StartBrowser.java

package com.compomics.util.io;

/**
 * This class starts a browser for the given URL.
 *
 * Created by IntelliJ IDEA. User: kenny Date: Feb 23, 2010 Time: 4:02:21 PM
 */
public class StartBrowser {

    /**
     * Empty constructor.
     */
    public StartBrowser() {
    }

    /**
     * Opens the given URL in the default browser.
     *
     * @param aURL the URL to open
     */
    public static void start(String aURL) {
        String url = aURL;
        String os = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();
        Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
        try {
            if (os.indexOf("win") >= 0) {
                // this doesn't support showing urls in the form of "page.html#nameLink"
                rt.exec("rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler " + url);
            } else if (os.indexOf("mac") >= 0) {
                rt.exec("open " + url);
            } else if (os.indexOf("nix") >= 0 || os.indexOf("nux") >= 0) {
                // Do a best guess on unix until we get a platform independent way
                // Build a list of browsers to try, in this order.
                String[] browsers = {"epiphany", "firefox", "mozilla", "konqueror",
                        "netscape", "opera", "links", "lynx"};

                // Build a command string which looks like "browser1 "url" || browser2 "url" ||..."
                StringBuffer cmd = new StringBuffer();
                for (int i = 0; i < browsers.length; i++)
                    cmd.append((i == 0 ? "" : " || ") + browsers[i] + " \"" + url + "\" ");

                rt.exec(new String[]{"sh", "-c", cmd.toString()});
            } else {
                return;
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            return;
        }
    }
}