Register protocol

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Summary

A protocol is a method that is used to send, receive, and handle information over a connection. Common protocols viewed from the browser include http, ftp, and mailto. In order for you to view information sent over a specific protocol, it must be registered. Once registered, the protocol can then be handled by the program you specify, such as your browser or a 3rd party viewer. This means that a hyperlink ( e.g. foo://fred ) can use the handler for protocol foo to open the file named fred.

Registering an Unsupported Protocol

Mozilla products utilize protocols defined internally, as well as those defined by the operating system. You can add the ability to use an unsupported protocol by registering it. The OS-specific method of doing this is described below.

Windows

Create the registry .reg file, replacing foo with your unregistered protocol, and the path with whatever handler program you want to run. Then merge it into the Windows registry.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\foo]
@="URL:foo Protocol"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\foo\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\foo\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\foo\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Application\\program.exe\" \"%1\"" 

See Registering an Application to a URL Protocol for additional information.

Linux

Unknown

OS X

Unknown

Redirecting an Registered Protocol

If the protocol is already handled by the browser, you can specify what program will be used as a handler to open the file. To do this, add the pref:
network.protocol-handler.app.foo as a string with value C:\Program Files\Application\program.exe
Note: If the path or name is incorrect, the browser will display an error saying "protocol (foo) isn't associated with any program". (See bug 312953).

You may also need to use the following prefs, although this is uncertain:
network.protocol-handler.external.foo = true
network.protocol-handler.expose.foo = false