VLC helper protocol on Mac OS X

Question

Hey everybody,

I am trying to add a vlc:// helper protocol on Mac OS X. To register the protocol, I have unsuccessfully been playing around with the MoreInternet PrefPane.

What I want to have in my browser is a vlc://someressource.com/audio.mp3, which should launch VLC and add http://someressource.com/audio.mp3 to the playlist (this works fine on Windows and also Linux if I remember correctly). Maybe even just have vlc://http:// so that https would also be supported.

I have no idea how to achieve this. I tried making a bash script, which MoreInternet would not accept. Then I tried making an application through Automator with my Bash script embedded. That did not work either, as the Automator application has no "creator code" - whatever that is?!

Can any of you guys point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

It looks like MoreInternet hasn't been updated since 2006, so I wouldn't count on it working well.

A creator code is a unique 4-character code assigned to applications, before bundle IDs were invented. If you want one, register a code and then put it in your Info.plist under the CFBundleSignature key.

Rather than using MoreInternet, it may suffice to declare your app as a URL handler in your Info.plist, under CFBundleURLTypes. Ideally, VLC.app would do that.