# Refreshing Firefox favicons

> If you are a web developer, you're gonna need this. 😎


For now, I have only tried this on Windows.
Maybe I'll add more info later.


[TLDR](#tldr)


## Where are the `favicons`?

Inside the `C:\Users\user1\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\` folder,
it looks like something like this

```
abcdef.default-release/
ghijkl.dev-edition-default/
mnopqr.default/
```

And inside these folders, you'll find:
```
./abcdef.default-release/favicons.sqlite
./abcdef.default-release/favicons.sqlite-shm
./abcdef.default-release/favicons.sqlite-wal
./ghijkl.dev-edition-default/favicons.sqlite
./ghijkl.dev-edition-default/favicons.sqlite-shm
./ghijkl.dev-edition-default/favicons.sqlite-wal
```

In tree view:
```
.
+---abcdef.default-release
|   favicons.sqlite
|   favicons.sqlite-shm
|   favicons.sqlite-wal
|
\---ghijkl.dev-edition-default
    favicons.sqlite
    favicons.sqlite-shm
    favicons.sqlite-wal

```

Running the `file` command (from git-bash) on these files show:
```sh
cd ghijkl.dev-edition-default/
file favicons.sqlite*
```

~~(At least on my machine)~~ LOL
```
favicons.sqlite:     SQLite 3.x database, last written using SQLite version 3041002, page size 32768, writer version 2, read version 2, file counter 4, database pages 8, cookie 0x6, schema 4, largest root page 8, UTF-8, vacuum mode 1, version-valid-for 4

favicons.sqlite-shm: data

favicons.sqlite-wal: empty
```

If you open the `favicons.sqlite` with something like [SQLiteStudio](https://sqlitestudio.pl/), you see:

![Opening favicons.sqlite with SQLiteStudio](/images/blogs/purge-firefox-favicons_01.png)

So, basically:

- `favicons.sqlite` is a sqlite database
- `favicons.sqlite-shm` is a shared-memory File (see [SQLite docs](https://www.sqlite.org/tempfiles.html#shared_memory_files))
- `favicons.sqlite-wal` is a write-ahead log (WAL) file (see [SQLite docs](https://www.sqlite.org/tempfiles.html#write_ahead_log_wal_files))


<a id="tldr"></a>
Now, all you need to do is delete those 3 files. And Firefox will rebuild them for you.

- `favicons.sqlite`
- `favicons.sqlite-shm`
- `favicons.sqlite-wal`


## Related resources
- [Stack Overflow - Refresh favicon in bookmarks (Firefox)](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37859753/refresh-favicon-in-bookmarks-firefox)
- [Fix: Firefox Displaying the Wrong Bookmark Favicons](https://appuals.com/fix-firefox-displaying-the-wrong-bookmark-favicons/)

Refreshing Firefox favicons


## Do you know you can create empty plots in R?

Sometimes, you just want to create an empty plot in R...

Just want to remove everything? [↓↓ TLDR ↓↓](#tldr).

## The good old _plot_ command

First, let get ourselves some data.

```{r}
set.seed(42)
y1 <- rnorm(10)
x1 <- seq_along(y1)
```

### A Typical Plot

Plotting it in a normal way:

```{r}
plot(x1, y1)
```

![A typical plot](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_normal-plot.png)

### Remove the labels (and titles)

The obvious way

```{r}
plot(
  x1, y1,
  xlab = "", ylab = "",
  main = ""
)
```

An alternative way

```{r}
plot(
  x1, y1,
  xlab = "Oh no I'm gone", ylab = "Oh no I'm gone",
  ann = FALSE # <- added this
)
```

![A plot with labels removed](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_remove-labels.png)

### Remove some ticks

```{r}
plot(
  x1, y1,
  xaxt = "n", # suppress x-ticks
  yaxt = "n" # suppress y-ticks
)
```

![A plot with ticks removed](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_remove-ticks.png)

### Remove the points

```{r}
plot(x1, y1, col = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0))  # Set alpha to 0
```

![A plot with invisible points](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_remove-points.png)

### Remove surrounding box

```{r}
plot(x1, y1, fg = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0))  # Set alpha to 0
```

![A plot with invisible box](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_remove-box.png)

### Remove everything!? (Part 1)

```{r}
plot(
  x1, y1,
  xaxt = "n", yaxt = "n",  # ticks
  ann = FALSE,             # labels + titles
  fg = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0),    # surrounding box
  col = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0)    # data points
)
```

![A plot with everything removed](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_remove-everything.png)

You are loking at an empty **white** image.

<a name="tldr"></a>

### Remove everything!? (Part 2)

But wait, there's more. The image is still **white**. Lets plot a transparent one 😎.

```{r}
png(
  filename = "empty-Rplot.png",
  bg = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0)
)
plot(
  x1, y1,
  xaxt = "n", yaxt = "n",  # ticks
  ann = FALSE,             # labels + titles
  fg = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0),    # surrounding box
  col = rgb(0, 0, 0, 0)    # data points
)
dev.off()
```

**transparent** image below ↓

![A plot with everything removed and a transparent background](/images/blogs/create-empty-rplot_empty-Rplot.png)

You are loking at an empty **transparent** image ↑.

