Project Overview

MultiHtmlCraft is a .NET library for HTML parsing, DOM construction, and rendering. It aims to provide a lightweight alternative to full browser engines for server-side or headless client-side processing scenarios.

The library is written in C# and has no dependency on browser engines such as Internet Explorer, Gecko, WebKit, Chromium, or Edge. It supports both Windows and cross-platform builds using conditional compilation and platform-specific dependencies.

The original "fair[dll] V1" project was designed for .NET Framework 1.1 and Mono (Windows and Linux) with JavaScript integration using IKVM (it used its own thread pool). This version is no longer supported or maintained.

The modern "fair[dll] V2" project targets .NET 9 and later. It offers improved performance, modern .NET APIs, and better script engine integration (async/await, HttpClient, and other current APIs).

Supported Web APIs

The following table lists representative Web APIs provided by MultiHtmlCraft.Core. Implementation status may change over time; please open an issue or pull request if you need additional APIs or more detailed behavior.

API	Status	Notes
Document.createElement()	Implemented	Element creation supported
Document.createTextNode()	Implemented	Text node creation supported
Document.createEvent()	Implemented	Basic event creation
Document.querySelector()	Implemented	CSS selector lookup
Document.querySelectorAll()	Implemented	Multiple selector lookup
Document.getElementById()	Implemented	Get element by id
Document.getElementsByClassName()	Implemented	Get elements by class name
Document.getElementsByTagName()	Implemented	Get elements by tag name
Element.appendChild()	Implemented	Append child node
Element.insertBefore()	Implemented	Insert before reference node
Element.replaceChild()	Implemented	Replace child node
Element.removeChild()	Implemented	Remove child node
Element.contains()	Implemented	Containment check
Element.getBoundingClientRect()	Implemented	Returns layout rectangle
Element.setAttribute() / Element.getAttribute()	Implemented	Attribute manipulation
DOMParser.parseFromString()	Implemented	Parse string to DOM
CSStyleSheet.addRule()	Implemented	Add basic CSS rule
HTMLCanvasElement.getContext("2d")	Implemented	Canvas 2D API available
WebGLContext	Present (limited)	Mostly no-op at present
AudioContext	Present (limited)	Mostly no-op at present
XMLHttpRequest	Implemented (basic)	Basic GET/POST, headers, events (readyState, onload, onerror, etc.)
Window basic events (load, resize, click, etc.)	Implemented (basic)	Event listener registration and dispatch supported
Element.addEventListener() / Element.removeEventListener()	Implemented	DOM event handling supported
CSSOM (reading styles, partial manipulation)	Partial	Not fully spec-complete but major features available

Solution structure

• MultiHtmlCraft.Core — Core library (targets: net9.0;net9.0-windows)
• ClearScriptProcessor — Script processing integration (referenced)
• NilJsProcessor — JavaScript processing/emulation (referenced)
• MultiHtmlCraft.Interfaces — Shared interfaces (referenced)

See the solution explorer for the full project list and references.

Layout Engine & Architecture

• Modular architecture with clear separation of concerns: parsing, DOM, rendering, and scripting.
• The core library (MultiHtmlCraft.Core) handles HTML parsing, DOM modeling, and rendering abstractions.
• Script engine integrations are provided by separate projects that implement the IScriptProcessor interface.
• The rendering front-end requires further layout engine needs many improvements.

Key settings & dependencies

• Target frameworks: net9.0;net9.0-windows.
• The current default script processor for MultiHtmlCraft.Core is JavaScript.
• Windows-specific build defines WINDOWS;WINFORMS and sets UseWindowsForms when targeting net9.0-windows.
• Notable NuGet packages (from MultiHtmlCraft.Core.csproj):
  • SkiaSharp
  • Avalonia.Skia
  • Svg
  • System.Drawing.Common
  • NLog

Script Engine Integration

• Script engine integrations should implement the IScriptProcessor and IScriptScope interfaces.
• For security reasons, HTTP/HTTPS scripts must be downloaded and executed only from pre-registered, authorized, trusted hosts.
• Currently supported script engines:
  • ClearScript V8 (via the ClearScriptProcessor project)
  • NilJS (via the NilJsProcessor project)
• Variables and functions may be exposed to the script engine's scope via IScriptScope methods to enable interaction between scripts and the DOM.

GUI Platforms

• WinForms is supported on Windows (GDI). Avalonia support for cross-platform GUI for MacOS, Linuex rendering is almost compmpleted.
• Due to Windows GDI limitations, some Canvas 2D APIs are not available on the WinForms platform.
• Skia-based rendering is under development for headless and cross-platform scenarios.

Other GUI platforms may be supported in future releases.

Build (local)

Command line:

• Restore and build:
  • dotnet restore
  • dotnet build -c Release
• Build the solution explicitly:
  • dotnet build MultiHtmlCraft.Core.sln -c Release

Visual Studio:

• Open the solution, then use the menu Build > Build Solution.

Notes:

• When building for Windows-specific features, choose the net9.0-windows TFM.

Tests

Run unit tests (if present):

• dotnet test
• For no-build test runs: dotnet test --no-build

Running / Rendering

• WinForms, Avalonia (in development), and Skia-based rendering are supported or under development.

Font management

• Built-in font cache and APIs to enumerate and register custom fonts on non-Windows platforms.
• If your application exposes font upload endpoints or APIs, document accepted formats and any size limits.

Packaging & publishing

• Create NuGet packages with dotnet pack.
• Publish with dotnet nuget push or GitHub Packages.
• Versioning follows Version, AssemblyVersion, and FileVersion in project files (example: 0.90.10).

Contributing

• Open issues for bugs and feature requests.
• Send focused pull requests with tests and clear descriptions.
• Follow project code conventions and Nullable settings (<Nullable>enable</Nullable>).

License

• MIT License. See the LICENSE (MIT License) file for details.

Common commands

• Add and commit README:
  • git add README.md && git commit -m "Add solution README" && git push
• Clean and rebuild:
  • dotnet clean && dotnet build -c Release

Contact / Repository

• Repository: https://github.com/commonsuppliz/MultiHtmlCraft