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BrowserSelector

What's this?

BrowserSelctor is a web-browser launcher for Microsoft Windows that aims to select an appropriate browser for an URL. Since many traditional intranet web applications still depend on Internet Explorer, so such enterprise users need to switch IE and modern web-browsers (such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome) according to the situation. This application will do it automatically on clicking or entering an URL.

This software consists of two modules:

  • BrowserSelector.exe: The web-browser launcher. Should be set as the default web-browser on your desktop.
  • BrowserSelectorBHO.dll: A BHO (Browser Helper Object) for IE. It will launch Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome to open internet sites.

We provide integration addons for modern browsers:

How to Build

BrowserSelector.exe and BrowserSelectorBHO.dll

Prerequisites

Build Steps

  • Open BrowserSelector.sln by Microsoft Visual Studio 2019
  • Select "Release" (or "Debug") from the toolbar
  • Press F7 key

or you can do it in command line:

  • Open "Developer Command Prompt for VS 2019" from the start menu
  • cd \path\to\BrowserSelector
  • devenv.com BrowserSelector.sln /build Release

Versioning policy

  • The BrowserSelector binary and browser addons have their own versions for each. (No need to synchronize versions between the BrowserSelector binary and browser addons.)
  • Tags should be created only for releases of the BrowserSelector binary. (No need to create tag for releases of browser addons.)

How to release

  1. Open BrowserSelector.sln with Microsoft Visual Studio 2019.
  2. Upadte version information via the resource view. (Or, edit BrowserSelector.sln directly.)
    • BrowserSelector/BrowserSelector.rc/Version/VS_VERSION_INFO
      • FILEVERSION
      • PRODUCTVERSION
    • BrowserSelectorBHO/BrowserSelectorBHO.rc/Version/VS_VERSION_INFO
      • FILEVERSION
      • PRODUCTVERSION
    • BrowserSelectorTalk/BrowserSelectorTalk.rc/Version/VS_VERSION_INFO
      • FILEVERSION
      • PRODUCTVERSION
  3. Update following information via the solution explorer's property pane for BrowserSelectorSetup. (Or, edit BrowserSelectorSetup/BrowserSelectorSetup.vdproj directly.)
    • Update UUID
      • DeployProject.Deployable.Product.PackageCode
      • DeployProject.Deployable.Product.PackageCode
    • Update version number
      • DeployProject.Configurations.Release.OutputFilename
      • DeployProject.Deployable.Product.ProductVersion
      • DeployProject.Deployable.Product.PostBuildEvent
  4. Commit changes.
  5. (require permission) Create tag with the release version, like: git tag -a v*.*.*
  6. (require permission) Push changes to the mirror on the GitHub, like: git push [email protected]:[email protected]:clear-code/BrowserSelectorMirror.git master
  7. (require permission) Download installers from "Artifacts" under https://github.com/clear-code/BrowserSelectorMirror/actions
  8. (require permission) Sign to downloaded installers.
  9. (require permission) Create new release via GitLab's UI, and upload signed installers to the release.

Addons for browsers

Do make at directories for each browser under the webextensions, then you'll get built packages. For example:

$ cd webextensions/edge
$ make

For Chrome and Edge, you need to run make dev to create development builds with special IDs for the Native Messaging Host. For example:

$ cd webextensions/edge
$ make dev

Then you'll get development build under the dev/ directory, so load it as an unpacked extension.

Notes for Manifest V3

BrowserSelector addon works on Chrome and Edge as expected only if the addon is installed via group policy. (Public addons cannot have webRequestBlocking permission, so the addon cannot redirect loading URL to other browsers.) You need to load development version of addons with following steps, If you are a developer of this addon.

