Customizing External Programs for Internet Explorer for UNIX

ID: Q183316

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 for UNIX on Sun Solaris

SUMMARY

This article describes how to customize external programs for the Programs dialog box in Internet Explorer for UNIX on Sun Solaris.

MORE INFORMATION

You can customize external programs for the Mail, News, and View Source commands in Internet Explorer.

The Mail program is used when you:

• Click a "mailto:" link.
• Click Mail on the Go menu.
• Click File, click Send, and then click Page By Email.
• Click File, click Send, and then click Link By Email.
• Click the Mail button on the toolbar.

• Click a "news:" link (note that the "nntp:" type is not supported).
• Click News on the Go menu.

• Click Source on the View menu.
• Right-click an item and then click View Source.
• Click View Source in the Options dialog box after clicking Internet Options on the View menu.

Selecting a Program

In Internet Explorer, click Internet Options on the View menu and then use the Programs dialog box to select a program for the Mail, News, or View Source functionality. You can type the name of the program directly into the box or select it using the Browse button. Some sample programs and default selections are provided with the installation. The program can be an executable binary or script (all of the provided programs are scripts).

The field should contain only a single item, which is treated as the complete program name. Arguments and other forms of shell syntax are not supported.

Program Interfaces

All programs and scripts run as subprocesses of Internet Explorer and inherit its environment. This is similar to the state of your environment when Internet Explorer was started, with the following exceptions:

• PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH have been extended.
• Under Solaris 2.6, variables related to locale may have had their values changed to C.
• Several variables have been added.
• If you started Internet Explorer with the -display option, the DISPLAY variable is changed accordingly.

• The first argument is the path name of the folder that contains the program.
• If the second argument is the word "mailto" or "mailto0," any remaining arguments represent the recipient(s) of the message. The program should give the user the ability to compose and send a message.
• If the second argument is the word "maillink," the third and fourth arguments are temporary files that contain the subject and text of the intended message, respectively.
• If the second argument is the word "readmail," there are no more arguments. The program should start interactively in the appropriate default mode.

• If there are no arguments, a default newsreader should be started.
• If the argument contains at least one embedded @ character, the argument string is a Usenet message-ID, and the program should display that message if available.
• Otherwise, the argument string represents a newsgroup, and the program should give the user the ability to read that group.

• The name of a temporary file that contains a copy of the source of the Web page. The user can edit the text and save it anywhere and the temporary file normally will be removed when the editor quits.

Outlook Express

NOTE: If you have installed Outlook Express, it can be selected as the default action for Mail and News.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbtool msieunix 
Platform          : UNIX
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 5, 1999