Ubuntu custom URL protocol handler

Question

I want to ask a question, but I will first show my files

<html>
<body>
<a href="cloudje:firefox">Open firefox</a>
</body>
</html>

My .desktop file:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=/usr/bin/cloudjerun -c gedit
Name[en_US]=Gedit
Comment[en_US]=Small, easy-to-use program to access iTunesU media
Name=TunesViewer
Comment=Small, easy-to-use program to access iTunesU media
Icon=/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/tunesview.svg
Categories=Application;Network;
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/cloudje;
Comment[en_US.utf8]=Small, easy-to-use program to access iTunesU media

Tutorial: http://jarrpa.net/2011/10/28/creating-custom-url-handlers-in-ubuntu-11-04-11-10-gnome-3-0/

Ok, this is cool. The .desktop file will be placed in /usr/share/applications. If you execute the command 'xdg-open cloudje:firefox' or something like 'xdg-open cloudje:example', it will always execute gedit using a Python script named 'cloudjerun'. How can I execute firefox using the command 'xdg-open cloudje:firefox'?

Do I need to replace 'Exec=/usr/bin/cloudjerun -c gedit' to 'Exec=/usr/bin/cloudjerun -c %U' or 'Exec=/usr/bin/cloudjerun -c %s' or something?

The Tutorial link is no more working.

Omkar
– Omkar

2014-10-20 10:37:22 +00:00
Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 10:37 — Omkar
– Omkar, Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 10:37

Oliver Sauder · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-23 14:21:49Z

7

In a desktop file following parameters are possible for Exec

Add...  Accepts...
%f      a single filename.
%F      multiple filenames.
%u      a single URL.
%U      multiple URLs.
%d      a single directory. Used in conjunction with %f to locate a file.
%D      multiple directories. Used in conjunction with %F to locate files.
%n      a single filename without a path.
%N      multiple filenames without paths.
%k      a URI or local filename of the location of the desktop file.
%v      the name of the Device entry.

So in your case you can adjust your Exec entry as you described to the following:

Exec=/usr/bin/cloudjerun -c %u

Note though that %u is the complete uri so e.g. when you run xdg-open cloudje:firefox %u will be cloudje:firefox. Easiest I assume is to adjust the cloudjerun python script removing the first part of the uri before running it.

answered Nov 23, 2013 at 14:21

Oliver Sauder

1,1641 gold badge12 silver badges30 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Stephan Meijer Over a year ago

If I was still working at the company I made this for, you would be helping me a lot! WebSockets were my solution!

lolblox · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-07 20:51:51Z

This might help
(its a program for creating custom protocol handlers easily)
(you will need to install kde-apps or kde-full and then run this, you will also need to run this in a Terminal.
Also you MUST run it as root(sudo ~/Downloads/ProtocolCreator.sh))
it will create a folder with the protocol handler name(like the https in https:) in your home directory. use $1 for getting the full url. there is no easy way to make it just be the part after [something]: ...
modify the file inside that folder to make it contain all you need
now with that said if you want to open firefox, use <a href="blablabla:firefox">Open Firefox</a> while the file in the folder has the content:
#!/bin/bash
firefox
now when the link is clicked, Firefox should open!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Ubuntu custom URL protocol handler

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related