Choosing Which Browser to Use

Semolas · 10-10-2008, 02:03 PM

Hey guys,

This may be a simple issue -not sure as I have a background in application programming and not web programming -but is there a way to have a link choose which browser to open up?

For example if I am using IE 7, can I set a link to open as a popup in Firefox when clicked? Seems weird to mix the two browsers but in this particular case it is necessary for IE to be the original window and Firefox to be the browser used for popus. Also, if this is possible, will computers that don't have Firefox installed automatically default to back to IE? As always, thanks for any suggestions.

**jamiemac2005** · 10-10-2008, 03:10 PM

Hey, this isn't possible, it's entirely up to you users which browser they use to view your site. You can use javascript or something like it to check what browser is open but you can't use it to open a certain browser(because if you could you'd also be able to open any application and people would be causing havoc through simple websites)...

Either way usually someone will use one or the other (or opera or safari) but people tend to stick to what they like.

Why is it you want to do this?

Cheers,
Jamey

Semolas · 10-13-2008, 07:16 AM

Sorry for the late reply (away from comp all weekend)...I appreciate the help. The reason behind this is that I am working on setting up kiosk computers for my company. These kiosks are going to be for our employees who don't have computer access, to view our company intranet. Now, on our intranet we have a few internet links to sites that will allow employees to view their 401k info...a site they would of course have to login with a username and password. The way we have the intranet set up, these links open up in a new window, leaving the oringal intranet window open. The problem is that giving access to these sites on a very public computer may cause a security issue.

Here is the security issue/situation. Person A walks up to the kiosk and logs into their 401k info. They view it for awhile and close out this window without clicking the sites 'log out/sign out' link (keep in mind it was a new window opened when they clicked the link). The initial intranet window remains open and person A walks away. Person B comes along right behind them and clicks the same link to the site Person A was just on. Person A's 401k information pops up. I know in the internet settings there is an option to clear out the temporary internet files (cookies) when someone exits the browser. Unfortunately it only does this if the oringal browser is closed -- thus leaving a person who does not sign out of their account vulnerable to having their private information viewed. I'm of the opinion that it is the person's fault if we warn them and they don't log out of the page and that the intranet development team shouldn't be held responsible. However, a few people higher up on the food chain around here have a different view about that. I also have told IE to not remember passwords and to not use autocomplete. So, hopefully there is a simpler solution than the one I proposed to start this thread. The reason I mentioned using Firefox as the popup was because it also has the option to delete the temp. internet files on close. I hope I have described this situation clearly. If you need any more information let me know. Any ideas?

**jamiemac2005** · 10-13-2008, 08:41 AM

Hey, i understand the situation a bit better now. I have a few ideas but would need to know what language(s) your intranet uses? (server-side mainly, e.g. is it PHP/ASP/CF based).

Basically if i were doing this i'd clear the user's cookies &/ session when the window is closed (which can be done in Javascript in many ways)...

So, i guess the best method i can think of is this:
(on the personal info page(within the <head></head> section))

Code:

<script language="text/javascript">

//create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window
function logoutUser(){
  //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url.
  window.open("logout.php");
}

//set up the event handler for when the user closes the window
window.onunload=logoutUser();
</script>

As you're in control of the computers you can change the settings of IE so that there's no "popup blocker" kind of stop on this...(this should work fine in IE anyway but sometimes you get the "to help protect your security scripts have been blocked on this page" message).

Try it out and tell me how it goes and if it's sufficient to sort this problem.

Cheers,
Jamey

Semolas · 10-13-2008, 10:21 AM

Ah, I did forget to mention one thing. Those personal information sites aren't our pages so we can't add the code you posted to those pages.

**dm01** · 10-13-2008, 12:04 PM

You could force the new web page to open in a frame within the same window, then add Jamey's code to the page with the frame.

The link should look like this:

HTML Code:

<a href="http://www.somewebsite.com">Some Information</a>

There is probably a target="_blank" somewhere, that forces the page to open in a new window (or tab). Delete this attribute.

There is just one problem: how do we get inexperienced users back to your site? You could open the new page in a frame with a "home" link at the top.

HTML Code:

<html>
<head>
<script language="text/javascript">

//create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window
function logoutUser(){
  //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url.
  window.open("logout.php");
}

//set up the event handler for when the user closes the window
window.onunload=logoutUser();
</script>
</head>
<body>
<a href="url">Click here to go back to the corporate intranet.</a>
<iframe src="url" width="100%" height="90%"</iframe>
</body>

The frame should open automagically.
Please note that <iframe> does not work in XHTML 1.1 Strict, but does work for Transitional and Frameset. If you are using HTML 5, you should not have a problem.

Let us know if you have any more questions or problems.