  1. Copy the webextensions folder of this repository to the client environment. Assume that it is placed at C:\Users\Public\webextensions .
  2. Create a development package for Chrome.
    1. Launch Chrome.
    2. Go to addons manager (chrome:extensions).
    3. Activate Developer mode.
    4. Choose the folder webextensions¥chrome to pack the addon with Pack extension. (Then you'll see chrome.crx and chrome.pem at the upper folder.)
    5. Drag chrome.crx and drop onto Chrome's window to install it, and memorise its generated ID. For example: egoppdngdcoikeknmbgiakconmchahhf
    6. Uninstall the addon.
    7. Add a URL entry with the generated ID, to the list of "allowed_origins" in C:\Program Files (x86)\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\BrowserSelectorTalkChrome.json. For example: "chrome-extension://egoppdngdcoikeknmbgiakconmchahhf/"
  3. Create a development package for Edge.
    1. Launch Edge.
    2. Go to addons manager (edge:extensions).
    3. Activate Developer mode.
    4. Choose the folder webextensions¥edge to pack the addon with Pack extension. (Then you'll see edge.crx and edge.pem at the upper folder.)
    5. Drag edge.crx and drop onto Edge's window to install it, and memorise its generated ID. For example: oapdkmbdgdcjpacbjpcdfhncifimimcj
    6. Uninstall the addon.
    7. Add a URL entry with the generated ID, to the list of "allowed_origins" in C:\Program Files (x86)\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\BrowserSelectorTalkEdge.json. For example: "chrome-extension://oapdkmbdgdcjpacbjpcdfhncifimimcj/"
  4. Create the manifest file for installation. Put an XML file into the folder chrome.crx and edge.crx exist in, with following contents including IDs of Chrome addon and Edge addon. Assume that it is placed at C:\Users\Public\webextensions¥manifest.xml. 
    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<gupdate xmlns='http://www.google.com/update2/response' protocol='2.0'>
  <app appid='egoppdngdcoikeknmbgiakconmchahhf'><!-- The generated ID of Chrome addon -->
    <updatecheck codebase='file:///C:/Users/Public/webextensions/chrome.crx' version='1.0.0' /><!-- Put real File URL of the `chrome.crx`. -->
  </app>
  <app appid='oapdkmbdgdcjpacbjpcdfhncifimimcj'><!-- The generated ID of Edge addon -->
    <updatecheck codebase='file:///C:/Users/Public/webextensions/edge.crx' version='1.0.0' /><!-- Put real File URL of the `edge.crx`. -->
  </app>
</gupdate>
    Please note that you need to synchronize the value of version with the one in the manifest.json.
  5. Install group policy template for Chrome and configure Chrome to load the addon.
    1. Download "Google Chrome Bundle" via https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en#zippy=%2Cwindows and extract contents of the saved zip file.
    2. Copy Configuration\admx\*.admx, Configuration\admx\en-US and Configuration\admx\ja to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.
    3. Launch gpedit.msc and open Local Computer Policy => Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Google => Google Chrome => Extensions => Configure the list of force-installed apps and extensions.
    4. Switch to Enabled.
    5. Click Show....
    6. Add <Generated ID of Chrome addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file> to the list. Assume that it is egoppdngdcoikeknmbgiakconmchahhf;file:///C:/Users/Public/webextensions/manifest.xml.
  6. Install group policy template for Edge and configure Edge to load the addon.
    1. Download group policy template via the Get policy files link in https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download , and extract contents of the saved zip file.
    2. Copy windows\admx\*.admx, windows\admx\en-US and windows\admx\ja to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.
    3. Launch gpedit.msc and open Local Computer Policy => Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Microsoft Edge => Extensions => Configure the list of force-installed apps and extensions.
    4. Switch to Enabled.
    5. Click Show....
    6. Add <Generated ID of Edge addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file> to the list. Assume that it is oapdkmbdgdcjpacbjpcdfhncifimimcj;file:///C:/Users/Public/webextensions/manifest.xml.
  7. Set up the client as a domain member if it is not joined to any Active Directory domain. For example, lauch cmd.exe as the system administrator and run following commands. (Ref: https://hitco.at/blog/apply-edge-policies-for-non-domain-joined-devices/ ) 
    reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v EnrollmentState /t reg_dword /d 1 /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v EnrollmentType /t reg_dword /d 0 /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v IsFederated /t reg_dword /d 0 /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v Flags /t reg_dword /d 0xd6fb7f /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v AcctUId /t reg_sz /d "0x000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000" /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v RoamingCount /t reg_dword /d 0 /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v SslClientCertReference /t reg_sz /d "MY;User;0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" /f
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /v ProtoVer /t reg_sz /d "1.2" /f
  8. Launch Chrome and confirm the Chrome addon is automatically installed. (You may need to inspect debug log.)
  9. Launch Edge and confirm the Edge addon is automatically installed. (You may need to inspect debug log.)

