What is the best way to launch a web browser with a custom url from a C# application?

Question

It's common knowledge that using System.Diagnostics.Process.Start is the way to launch a url from a C# applicaiton:

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("http://www.mywebsite.com");

However, if this url is invalid the application seems to have no way of knowing that the call failed or why. Is there a better way to launch a web browser? If not, what is my best option for url validation?

Answer 1

If you need to verify that the URL exists, the only thing you can do is create a custom request in advance and verify that it works. I'd still use the Process.Start to shell out to the actual page, though.

Answer 2

Try an approach as below.

try
{
    var url = new Uri("http://www.example.com/");

    Process.Start(url.AbsoluteUri);
}
catch (UriFormatException)
{
    // URL is not parsable
}

This does not ensure that the resource exist, but it does ensure the URL is wellformed. You might also want to check if the scheme is matching http or https.

Answer 3

Check the Uri.IsWellFormedUriString static method. It's cheaper than catching exception.