepts

Delegate Pattern: Applications (cefclient, ceftests) extend shared base classes by implementing delegates rather than modifying shared code.

Message Loop Abstraction: Supports multiple threading models - standard CEF loop, external pump (integrates with platform event loops), and multi-threaded mode.

Platform Abstraction: Common interfaces with platform-specific implementations for resource loading, file operations, and window management.

Usage

Applications use shared handlers for process-specific behavior:

CefRefPtr<ClientApp> app;
switch (process_type) {
  case ClientApp::BrowserProcess:
    app = new ClientAppBrowser();   // Browser process handler
    break;
  case ClientApp::RendererProcess:
    app = new ClientAppRenderer();  // Renderer process handler
    break;
}

Applications customize behavior by implementing delegates without modifying shared code.

References

• CEF General Usage - CEF API documentation
• CEF Tutorial - Application architecture overview
• cefclient - Reference implementation using shared code
• ceftests - Test suite using shared code