**jamiemac2005** · 10-13-2008, 04:12 PM

What dm01 proposes would work brilliantly... Oh excuse me i may have messed up my code slightly, if it doesn't work change:

Code:

//common syntax error:
window.onunload=logoutUser();

to

Code:

//without parenthesis:
window.onunload=logoutUser;

Cheers,
Jamey

**dm01** · 10-13-2008, 05:43 PM

I may have neglected to add a few notes as well.

The frame page may work better as a table (yay, putting two of the things I hate in one page). This way, if you have to make changes you don't have to spend hours fiddling with the height and width attributes to make them look good.

In this case, the page would be:

HTML Code:

<body>
<table border="1">
<tr><td><a href="url">Click here to go back to the corporate intranet.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td><iframe src="url" width="100%" height="1000%"</iframe></td></tr>
</table>
</body>

You could also use the corporation's logo as the corporate home link, as long as you specify that this is the home link.

HTML Code:

<p>
<a href="url"><img src="corporate_logo.img" /><br />
Click here to go back to the corporate intranet</a>
</p>

With both of our corrections, this would look like

HTML Code:

<html>
<head>
<script language="text/javascript">

//create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window
function logoutUser(){
  //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url.
  window.open("logout.php");
}

//set up the event handler for when the user closes the window
window.onunload=logoutUser;
</script>
</head>
<body>
<table border="1">
<tr><td>
<a href="url"><img src="corporate_logo.img" alt="company_name" </img><br>
Click here to go back to the corporate intranet</a>
</p>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<iframe src="url" width="100%" height="1000%"</iframe>
</td></tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

I hope that made sense.

**jamiemac2005** · 10-13-2008, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dm01

yay, putting two of the things I hate in one page

Haha, ditto, thanks for including my corrections in your final code =]

**dm01** · 10-13-2008, 06:48 PM

@Semolas: I need coffee. If you don't want to see the borders, just change the border="1" to border="0".

@Jamey: no problem, I was just thinking the less aggravation for the end user the better :). I'm glad to find someone who agrees with me on that point.

**jamiemac2005** · 10-13-2008, 07:00 PM

Haha, less aggravation to the end user tends to mean less aggravation to us in the long run.

**dm01** · 10-13-2008, 07:50 PM

Exactly. Just looking out for our interests here ;) .

No, that should NOT be height="1000%". I just noticed that running through the codes again.

**Jaxo** · 10-14-2008, 01:23 AM

How about using Firefox 3.0 feature of opening new windows as a tab? That would allow the user to close all tabs with one click not leaving anything open. Then with cookies/history cleared on exit would keep the user info safe. Just have to make sure they don't close just that individual tab to there 401k info. Sounds like they would most likely close the browser down, right?...

Just brain storming. Hope this is of use!

Semolas · 10-14-2008, 10:05 AM

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I do have one concern though. Forgive me for my lack of web programming knowledge, but does the code you guys have posted need to go on the page where employees are viewing their 401k information? If it does then this is not an option because the 401k page (& information) is maintained by an outside company that keeps the employees data. In other words we can't change code of that page.

**dm01** · 10-14-2008, 11:11 AM

You put the above page on the intranet, then target the outside company's page with the src attribute of the <iframe>, just as you would with the href of an <a>.

HTML Code:

<iframe src="outside_company_url" width="100%" height="100%"</iframe>
instead of
<a href="outside_company_url">Outside Comany</a>

10-10-2008, 02:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
Semolas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 25 OS: xp	Choosing Which Browser to Use Hey guys, This may be a simple issue -not sure as I have a background in application programming and not web programming -but is there a way to have a link choose which browser to open up? For example if I am using IE 7, can I set a link to open as a popup in Firefox when clicked? Seems weird to mix the two browsers but in this particular case it is necessary for IE to be the original window and Firefox to be the browser used for popus. Also, if this is possible, will computers that don't have Firefox installed automatically default to back to IE? As always, thanks for any suggestions.

10-10-2008, 03:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
jamiemac2005 Design Team Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Coventry, UK Posts: 1,888 OS: Vista, various linux distros	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Hey, this isn't possible, it's entirely up to you users which browser they use to view your site. You can use javascript or something like it to check what browser is open but you can't use it to open a certain browser(because if you could you'd also be able to open any application and people would be causing havoc through simple websites)... Either way usually someone will use one or the other (or opera or safari) but people tend to stick to what they like. Why is it you want to do this? Cheers, Jamey __________________ Myspace

