BareBonesBrowserLaunch.java

package jmemorize.util;

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//  Bare Bones Browser Launch                          //
//  Version 1.5                                        //
//  December 10, 2005                                  //
//  Supports: Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, Unix, Windows XP    //
//  Example Usage:                                     //
//     String url = "http://www.centerkey.com/";       //
//     BareBonesBrowserLaunch.openURL(url);            //
//  Public Domain Software -- Free to Use as You Like  //
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;

import jmemorize.core.Main;

public class BareBonesBrowserLaunch
{

    private static final String errMsg = "Error attempting to launch web browser";

    public static void openURL(String url)
    {
        String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
        try
        {
            if (osName.startsWith("Mac OS"))
            {
                Class fileMgr = Class.forName("com.apple.eio.FileManager");
                Method openURL = fileMgr.getDeclaredMethod("openURL", new Class[] { String.class });
                openURL.invoke(null, new Object[] { url });
            } 
            else if (osName.startsWith("Windows"))
            {
                Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler " + url);
            }
            else
            { // assume Unix or Linux
                String[] browsers = { "firefox", "opera", "konqueror", "epiphany", "mozilla",
                    "netscape" };
                String browser = null;
                for (int count = 0; count < browsers.length && browser == null; count++)
                    if (Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "which", browsers[count] })
                        .waitFor() == 0)
                        browser = browsers[count];
                if (browser == null)
                    throw new Exception("Could not find web browser");
                else
                    Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { browser, url });
            }
        } 
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Main.logThrowable(errMsg, e);
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, errMsg + ":\n" + e.getLocalizedMessage());
        }
    }
}