Make web search in current opened browser - Farr_Browser_Launcher by lanux128

[lanux128]

in most cases the .htm and .html filetypes are already given arguments in enclosed quotes like this "%1" (see pic). e.g. "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -requestPending -osint -url "%1". if you don't mind, can you check in the Folders Option and see how it is configured at your system?

[thancock20]

I don't mind at all.  I've got
 
"C:\Program Files\FindAndRunRobot\Farr_Browser_Launcher.exe" "%1"

So, yes, the quotes are there.

I'm using Directory Opus as my file manager and bblean as my shell, but I don't think that would make a difference. I am curious if anyone else has had the issue; but, as far as I know, nobody else has tried using FBL as their default browser. They haven't posted about it, anyway. It's certainly saved me a lot of time not having to wait for Firefox to load up (I have quite a few extensions) every time a program I'm using decides to open a web page.  I don't have any extensions in Chrome at all, so I can use it as my "I want to take a look at something quickly" browser.

[lanux128]

that's strange, i can't re-enact this error on my PC.. furthermore you've got the quotes and all in your registry, i'm not sure why it doesn't work for you. however it's good that you found a solution for it.

[joby_toss]

Hmm...I'm having a similar issue as thancock20 and his fix seems to work for me too.
But sadly, I need the 4 browsers version of FBL. 

[thancock20]

that's strange, i can't re-enact this error on my PC.. furthermore you've got the quotes and all in your registry, i'm not sure why it doesn't work for you. however it's good that you found a solution for it.

-lanux128 (June 22, 2010, 09:52 PM)

That is strange.  Strange enough that I switched my shell back to Explorer and turned off Directory Opus' integration with Windows, and tried the original version of the script again.  I still had the issue, so I was right in thinking they didn't cause it.

I even searched through the registry, just to make sure every instance of the command line had the quotes, and they do. 

I also double checked to make sure Firefox and Chrome still work correctly when they're the default browser.  Yes they do.

I tried removing the quotes in Edit File Type and got a "error parsing url parameters" in both versions.  I also removed the whole "%1" argument, and both versions tried to open 0.  I ran these tests because the original version when used to override the default browser in FARR - with no argument at all - will open the same html files launched through FARR just fine.  The problem comes when I try to open the files in Directory Opus (or Explorer).

I can't figure out why the script and the registry both need the quotes to work on my machine, but only the registry on yours.  Like you said, though, I'm glad I did get it to work on my machine.

Hmm...I'm having a similar issue as thancock20 and his fix seems to work for me too.
But sadly, I need the 4 browsers version of FBL. 

-joby_toss (June 23, 2010, 02:43 PM)

So I'm not the only one with the problem.  This just keeps getting stranger.

By the way, I downloaded the 4 browser version to take a look at it; but the ahk file isn't included in the zip and it needs a password to decompile the exe.  So, I guess I'll stop meddling with lanux128's code now.

[lanux128]

@thancock20 and joby_toss:
can either of you post a screenshot of the error message (if there is one)? also can you edit the INI file and put the browser path in quotes like this: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" and let me know what happens?

in the meantime, i'll post a newer version with thancock20's fix into both versions but i'm just curious as to why it doesn't work.

[thancock20]

It's not really an error message.  If I try to open a file called C:\Testing FBL\Read Me.html, my browser pops up these three tabs:

1. file:///C:/Testing
2. fbl%2FRead
3. me.html

As you can see, it splits right where the spaces are.  That's what made me think about adding the quotes in.

Also, I put the quotes around the browser path in the INI file, but there was no change to the way either version works.

And just in case it makes any difference, I'm running Windows XP SP3.

[joby_toss]

Let me describe my problem:

1. FBL works correctly with FARR (no problems here)
2. when using Executor, I have a keyword "i" for IMDB search, and a keyword "ic" for doing an IMDB search for the current clipboard contents. If the clipboard contains "Pulp" for example, there are no problems. If however it contains "Pulp fiction", there will be 2 searches made in the current opened browser (no matter which one, no matter if it's enclosed in quotes in the .ini file): one IMDB search for "Pulp" and one Google search for "fiction" (separate tabs; I think the Google search is done because it is the default search engine...).
3. when making FBL the default handler for .html files for example, "D:\Downloaduri\help.html" is opened correctly, but "D:\Downloaduri\he lp.html" opens two erroneous tabs: "file://localhost/D:/Downloaduri/he" and "http://lp.html/".
4. no error windows, just erroneous behavior.
5. same thing when using PowerPro (to open a file or doing an web search through FBL).
6. thancock20's fix seems to work.
7. I'll make a video demo (when I come from work, around 13.00 GMT) if it helps.
8. have no idea what's happening

The curious thing is that I never noticed this before (I use FARR more and FBL is not the default browser).

[lanux128]

@thancock20 and joby_toss:
thanks for the details both of you. i'll work on the fix.

Edit: i've uploaded a new version here. please give this a try and let me know. btw, i haven't tested with FBL4 as the default browser so your feedback is important.

[joby_toss]

It works OK for me.
Thank you!

[joby_toss]

I don't know how many PowerPro fans/users are here, but I will try to mention one way you can use PP (with clip.dll plugin) and FBL together.

Take a look at the image below (you get to that by Ctrl+RightClick on a PP bar -> Configure -> Command list -> Add new before/after (while selecting the desired PP bar).



1- choose a name for your button
2- write the tooltip to be displayed on mouse hover over the utton
3- choose the path for a custom icon for your button
4- enter the path of your FBL executable
5- enter the Command parameters. Examples:

[Select]

http://www.google.com/search?q= &(clip.get)

for Google search for current clipboard content

[Select]

http://thepiratebay.org/search/ &(clip.get)/0/7/0

for TPB search for current clipboard content

[Select]

http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q= &(clip.get)

for IMDB search for current clipboard content

[Select]

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query= &(clip.get)

for Youtube search for current clipboard content

[Select]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=&(clip.get)

for TFD search for current clipboard content

If you don't add " &(clip.get)" expression, you'll get to the search page of that particular website (and you can do a regular web search).

Also, you can do the same with a hotkey instead of a button bar:



Forgot to say that if the "Command parameters" field contains only the expression "&(clip.get)" and the clipboard contains an url, then that url will be opened in the current browser.

Cheers!

[mark_ninan]

Just curious, but wouldn't it be easier if the default method be for FARR to just launch the website in the browser that's opened at that point in time? If no browser's opened then let FARR open it in the default browser. That seems like the simplest solution. If we want to launch the website in a particular browser, then we can use the alias thingy mentioned by mouser. Is this by any chance possible?

[mark_ninan]

This thought just occurred to me just after posting... if we like have 5 browsers open at the same time           (for example) FARR could just launch the desired website into the browser that's in use at that point in time. Like the top-most window/the window where the cursor is in.