Under the Hood: Uniface’s Chromium Framework Gets a Major Security and Performance Upgrade
By Jie Wu, Software Engineer III
As a Uniface engineer, I’m excited to share some big news with all of you who build, maintain, and run Uniface applications: we’ve just shipped an upgrade to the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) in Uniface patch 10.4.03-028. If you’re using the HTML widget or working inside the Uniface IDE, this will directly impact your daily work—for the better.
Why This Matters
At its core, Uniface leverages Chromium (the open-source backbone of browsers like Chrome and Edge) for HTML rendering and JavaScript execution. This means that whenever you embed web content in your app—be it dashboards, rich UIs, or integrations—you get the same level of power and security that powers modern browsers. By upgrading CEF from version 123.0.7 (Chromium 123.0.6312.46) to CEF 141.0.5 (Chromium 141.0.7390.55), we’re delivering the latest security patches and features, closing the door on previously disclosed vulnerabilities and helping keep both your apps and your users’ data safe.
Security is the main driver here, but there’s a lot more under the surface that will shape your experience as a developer, sysadmin, or even as an end user.
What’s New and What You Need to Know
1. Security, First and Foremost
- The new CEF release brings a ton of upstream fixes. If your organization is serious about reducing risk and staying compliant, this update will help mitigate exposure to known Chromium-related vulnerabilities.
- This is a proactive move—upgrading sooner helps reduce surprises from future security advisories.
2. Updated Hardware Requirements
- The Chromium engine keeps evolving, but that also means it needs a bit more horsepower:
- OS: Windows 10+ or Windows Server 2016+
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 (or newer) with SSE3 support
- Memory: 8 GB RAM is the new baseline for smooth sailing with a single IDE instance. If you like running lots of instances (power users, I see you!), 16 GB or more is recommended.
- Disk: With the bigger CEF footprint (extra locale files, beefed-up binaries), keep in mind that hosting the CEF binaries on a network share might slow down startup times or cause reliability hiccups. For the smoothest experience, we suggest running them from local disk.
3. Improvements for Developers and Testers
- JavaScript DOM APIs Are More Flexible: If you’ve ever tripped over strict DOM API validation when dynamically creating elements, this will be a welcome change. The APIs are now much more aligned with what the HTML parser allows, opening the door for more expressive and dynamic UI code.
- MSAA Exposure Has Changed: If you rely on accessibility automation or GUI test tools that ‘see’ Uniface through MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility), note that the structure has changed. Your test scripts may need tweaks to keep working as expected.
- DevTools and UI Tweaks: You’ll see some subtle—but noticeable—changes in the look and feel:
- Scrollbars and certain Chrome elements now align with the Windows 11 design language.
- The DevTools window in the HTML widget has lost its titled window header and sports a new icon.
4. What This Means for You
- For Customers and End Users: This is all about a safer, faster, and more modern web experience in your Uniface applications.
- For Developers: Take a little time to review and update your development environment. Check your automations, verify your test suites, and try out the new HTML widget flexibility with dynamic JavaScript.
- For System Admins: Double-check those hardware specs before rolling out the patch, especially if your team is running heavy or shared environments.
Next Steps
Before you upgrade, make sure your environments meet the new prerequisites to avoid interruptions. And as always, our documentation has the low-down on technical details, and our support team is here if you hit any snags.
We’re excited to keep pushing Uniface forward and hope these updates help you build, test, and deploy safer, smarter applications. Got feedback, or is there a feature you’d love to see? Drop us a line—we’re always listening.
Happy coding!
