BrowserLauncherWrapper.java

package ika.utils;

import java.lang.reflect.Method;

/**
 * Launches a web browser with a URL and takes care of exception handling.
 */
public class BrowserLauncherWrapper {

    private static final String CLASS = "edu.stanford.ejalbert.BrowserLauncher";
    private static final String METHOD = "openURLinBrowser";

    /*
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        BrowserLauncherWrapper.openURL("http://www.apple.com");
    }
    */

    /** Creates a new instance of BrowserLauncherWrapper */
    private BrowserLauncherWrapper() {
    }

    /**
     * Opens a url in a web browser in a separate thread. Displays an error
     * dialog if the page cannot be opened.
     * @param url
     */
    public static void openURL(String url) {
        try {
            // use reflection to execute this code:
            // new BrowserLauncher().openURLinBrowser(url);
            // With reflection the BrowserLauncher2 jar does not have to
            // be linked against.
            Class cls = Class.forName(CLASS);
            Object browserLauncher = cls.getConstructor().newInstance();
            Method method = cls.getMethod(METHOD, new Class[]{String.class});
            method.invoke(browserLauncher, new Object[]{url});
        } catch (Exception e) {
            ErrorDialog.showErrorDialog(
            "Could not load the web page or not find a web browser. \n" +
            "Please make sure your computer is connected to the Internet.", e);
        }
    }
}