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Winamp Launch Gateway
This wiki page will be used to provide insight into the web-based Winamp client launching service (Winamp Launch Gateway) located at http://launch.winamp.com/ and high level info on its required browser plug-ins.
Please click on the link for the presentation File:Winamp-Promotional-Tool.ppt
Overview
Beginning with Winamp version 5.57, all "winamp://..." (and pcast://...") URL's will be registered (via the Winamp installer) to launch the Winamp client. Additionally, thanks to two browser plug-ins (one for Firefox, one for Internet Explorer) there is a way to presence check Winamp before attempting to load such a URL. The Winamp Launch Gateway (http://launch.winamp.com/) is a service we've created for third parties or any user really who wish to easily open their online service (or other Winamp plug-ins) inside the Winamp client from a link within a web page/email/etc.
The simplest example of the launcher is to just open up your favorite web browser (as long as it's either Firefox or IE; additional browsers pending results from QA) and visit:
The page first does a quick check to ensure that the proper browser plug-in/dll is installed and that the user is using Winamp version 5.57 or above before it attempts to launch Winamp.
The page then basically launches Winamp via the following Javascript call:
... document.location = 'winamp://' + launch_url + '/?url=' + encodeURIComponent(sub_url); ...
The Winamp 5.57 installer registers the "winamp://" protocol handler. There is a caveat with this approach as outlined in the Caveats section.
Winamp Client Requirements
Version 5.57 and up
Compatible Winamp Plug-ins
- Online Services
- Now Playing
- Podcast Directory
Anatomy of an Example Request
The diagram below explains the specifics of making a Winamp Launch Gateway request. The first and second parameters are optional.
Example Fail Case
If a user with an older version of Winamp attempts to use the Winamp Launch Gateway they will need to click the "Didn't open?" link and follow the given instructions.
Currently, there is just a generic message telling them to make sure they have the latest version of Winamp.
Screenshot:
Caveats
- Winamp is not focused on launch. When attempting to launch, if Winamp is already open (hidden behind other windows, for example) or minimized, it will not steal focus.
- If the user doesn't have Firefox installed at the time of installing Winamp 5.57, then later decides to install Firefox and use the Winamp Launch Gateway, the presence check plug-in will fail because it was not installed (due to the absence of Firefox at install time) and there is currently no way for them to manually install it other than re-installing Winamp.
- At this point it is not known what other browsers&em;if any&em;will launch Winamp correctly besides Internet Explorer and Firefox.
