sherlock://com.apple.flights?new_window&toolbar=hidden
itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/advancedSearchResults?songTerm=Bohemian
I am amazed by these sherlock:// and itms:// URLs.
Does anyone know how this works, if everyone can register "protocols" for their own apps (or if it is closed to Apple's) and where I can find some documentation about this architecture?
Are other applications also using this?
Anyone can register to be a helper for any "protocol" with Internet Config. Of course, a proper URL protocol would need to go through the standards process, etc, but that's for standards weenes right?
For example, we register interarchy: protocol handler for Interarchy to do various things (many of the menu commands can be got through an interarchy: URL). We also support various others for looking up DNS names and such.
As long as you stay away from "protocol" names that other apps are going to use, you can make up your own and make up your own URL format, register it with Internet Config and use it as much as you. The standards guys will probably cringe/scream of course. But if you use, for example, your app name as the protocol name, you should be fairly safe, since the standards guys could not use it without getting in to trademark issues.
Enjoy, Peter.
-- <http://www.interarchy.com/> <http://documentation.interarchy.com/>
