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Bug 396297

Summary: Deprecate ExternalBrowser and provide URLLauncher client service instead
Product: [RT] RAP Reporter: Tim Buschtoens <tbuschto>
Component: RWTAssignee: Project Inbox <rap-inbox>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED QA Contact:
Severity: enhancement    
Priority: P3 CC: tbuschto
Version: 2.0   
Target Milestone: 2.0 M4   
Hardware: All   
OS: All   
Whiteboard: protocol

Description Tim Buschtoens CLA 2012-12-11 11:53:38 EST
The ExternalBrowser API should be deprecated (see Bug 393662), as it is confusing to use (using ids instead of instances), hardly useful (most browser block popups), and not a client service (as it should be). There is also rarely any need to manipulate a popup after creating it.

As a successor a simpler URLLauncher client service will be created. For now the only method it needs is "openURL" (names are debatable). It should handle any given URL the best way the client is able to. There are three usecases that need to be supported:

-> open a non-file (http[s]/ftp[s]) URL like mailto, (in another application)
-> view a file/website in a (new) browser 
-> download a file and save it to disk or open it in an external application

It's not possible to control how a browser reacts to opening an http URL (though other clients could), therefore the last two cases don't need to be distinguished right now. The non-file URL should always handled by an external app, so there is also no need to handle that differently somehow.
Comment 1 Tim Buschtoens CLA 2012-12-13 08:14:27 EST
Implemented with commit 10cd941e578364f24e5ff737ba85781e925a02cd.
Deprecated ExternalBrowser with commit 7a2ae161f9dbda4acd8c2b0afc2029440ee4f636