[openbeos] URL handlers, browser plugins (was Re: Data or App Centric?)
- From: "Jonas Sundström" <jonas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 20:44:37 +0100 CET
"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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