Other types of URLs

Question

One thing I got used to with the older system was the ability to create link with URL protocols other than just "http://", namely "file://" and "applescript://".
In a post where you wanted to direct the user to a particular location in the Finder it was a lot easier to do something like:
Locate the following folder in the Finder (click on the link to locate that item in the Finder):
/Library/Contextual Menu Items/
than to do:
Locate the "Contextual Menu Items" folder inside the "Library" folder on your hard drive. (here you wait patiently while they find it, and hope they don't get the Contextual Menu Items folder in one of the other domains).
Or, in OS X 10.3, Apple introduced the ability for the Script Editor application to "open" links that were encoded using the "applescript://" protocol. So in a post you could create a link that a user could click on, which would launch Script Editor and fill the contents of the script window with the script. This would save the user from having to copy and paste, and from having to worry about any stray characters that might get copied and prevent the script from compiling. See this page for more info. Using Convert Script To Markup Code, you could also format your script to look the same way it would in a Script Editor window. This made it great for posting in the AppleScript forums. One problem that the older system had is the 4000 character limit on posts often prevented some scripts from being able to fit in one post. With the longer post limit of the new system, it'd be great if we could use AppleScript links.
If someone has an issue where a solution would involve typing something in Terminal, I'd usually "wrap" it with an AppleScript and let the user execute it by simply pressing the Play button in the Script Editor window. That's usually a lot safer and easier with users that are unfamiliar with the Terminal and CLI. An example:
Click the following link to open the AppleScript in Script Editor, then press the green "Play" button to execute it.
--Open this script in a new Script Editor window.
property shls : "System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServi ces.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user"
set result_ to button returned of (display alert "Rebuilding the Launch Services Database will require the Finder to quit, and you to Restart after the rebuild is complete." message "Do you wish to continue with the rebuild?" buttons {"Cancel", "Rebuild"})
if (result_ = "Rebuild") then
    tell application "Finder"
        delay 2
        quit
    end tell
    display dialog "Quitting the Finder..." giving up after 6 buttons {""}
    tell application "System Events" to set list_ to name of every application process
    if list_ contains "Finder" then
        do shell script "killall Finder"
        display dialog "Finder not responding. Forcing Finder to quit..." giving up after 3 buttons {""}
    end if
    do shell script shls
    set result_ to button returned of (display alert "The Launch Services Rebuild is complete. Click Restart to restart your Mac." buttons {"Shut Down", "Restart"})
    if result_ = "Shut Down" then
        tell application "System Events" to shut down
    else if result_ = "Restart" then
        tell application "System Events" to restart
    end if
end if
So, the problem I'm seeing is that the links won't work.
Is there any known workaround or can this be added as a feature request?
TIA
Dual 2.7 GHz PowerPC G5 w/ 2.5 GB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

Answer 1

Rather than my generic example, I figured I'd post an example of where I'd have used this ability today.
In the following thread the person was having issues with the SyndicationAgent appearing in the Dock. While it's normal for the app to run periodically, it isn't supposed to be visible, since it has LSBackgroundOnly set to 1 in its Info.plist file. This to me suggests two possibilities: either the value in the Info.plist file is wrong, or the Launch Services database (which holds cached information about apps) is corrupt.
A quick way to confirm that the file is okay would be to run:
--Open this script in a new Script Editor window.
do shell script "defaults read /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Syndication.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Sy ndicationAgent.app/Contents/Info LSBackgroundOnly"
and assure that it returns a "1" rather than "0". If it returned a 1, then rebuilding the LS database (which is what the first example was) should solve the problem. Otherwise an Archive and Install might be in the user's future.
Running that shell command would be a lot easier than trying to locate the file directly, which involves navigating through 2 bundles (one of which is an opaque application package).
Anyhow, I know your list of things to fix is pretty long, so I'll let you get back to it.
Dual 2.7 GHz PowerPC G5 w/ 2.5 GB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.3)