Register protocol

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Revision as of 15:33, 31 December 2005 by Fozner (talk | contribs) (→‎OS X)
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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

Linux does not need you to register a protocol. Simply associate whatever proto: with a program through Firefox: Example: Add the sip: protocol to launch kphone for VoIP calls in Firefox:

- Type about:config into the address bar
- Right-click create new boolean value: network.protocol-handler.external.sip and set to true
- Right-click create new boolean value: network.protocol-handler.warn-external.sip and set to false
- Right-click create new string value: network.protocol-handler.app.sip and set to /usr/bin/kphone

This will actually launch kphone. Not sure if it will dial though. That is untested :)

OS X

Probably very similar to Linux (above).

Redirecting a 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