[openbeos] URL handlers, browser plugins (was Re: Data or App Centric?)

"François Revol" <revol@xxxxxxx> wrote:
 ...
> I've been thinking about extending the url-handling protocol...
> (apps tell they handle files of type application/x-vnd.Be-URL-foo)
> telling if they can be replicated.
> That way a browser could handle plugins in a simpler way,
> apps could embed VNC or RDP session by searching for a
> replicant that handles vnc:me@foo:0 ...

Could you expand on how you want it to work?

I'm personally pretty happy with the current intended use 
of the URL mimetypes, which I've interpreted like this:

A stand-alone application, (or intermediate helper app), set as the 
Preferred Application of the URL mimetype*, or listing the URL mimetype 
as one of its Supported Types, meaning that the application is able to 
receive and act upon a URL given to it by way of argv[1].

I assume it's not your intention to overload this design?

I haven't given it much thought, but I would assume that some 
complementary information, like an attribute, or a resource flag, would 
be necessary to distinguish 
"argv URL handlers" from "URL viewer plugins", if you do intend to 
overload the meaning.

I would prefer another class of URL mimetypes, separate from the old 
ones, for 
this new purpose, e.g: application/x-vnd.Be-Embedded-URL-foo

For the record, I don't think the current URL mimetypes have shown 
their true potential.** I would very much like for Themis or Mozilla to 
offer URL context menu
options to open a certain URL in any of the available URL handlers, 
pretty much like the Open with > submenu works in Tracker. E.g:  
ftp://foobar.org 
Open URL with ->         NetPenguin, NetPositive, Mozilla, ...

I've tried to promote use of the URL mimetypes:

URL Handlers:  http://www.bebits.com/app/2972
Springboard:  http://www.bebits.com/app/1814
BeShareOpener:  http://www.bebits.com/app/2973

But I guess there's been no real tractor app, and Net+ completely 
needlessly sets the Pref. App ("Opens with") attribute of every 
bookmark it creates, making it impossible to "route" URLs to other 
handlers when opening bookmarks from Tracker, since setting an URL 
router such as Springboard as the Preferred App of the Bookmark 
filetype is completely ineffective without removing all these 
attributes from your bookmark files.

/Jonas Sundström.                 www.kirilla.com

*(For those of you not familiar with these, they are local to BeOS. 
You're not meant to use them as actual filetypes. You should never see 
these "in the wild" in the form of filetypes, webserver content or 
parts of email.)

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