Note: If you found this page using a web search service, you can find the program here.

Disclaimer: Although BULauncher seems to work fine, it is still in development and may contain bugs. It is distributed "as is". Use at your own risk. So there.

BULauncher is a Netscape plugin that launches Macintosh applications. To use it, you need to install the plug-in in your Netscape (Navigator, Communicator, whateverator) plug-ins folder and restart Netscape.

Why would someone want this? We are looking into setting up kiosks in our library on Macs that aren't running the Finder. Some (most?) of the services that are to be accessed are web-based, but some still use applications, e.g., "Current Contents".

There are actually two different versions of BULauncher: BULauncher (Standalone) and BULauncher (Kiosk). The "Standalone" version will launch applications itself. The "Kiosk" version uses a separate utility (Kiosk) to launch the applications. Kiosk is a Finder "replacement" currently in development at Baylor. When Kiosk is ready for release, it will appear in the Applications section of my stuff page.

To use BULauncher on a web page, you need the following EMBED tag...

<EMBED
TYPE="application/x-bulauncher"	the MIME type that tells Netscape to use the BULauncher plugin
PLUGINSPAGE="url"	this web page?
HEIGHT="20"	the height of the button
WIDTH="100"	the width
BUTTONTITLE="The Title"	the title displayed if no icon
FONT="fontname"	the font if different from the default (Chicago/Charcoal)
FONTSIZE="10"	the font size if different from the default (12)
FONTFACE="1"	the font face if not plain. uses the Mac qd constants, sorry...
USEICON="TRUE"	use the application's icon if available
SIGNATURE="ttxt"	the application's 4 character signature
PATH="the:path"	the full path to the application
AUTHENTICATE="TRUE"	add if Kiosk should authenticate the user first - ignored
CANGUEST="TRUE"	add if Kiosk should allow "guest" accounts - ignored
DEBUG;	use debugger to display error/info messages. (Can crash if debugger not installed)
>

Examples

Here are some icon buttons. If you don't have the application, you should see the (possibly clipped) title.

	Clicking this button should launch SimpleText.
	Clicking this button should launch BBEdit. This one has debugging enabled (use the source, Luke) so if there is a problem, it may drop into the debugger. If you aren't running a debugger, it'll crash.
	Clicking this button should launch LDapper.
	Clicking this button should launch Mail Drop.

Here are some non-icon buttons.

	This should launch SimpleText if it's located in "Macintosh HD:Apple Extras:SimpleText"
	Different font, etc.

Notes:

• The button will take up the entire area of the plugin. I may consider using some other attribute to allow specifying something different, e.g., BUTTONWIDTH and BUTTONHEIGHT.
• If the USEICON is TRUE but the application can't be found, the title will be show instead. This will look goofy on large square buttons. Maybe there should be some sort of default height/width if this is the case.
• Use either the SIGNATURE (preferred) or PATH but not both. If you specify both, the PATH will be used.
• If the application can't be launched for some reason, e.g., it can't be found, and DEBUG is not set, the plug-in will just beep. Otherwise you should get an error message in the debugger.
• If the Standalone version is used, AUTHENTICATE, CANGUEST, and APPLESHARE values are ignored.

If you have any questions, comments, (constructive) criticism, or bug reports please let me know. You can contact me at the address(es) below.

-cb

Carl_Bell@baylor.edu
Carl Bell's Web Page
Stuff I've Written

Snail Mail:

Carl W. Bell
Information Technology Center
Baylor University
P.O. Box 97268
Waco, TX 76798-7268

(254) 710-4065

This software, data and/or documentation contain trade secrets and confidential information which are proprietary to Baylor University. Their use or disclosure in whole or in part without the express written permission of Baylor University is prohibited.

This software, data and/or documentation are also unpublished works protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. If these works become published, the following notice shall apply:

Copyright © 1998 Baylor University
All Rights Reserved

When permission has been granted to make copies of this software, data and/or documentation, the above notices must be retained on all copies.

Permission is hereby granted for non-commercial use and distribution of BULauncher.