10-13-2008, 07:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
Semolas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 25 OS: xp	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Sorry for the late reply (away from comp all weekend)...I appreciate the help. The reason behind this is that I am working on setting up kiosk computers for my company. These kiosks are going to be for our employees who don't have computer access, to view our company intranet. Now, on our intranet we have a few internet links to sites that will allow employees to view their 401k info...a site they would of course have to login with a username and password. The way we have the intranet set up, these links open up in a new window, leaving the oringal intranet window open. The problem is that giving access to these sites on a very public computer may cause a security issue. Here is the security issue/situation. Person A walks up to the kiosk and logs into their 401k info. They view it for awhile and close out this window without clicking the sites 'log out/sign out' link (keep in mind it was a new window opened when they clicked the link). The initial intranet window remains open and person A walks away. Person B comes along right behind them and clicks the same link to the site Person A was just on. Person A's 401k information pops up. I know in the internet settings there is an option to clear out the temporary internet files (cookies) when someone exits the browser. Unfortunately it only does this if the oringal browser is closed -- thus leaving a person who does not sign out of their account vulnerable to having their private information viewed. I'm of the opinion that it is the person's fault if we warn them and they don't log out of the page and that the intranet development team shouldn't be held responsible. However, a few people higher up on the food chain around here have a different view about that. I also have told IE to not remember passwords and to not use autocomplete. So, hopefully there is a simpler solution than the one I proposed to start this thread. The reason I mentioned using Firefox as the popup was because it also has the option to delete the temp. internet files on close. I hope I have described this situation clearly. If you need any more information let me know. Any ideas?

10-13-2008, 08:41 AM	#4 (permalink)
jamiemac2005 Design Team Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Coventry, UK Posts: 1,888 OS: Vista, various linux distros	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Hey, i understand the situation a bit better now. I have a few ideas but would need to know what language(s) your intranet uses? (server-side mainly, e.g. is it PHP/ASP/CF based). Basically if i were doing this i'd clear the user's cookies &/ session when the window is closed (which can be done in Javascript in many ways)... So, i guess the best method i can think of is this: (on the personal info page(within the <head></head> section)) Code: <script language="text/javascript"> //create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window function logoutUser(){ //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url. window.open("logout.php"); } //set up the event handler for when the user closes the window window.onunload=logoutUser(); </script> As you're in control of the computers you can change the settings of IE so that there's no "popup blocker" kind of stop on this...(this should work fine in IE anyway but sometimes you get the "to help protect your security scripts have been blocked on this page" message). Try it out and tell me how it goes and if it's sufficient to sort this problem. Cheers, Jamey __________________ Myspace

10-13-2008, 10:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
Semolas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 25 OS: xp	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Ah, I did forget to mention one thing. Those personal information sites aren't our pages so we can't add the code you posted to those pages.

10-13-2008, 12:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
dm01 Moderator: Design Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, B.C.; Canada Posts: 1,468 OS: Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] SP3 \| Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope \| Windows 7 Ultimate (MSDNAA I <3 you) My System	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use You could force the new web page to open in a frame within the same window, then add Jamey's code to the page with the frame. The link should look like this: HTML Code: <a href="http://www.somewebsite.com">Some Information</a> There is probably a target="_blank" somewhere, that forces the page to open in a new window (or tab). Delete this attribute. There is just one problem: how do we get inexperienced users back to your site? You could open the new page in a frame with a "home" link at the top. HTML Code: <html> <head> <script language="text/javascript"> //create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window function logoutUser(){ //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url. window.open("logout.php"); } //set up the event handler for when the user closes the window window.onunload=logoutUser(); </script> </head> <body> <a href="url">Click here to go back to the corporate intranet.</a> <iframe src="url" width="100%" height="90%"</iframe> </body> The frame should open automagically. Please note that <iframe> does not work in XHTML 1.1 Strict, but does work for Transitional and Frameset. If you are using HTML 5, you should not have a problem. Let us know if you have any more questions or problems. __________________ Validate your Markup Validate your CSS Notepad++ Please use [html], [php], and [code] when posting code or markup. I do not help by Private Message or e-mail. If for some reason I have over-looked a reply to a thread that I have previously replied to, then send me a message.

10-13-2008, 04:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
jamiemac2005 Design Team Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Coventry, UK Posts: 1,888 OS: Vista, various linux distros	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use What dm01 proposes would work brilliantly... Oh excuse me i may have messed up my code slightly, if it doesn't work change: Code: //common syntax error: window.onunload=logoutUser(); to Code: //without parenthesis: window.onunload=logoutUser; Cheers, Jamey __________________ Myspace

