microsoft
Support `storageexplorer://` urls on Linux
Preflight Checklist
- [X] I have installed the latest version of Storage Explorer.
- [X] I have checked existing resources, including the troubleshooting guide and the release notes.
- [X] I have searched for similar issues.
Problem
I want to click on storageexplorer:// urls and have them open Storage Explorer automatically, on Linux (Ubuntu).
Desired Solution
Clicking storageexplorer:// urls open storage explorer.
Alternatives and Workarounds
No response
Additional Context
No response
@hterik Unfortunately for Linux, there isn't a uniform way for us to register URL protocols. That largely depends on the installed desktop environment.
While it's not a one-click solution, you can still use the storageexplorer:// URI:
- Copy the URI to the clipboard.
- Launch Storage Explorer.
- Select File > Open Direct Link from the menu.
- Paste the URI and click Open.
Thanks @craxal. Is it reasonable to ask for supporting at least the most popular distribution (maybe even top 3)?
Based on https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/?ref=itsfoss.com#technology, 27% of developers are using Ubuntu. Debian and Arch coming in next in the linux group at 8% each. Together, those 3 make up for 43% of the overall desktop OS market share for developers.
I did a little bit of digging and discovered a few things:
- A
.desktopfile could be used to register a MIME type ofx-scheme-handler/storageexplorerand pass the URL to the app. In theory, this would work for any XDG desktop environment. - Our snap already produces a
.desktopfile, so we might only need to add one or two entries.
We can spend some time experimenting to see if this is feasible for our snap distribution.
Useful links for possible implementation:
- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/497146/create-a-custom-url-protocol-handler
- https://snapcraft.io/docs/desktop-menu-support
Discovered something insteresting while working on this. Looks like our snap entrypoint doesn't properly pass command line arguments to the Storage Explorer executable. This will to be fixed in order to get direct links working.