> Note: Not all image formats support transparent background, e.g. .jpg files


R: Create Empty Plots


## Desktop applications and me

It has been a long time since I played with a desktop app framework.
A few years ago I have played with [wxPython](https://wxpython.org/) and [PySide2](https://doc.qt.io/qtforpython-5/).

![Author's Drawing of PySideX's logo](/images/blogs/hand-drawn-pyside-logo.png)

## The setup

After you installed Python...

**Always**, always use a virtual environment if you need to install any packages. There are quite a number of choices for virtual environments, e.g. [venv](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html) (Python standard library), [virtualenv](https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/latest/), [Pyenv](https://pipenv.pypa.io/en/latest/), [Poetry](https://python-poetry.org/), .etc.
[miniconda/Anaconda](https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html) could also be in consideration if you want fine control of the Python version.
I use Poetry most of the time. For this article, I'll use the default options for poetry.

Don't let the message below scare you, it just need a simple fix.

```sh
> mkdir pyside6-sandbox && cd pyside6-sandbox
>
> poetry init -n
> ls
pyproject.toml
> poetry add pyside6

The current project\'s Python requirement (>=3.10,<4.0) is not compatible with some of the required packages Python requirement:
  - pyside6 requires Python <3.12,>=3.7, so it will not be satisfied for Python >=3.12,<4.0

Because no versions of pyside6 match >6.4.1,<7.0.0
 and pyside6 (6.4.1) requires Python <3.12,>=3.7, pyside6 is forbidden.
So, because pyside6-sandbox depends on PySide6 (^6.4.1), version solving failed.

  • Check your dependencies Python requirement: The Python requirement can be specified via the `python` or `markers` properties

    For pyside6, a possible solution would be to set the `python` property to ">=3.10,<3.12"

    https://python-poetry.org/docs/dependency-specification/#python-restricted-dependencies,
    https://python-poetry.org/docs/dependency-specification/#using-environment-markers
```

To install PySide6, we specify the python version.

```sh
> poetry add --python '>=3.10,<3.12' pyside6
Using version ^6.4.1 for PySide6

Updating dependencies
Resolving dependencies... (0.4s)

Writing lock file

Package operations: 4 installs, 0 updates, 0 removals

  • Installing shiboken6 (6.4.1)
  • Installing pyside6-essentials (6.4.1)
  • Installing pyside6-addons (6.4.1)
  • Installing pyside6 (6.4.1)

> poetry shell
Spawning shell within some-where/virtualenvs/pyside6-sandbox-UCbHYWjN-py3.10
> (pyside6-sandbox-py3.10)
```

DONE!

## But wait! There's more!

The `pyside6` package included a bunch of tools.
Just make sure we are in our virtual environment.

- pyside6-assistant
- pyside6-deploy
- pyside6-designer
- pyside6-genpyi
- pyside6-linguist
- pyside6-lrelease
- pyside6-lupdate
- pyside6-metaobjectdump
- pyside6-project
- pyside6-qml
- pyside6-qmlformat
- pyside6-qmlimportscanner
- pyside6-qmllint
- pyside6-qmlls
- pyside6-qmltyperegistrar
- pyside6-qtpy2cpp
- pyside6-rcc
- pyside6-uic

If you are on Powershell, use this command to see what you get:

```powershell
> (pyside6-sandbox-py3.10)gcm -Name 'pyside6-*'
```

To use QtDesigner:

```sh
> (pyside6-sandbox-py3.10) pyside6-qtdesigner &  # launch in background with '&'
```

If you are new to the Qt ecosystem, make sure to checkout:

- pyside6-designer
- pyside6-rcc
- pyside6-uic

## Conclusion

I know webapps are gaining a lot of traction for a long while, but writing desktop application is always a fun thing to do for me.

What actually reinspark me to give Qt a look again is this tutorial by [freeCodeCamp.org](https://www.youtube.com/@freecodecamp).

<iframe
  width="640"
  height="360"
  src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z1N9JzNax2k"
  title="Learn Python GUI Development for Desktop – PySide6 and Qt Tutorial"
  frameborder="0"
  allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"
  loading="lazy"
  fetchpriority="low"
  allowfullscreen
></iframe>

[video link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1N9JzNax2k)

Although Qt's documentation is a little bit lacking in the Python side, Qt is a powerful and mature ecosystem for building desktop applications. Definitely worth give it a try!


Easy PySide6 Setup


## A very clunky blog...

Welcome to my blog!

Current situation:

![A Blank Image](/images/blogs/blank.png)

Welp, this is the first time a made a blog...

Okay, jokes aside. I will be posting personal thoughts and experiences about tech and code.

During the makings of this blog, I found these resources very helpful:

- [Next.js in 100 Seconds // Plus Full Beginner's Tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sklc_fQBmcs) by [_Fireship_](https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship)
- [Static Blog With Next.js and Markdown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrjeefD8sac) by [_Traversy Media_](https://www.youtube.com/@TraversyMedia)

NextJS with Markdown is an fun way to go but it definitely took me some time.

Obviously, there are a lot of ways to build a blog. If time is of essense, something like blogger or obsidian publish would be better.

And most paid services would also provide better search engine optimisations.

> I have no idea how you found this blog.
>


Blogs

Refreshing Firefox favicons

R: Create Empty Plots

Easy PySide6 Setup

I made a blog!