10-13-2008, 05:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
dm01 Moderator: Design Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, B.C.; Canada Posts: 1,468 OS: Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] SP3 \| Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope \| Windows 7 Ultimate (MSDNAA I <3 you) My System	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use I may have neglected to add a few notes as well. The frame page may work better as a table (yay, putting two of the things I hate in one page). This way, if you have to make changes you don't have to spend hours fiddling with the height and width attributes to make them look good. In this case, the page would be: HTML Code: <body> <table border="1"> <tr><td><a href="url">Click here to go back to the corporate intranet.</a></td></tr> <tr><td><iframe src="url" width="100%" height="1000%"</iframe></td></tr> </table> </body> You could also use the corporation's logo as the corporate home link, as long as you specify that this is the home link. HTML Code: <p> <a href="url"><img src="corporate_logo.img" /><br /> Click here to go back to the corporate intranet</a> </p> With both of our corrections, this would look like HTML Code: <html> <head> <script language="text/javascript"> //create a function to open the logout page when the user closes the window function logoutUser(){ //of course "logout.php" would need changing to your logout page's url. window.open("logout.php"); } //set up the event handler for when the user closes the window window.onunload=logoutUser; </script> </head> <body> <table border="1"> <tr><td> <a href="url"><img src="corporate_logo.img" alt="company_name" </img><br> Click here to go back to the corporate intranet</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr><td> <iframe src="url" width="100%" height="1000%"</iframe> </td></tr> </table> </body> </html> I hope that made sense. __________________ Validate your Markup Validate your CSS Notepad++ Please use [html], [php], and [code] when posting code or markup. I do not help by Private Message or e-mail. If for some reason I have over-looked a reply to a thread that I have previously replied to, then send me a message.

10-13-2008, 06:48 PM	#10 (permalink)
dm01 Moderator: Design Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, B.C.; Canada Posts: 1,468 OS: Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] SP3 \| Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope \| Windows 7 Ultimate (MSDNAA I <3 you) My System	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use @Semolas: I need coffee. If you don't want to see the borders, just change the border="1" to border="0". @Jamey: no problem, I was just thinking the less aggravation for the end user the better :). I'm glad to find someone who agrees with me on that point. __________________ Validate your Markup Validate your CSS Notepad++ Please use [html], [php], and [code] when posting code or markup. I do not help by Private Message or e-mail. If for some reason I have over-looked a reply to a thread that I have previously replied to, then send me a message.

10-13-2008, 07:00 PM	#11 (permalink)
jamiemac2005 Design Team Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Coventry, UK Posts: 1,888 OS: Vista, various linux distros	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Haha, less aggravation to the end user tends to mean less aggravation to us in the long run. __________________ Myspace

10-13-2008, 07:50 PM	#12 (permalink)
dm01 Moderator: Design Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, B.C.; Canada Posts: 1,468 OS: Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] SP3 \| Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope \| Windows 7 Ultimate (MSDNAA I <3 you) My System	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Exactly. Just looking out for our interests here ;) . No, that should NOT be height="1000%". I just noticed that running through the codes again. __________________ Validate your Markup Validate your CSS Notepad++ Please use [html], [php], and [code] when posting code or markup. I do not help by Private Message or e-mail. If for some reason I have over-looked a reply to a thread that I have previously replied to, then send me a message.

10-14-2008, 01:23 AM	#13 (permalink)
Jaxo Design Team Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Deming, NM Posts: 312 OS: XP SP2 & Vista	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use How about using Firefox 3.0 feature of opening new windows as a tab? That would allow the user to close all tabs with one click not leaving anything open. Then with cookies/history cleared on exit would keep the user info safe. Just have to make sure they don't close just that individual tab to there 401k info. Sounds like they would most likely close the browser down, right?... Just brain storming. Hope this is of use! __________________ Help TSF Fight Cancer! Web Developer Tools: Firebug for Firefox \| IE Developer Toolbar \| Run multiple versions of IE

10-14-2008, 10:05 AM	#14 (permalink)
Semolas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 25 OS: xp	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use Thanks for the suggestions guys. I do have one concern though. Forgive me for my lack of web programming knowledge, but does the code you guys have posted need to go on the page where employees are viewing their 401k information? If it does then this is not an option because the 401k page (& information) is maintained by an outside company that keeps the employees data. In other words we can't change code of that page.

10-14-2008, 11:11 AM	#15 (permalink)
dm01 Moderator: Design Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, B.C.; Canada Posts: 1,468 OS: Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] SP3 \| Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope \| Windows 7 Ultimate (MSDNAA I <3 you) My System	Re: Choosing Which Browser to Use You put the above page on the intranet, then target the outside company's page with the src attribute of the <iframe>, just as you would with the href of an <a>. HTML Code: <iframe src="outside_company_url" width="100%" height="100%"</iframe> instead of <a href="outside_company_url">Outside Comany</a> __________________ Validate your Markup Validate your CSS Notepad++ Please use [html], [php], and [code] when posting code or markup. I do not help by Private Message or e-mail. If for some reason I have over-looked a reply to a thread that I have previously replied to, then send me a message.