Opening URLs and such...

["David Adam Bordoley" <bordoley msu edu>]

Ok so i'm working on a panel applet that allows the user to enter in an 
address or file name etc. to open. Right now I'm using gnome_vfs_url_show, 
however i see couple problems. Since gnome_vfs_url_show uses the scheme 
handlers specified in the "internet services" part of the "file types and 
programs" control center capplet, the correct apps are not always used to 
load the url. 

For instance, in most cases you would want to load an http:// url using a 
web browser, however since http:// is also used to load webdav typing in a 
webdav address and using gnome_vfs_url_show loads the webdav address in the 
web browser as oppose to the file manager (nautilus) as most users would 
suspect. 

Another issue is specifying paths to files. Right now i have file:// 
associated with nautilus so if you specify a path to a folder it will pop 
open the nautilus window there. This works great until you specify a local 
path to a file (perhaps an html or abiword doc etc.) which nautilus does not 
have a  view for. 

Is there a better way to implement this so that I can avoid these problems. 
Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

dave 

ps. please cc me on any replies as i am not on this list.