[RESOLVED] [2005] "myapp://"

[tylerm]

Im writing a networked application and want to add some customize by adding a handler like myapp:// (http://, ftp://)

And be able to pass the arguments to my app like: myapp://IP:Port/Username&Password

I bet I could find some tutorial about it on the internet, but I really don't know what the name of it would be.

[jmcilhinney]

Are you talking about passing arguments to your app on the command line, when you actually start it?

[fthmdg]

im not sure 100% what you want but

Public Function App_Path() As String
        Return System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory()
    End Function

would return the path of the application

[tylerm]

Kinda

Programs like Steam (Valve Software), Teamspeak, most games, etc allow you to pass arguments via your browser or Windows Explorer like:

myApp://Argument1:Argument2/Agrument3&Argument4

via the browser's address bar.

Another example:
Teamspeak, which is a network voice program lets you start the application and pass arguments like this:
teamspeak://127.0.0.1:8001/nickname=Test?loginname=Test1?password=Test2?channel=Test3?channelpassword=Test4

Basically its like http://, ftp://

[Divine]

Hmmm, this is my solution.

Let's say it's a textbox and you click on a button to pass the command (or you can check the keycode in the KeyDown event for the [Enter] key if you want it to be more like a console app).

Let's say this is what a code could look like:

MyApp://127.0.0.1:8001/name=Test?password=Bob

I will split this into 3 sections with A = "MyApp", B = "127.0.0.1:8001", and C = "name=Test?password=Bob". Pretend that the maximum number of commands in part C is 5.

I added some sample code to demonstrate each step. You'll have to declare your own variables though.

1. Set a string variable to equal the entered text in the textbox. This will be called Cmd.
Cmd = TextBox1.Text

2. Set an integer variable to equal the index of "://" in Cmd. I'll call the variable i1.
i1 = Cmd.IndexOf("://")

3. Then set another string (called A) to equal the substring of Cmd with the starting character parameter as 0 and the length parameter equal to i1 (the fact that i1 is actually equal to the position of ":" cancels out the need to add 1 for zero-based indexing). A now equals "MyApp".
A = Cmd.Substring(0,i1)

4. Now use an If statement to make sure that A = "MyApp" (otherwise discontinue and report it as incorrect syntax).
If A = "MyApp" Then
'Do nothing, this is correct
Else
MsgBox("Incorrect Syntax!")
Return
End If

5. Now set Cmd to equal the substring of itself with the starting parameter as i1 + 3 (once again because i1 is the index of the colon in ://). Don't specify a length (automatically gets the whole length of the string).
Cmd = Cmd.Substring(i1+3)

6. Now set an integer called i2 to equal the index of "/" in Cmd.
i2 = Cmd.IndexOf("/")

7. Set a string called B to equal the substring of Cmd with starting parameter as 0 and the length parameter as i2. B now equals "127.0.0.1:8001".
B = Cmd.Substring(0,i2)

8. Set Cmd to equal the substring of itself with the starting parameter as i2 + 1 (because i2 is the index of the slash). Again, don't specify a length.
Cmd = Cmd.Substring(i2+1)

9. Set i3 to equal the index of "?" in command.
i3 = Cmd.IndexOf("?")

10. Check to make sure that i3 is not -1. (in case there is no question mark)
If i3 = -1 Then
username = Cmd
Return
End If

11. Set C equal to the substring of Cmd with the starting parameter as 0 and the length as i3. C is now equal to "name=Test"
C = Cmd.Substring(0,i3)

13. Make a counting variable to tell how many question marks are within the original command.
Dim count as Integer = 0

14. Now make a loop so that it keeps reading the text until there are no more question marks (followed by a command) to read.

Cmd = Cmd.Substring(i3 + 1)
i3 = Cmd.IndexOf("?")
While Not i3 = -1 Or count < 6
   count = count + 1
   C = Cmd.Substring(0,i3)
 
   'Now make a case statement to check for which question mark this is
   '[Pseudocode]
   'Case of count
   'In the case: count = 2
   'password = C
   'In the case: count = 3
   'servername = C
   'In the case: count = 4
   'serverip = C
   'and so on...
 
   Cmd = Cmd.Substring(i3+1)
   i3 = Cmd.IndexOf("?")
End While

15. Before all of this when you declare username, password, servername, serverip, etc, you should set default values for each of them in case they are not changed by this code.

I hope this helps,
~Divine

[tylerm]

Okay, I found what it's called: UriParser

http://jasonkemp.ca/archive/2005/11/14/2758.aspx

Looks like Microsoft made it easy too

[Divine]

Okay, I found what it's called: UriParser

http://jasonkemp.ca/archive/2005/11/14/2758.aspx

Looks like Microsoft made it easy too

Well yeah, there are tons ActiveX controls for VB/VB.Net ranging from fixing vertical tabs to new color dialogs. Lots of the good ones aren't free though and can be as much as several hundreds of dollars.

I just wanted to show you the code . I think external add-ons can sometimes ruin the fun of programming. That's actually the reason I like programming so much: Coming by a hard challenge, devising an algorithm, optimizing it, then running what I wrote and enjoying it. If I use something I didn't write myself...well, it just doesn't give me the same feeling.