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Is it possible to open an Ubuntu app from HTML? (firefox)

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  • Last reply by javpramod

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hi all,

I am in search of 'open an Ubuntu app (installed in the system) from an HTML file', and i got a solution from 'ask ubuntu' (refer: http://askubuntu.com/a/332389/447970). I tried it and its working good in Chromium and Chrome browsers, but not working in firefox, i am using firefox 46.0 (Edubuntu 14.04). The steps which i have done:

I. Create application launcher script

  1. a. mkdir -p bin
  2. b. gedit ~/bin/open_app.sh
  1. c. script:
  1. !/bin/bash

if [[ "$1" != "app://" ]]; then

   app=${1#app://}
   nohup "$app" &>/dev/null &

else

   nohup gnome-terminal &>/dev/null &

fi

  1. d. chmod +x ~/bin/open_app.sh

2. Create .desktop file for application launcher

sudo -H gedit /usr/share/applications/appurl.desktop

added the following content:

[Desktop Entry] Name=TerminalURL Exec=/home/name/bin/open_app.sh %u Type=Application NoDisplay=true Categories=System; MimeType=x-scheme-handler/app;

III. Refresh mime types database

sudo update-desktop-database

IV. Then created a html file with tagging like:

Open Gimp: <a title="Open" href="app://gimp">Gimp - 2.8</a>

thats all.

If I open this html file in firefox and click on the hyper-link nothing happening.

What is the problem, is there any changes to make in Firefox browser?

Pls help - Jay

hi all, I am in search of 'open an Ubuntu app (installed in the system) from an HTML file', and i got a solution from 'ask ubuntu' (refer: http://askubuntu.com/a/332389/447970). I tried it and its working good in Chromium and Chrome browsers, but not working in firefox, i am using firefox 46.0 (Edubuntu 14.04). The steps which i have done: I. Create application launcher script #a. mkdir -p bin #b. gedit ~/bin/open_app.sh #c. script: #!/bin/bash if [[ "$1" != "app://" ]]; then app=${1#app://} nohup "$app" &>/dev/null & else nohup gnome-terminal &>/dev/null & fi #d. chmod +x ~/bin/open_app.sh 2. Create .desktop file for application launcher sudo -H gedit /usr/share/applications/appurl.desktop added the following content: [Desktop Entry] Name=TerminalURL Exec=/home/name/bin/open_app.sh %u Type=Application NoDisplay=true Categories=System; MimeType=x-scheme-handler/app; III. Refresh mime types database sudo update-desktop-database IV. Then created a html file with tagging like: <p>Open Gimp: <a title="Open" href="app://gimp">Gimp - 2.8</a></p> thats all. If I open this html file in firefox and click on the hyper-link nothing happening. What is the problem, is there any changes to make in Firefox browser? Pls help - Jay

Chosen solution

HI team,

I was able to find out a solution, its a network-protocol issue. Added an entry in firefox config. as:

network.protocol-handler.external.app;true

now its working fine.

thanks for the support - Jay

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Chosen Solution

HI team,

I was able to find out a solution, its a network-protocol issue. Added an entry in firefox config. as:

network.protocol-handler.external.app;true

now its working fine.

thanks for the support - Jay