AUTHOR: "Chuck
Rhode" <crhode@excel.net>
DATE: 2004-04-17
LICENSE: Public Domain
SYNOPSIS: Define .hotlink File Type
DESCRIPTION:
Gnome .desktop files are awkward to use for
browser bookmarks. This is the implementation of a new .hotlink
file type, which is handier. It reads Windows
shortcuts, too.
ATTACHMENTS:
* HotLink.tar.bz2
PREREQUISITES:
Gnome 2.2
python
pygtk
gnome-python
HINT:
Q: What do you get when you drag a hot link from Mozilla to your
Gnome desktop?
A: ... a .desktop file in ~/.gnome-desktop.
Q: Always?
A: No, only if the protocol of the link is http: ....
Q: What can you do with the .desktop link file?
A: Well, you could double click on it. Then Gnome would
open the URL of the link in the default browser.
Q: What if I dragged the .desktop link file back to
Mozilla?
A: Gnome would tell Mozilla to open the .desktop
file. What
you would see would be the text of the .desktop file, not
the URL of
the link.
Q: I am a Windows user, and I am confused.
A: Is that a question?
Let's be clear. The
scenario is from Gnome 2.2. Windows
users are accustomed to creating and using desktop shortcuts that have
a defined purpose and regular function across various versions of the
operating system. This is not true of .desktop files
under older
versions of Gnome although, God willing, the situation may be resolved
somehow in later versions.
For now, I have made myself comfortable with Gnome by defining my own
kind of .hotlink file that does what I want when I want.
Let's be clear. I'm not
going to use the term shortcut any
more. Shortcuts are tiny Windows files. They come in two
flavors:
- One type of Windows shortcut is for launching application
programs. Behind the
scenes, it has a .lnk file-name extension and is the
successor
implementation of .pif files from earlier versions of
Windows. It
knows the command to start, the parameters to pass, and the directory
to run in. Gnome has a similar implementation: a .desktop
application launcher.
- The other type of Windows shortcut is for opening URL links in
the default browser.
Behind the scenes, it has a .url file-name extension.
Gnome has a
similar implementation: a .desktop link file.
My .hotlink file is like a Windows .url file,
not a Windows .lnk
file. It's like a single-item bookmark -- a list of one thing; it
stores one URL. If you double click on it, it opens the URL in
the default browser, just as a Gnome .desktop link file
would.
Let's be clear. I'm not
going to use the term bookmark any
more. Bookmark collections are updated and used within
browsers. A bookmark points to a URL, which you view in your
browser. In fact, a bookmark can point to an actual file such as
an .html file if you want your browser to load it from
your (local)
file system rather than from an http server. In this case,
the
URL begins with file: rather than http:.
Let's be clear. I'm not
going to use the term link, either.
Unix file systems have symbolic links, html pages have
links to other
html pages, and Gnome has .desktop link files.
I'll
use the term
.hotlink to refer to the object of a .hotlink
file.
My .hotlink file can contain a file-protocol
URL in place
of an
http-protocol URL if appropriate. A Gnome .desktop
link file
cannot.
Every user accumulates his own peculiar collection of bookmarks, but,
when he wishes to swap browsers, he has to leave his collection
behind. I prefer to keep my bookmarks (I mean .hotlinks.)
in
folders (directories) arranged by topic within my local file
system. I can move, copy, and delete my .hotlinks
using familiar
and reliable file-system commands or even drag and drop
procedures. My .hotlinks are stored separatetly from
my default
browser. Furthermore, they are stored in a browser-independent
format. Thus, I can swap browsers or use more than one
browser at the same time and still have access to all my .hotlinks.
.hotlink
My .hotlink files are html-format files that
browsers can
read.
However, they are munged so that Gnome's mime-type sniffer doesn't
smell them. Instead, I define a new mime-type, x-special/hotlink,
based on the .hotlink file extension.
I have written two scripts to edit and to open .hotlink
files.
These scripts are written in Python. They rely upon requisite
software already being installed:
- python
- pygtk
- gnome-python
Here is what you can do with a .hotlink file:
- You may store it in a file folder or on your Gnome desktop (in
the ~/.gnome-desktop folder). There you may double click on
it. The action is always the same: The target URL is opened in a
browser. Unlike that in a Gnome .desktop link file, the
protocol of the
URL in a .hotlink file makes no difference. (If you were to
double
click on a .desktop
link file referring to a file-protocol URL,
Gnome would show
the text of the .desktop file itself in Nautilus, not the
target URL in a browser.)
- You may drag it to an open browser. A browser like Mozilla
will try to display the contents of any file that you drop on it.
Because
a .hotlink file is formatted as an html file,
what you will
see is the
title of the .hotlink, and you may then click on it to
bring up its
URL. (If you dragged a .desktop file to a browser,
the browser
would display the text of the .desktop file itself.)
HotLink.py
HotLink.py is the .hotlink
file
editor.
Also, it can read .url and .desktop link
files. It puts up a
dialog box with three blanks:
- Name -- the name of the .hotlink file
- Title -- a readable meaning for the link, which is
displayed when
the .hotlink
is dragged to a browser
- URL -- the source of the link
If called with a file as a parameter, HotLink.py tries to
read the file as a
.url file, a .desktop file, and, then, as a .hotlink
file. If
called without a parameter, the blanks are not filled.
As distributed, a .desktop application launcher icon (HotLink.desktop)
is installed for
HotLink.py. You may drag a .url, .desktop
link or .hotlink file
to it, or you may double click on it to open it without a file.
You can paste values into the blanks. Alternatively, you can copy
a link with your browser's edit command and then paste both
the URL and
its Title (linked text) into HotLink.py by
clicking HotLink.py's
paste
button. This works from browsers like Mozilla.
Click the save button to create a new .hotlink
file under
Name.
HotLink.py has two hot spots on the dialog box:
- The left hot spot is sensitive to links. You may use the
mouse to drag a link from your browser and drop it here to fill in the
blanks. If you drag the "thumb icon" from the navigation bar in a
browser that supplies one, the Title is filled with the
title of the
current page. You may drag a file name from Nautilus to create a .hotlink
to a (local) file.
- The right hot spot is sensitive to .hotlink
files. You may
drag existing .url, .desktop link, and .hotlink
file names here to view
their contents and make changes.
HotTraverse.py
HotTraverse.py reads a .url,
.desktop
link, or .hotlink file and opens the embedded link in a
browser.
This is the default action for double clicking on a .url
or
.hotlink file: HotLink.py opens the link in the
default
browser. Alternatively, you may specify a particular browser with
the -c option on the command line.
As distributed, a .desktop application launcher icon (HotTraverse.desktop)
is installed
for
HotLink.py.
You may drag a .url, .desktop link, or .hotlink
file to it. If
you double click on it, nothing much happens.
HotType.py
HotType.py defines objects common
to HotLink.py and HotTraverse.py.
Deploy.py
Deploy.py is the install procedure.
Run
it from the directory created by unpacking the tarball. It copies
components to their installed locations. Examine the Python
source to be sure the destination directories are appropriate for your
configuration.
tar -jxvf HotLink.bz2
cd HotLink
./Deploy.py
HotLink.mime
HotLink.mime
extends the Gnome mime-registry to include x-special/hotlink
files
based on file extensions of .hotlink and .url.
HotLink.applications
HotLink.applications
extends the
Gnome application-registry so that HotLink.py and HotTraverse.py
can
handle x-special/hotlink files.
HotLink.keys
HotLink.keys extends the Gnome
mime-registry
to define default treatment for .hotlink files.
CHANGELOG:
[2004-04-17]
* First release.