You need to update crx packages if you modify codes of addons. Steps:

  1. Update new package of Chrome addon.
    1. Launch Chrome.
    2. Go to addons manager chrome:extensions.
    3. Choose the folder webextensions¥chrome to pack the addon with Pack extension. (Then you'll need to specify chrome.pem as the private key.)
  2. Update new package of Edge addon.
    1. Launch Edge.
    2. Go to addons manager edge:extensions.
    3. Choose the folder webextensions¥edge to pack the addon with Pack extension. (Then you'll need to specify edge.pem as the private key.)
  3. Edit group policy of Chrome and Edge to deactivate force-installed addons. For example: changing <Generated ID of the addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file> to #<Generated ID of the addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file>.
  4. Launch Chrome and Edge to confirm that addons are successfully uninstalled.
  5. Exit Chrome and Edge.
  6. Edit group policy of Chrome and Edge to re-activate force-installed addons. For example: changing #<Generated ID of the addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file> to <Generated ID of the addon>;<File URL of the manifest XML file>.
  7. Launch Chrome and Edge to confirm that addons are successfully installed.

If you configured the client as a fake domain member, you should re-configure the client as a non-domain member. Steps:

  1. Launch cmd.exe as the administrator and run following commands. (Ref: https://hitco.at/blog/apply-edge-policies-for-non-domain-joined-devices/ ) 
    reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /f
reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF /f

How to Install

Run built BrowserSelectorSetup\Release\BrowserSelectorSetup.msi.

Change the Default Browser

If you want to switch web browsers automatically from all applications, you need to set BrowserSelector.exe as the default browser on your desktop. How to do it depends on your OS and situation. For example:

If you use only the BHO and don't use BrowserSelector.exe, it's not needed.

How to Configure

This software doesn't have any UI. System administrators have to edit its registry entries or INI files directly and shouldn't allow users to edit them. Configurations are loaded from following locations by this order:

  • Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ClearCode\BrowserSelector
    • (For 32bit OS: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ClearCode\BrowserSelector)
  • INI file: BrowserSelector.ini under the application folder
    • e.g.) C:\Program Files (x86)\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\BrowserSelector.ini
    • It doesn't exist by default. Please create it manually.
  • Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ClearCode\BrowserSelector
    • (For 32bit OS: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ClearCode\BrowserSelector)
  • INI file: BrowserSelector.ini under a user's AppData folder
    • e.g.) C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Roaming\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\BrowserSelectror.ini
    • These folder or file don't exist by default. Please create them manually.

If two or more configurations exist, they are merged (overridden by later one).

Please see the following files by way of example:

Available config items are almost same. One of difference between them is that the items which are placed at the top of the registry key, are placed at [Common] section in INI file.

Config items

URLPatterns or HostNamePatterns

Simple Pattern Matching

You need to set URL or hostname patterns to open them by specific browsers. They are stored under the registry key URLPatterns and HostNamePatterns as string values. Although you can use any characters as the value names, we recommend to use numbers such as 0001 to clarify the priority. The value is hostname or URL pattern. Optionally you can add a browser name to open the URL pattern by splitting the value by |.

e.g.)

  • URLPatterns
    • 0001 = http://*.example.com|firefox
  • HostNamePatterns
    • 0001 = *.example.org|firefox

The following wildcard characters are supported for specifying host names or URLs:

  • *: matches any string
  • ?: matches any single character

Only URLs starting with http: or https: are supported. URLs with any other scheme will be processed by the current browser1.

For browser names, following values are supported:

  • ie
  • firefox
  • chrome

When the browser name is unspecified, DefaultBrowser or SecondBrowser will be used as described later.

Regular Expression

You can use regular expression forURL patterns instead of wildcards, when you set the following registry value under the top of BrowserSelector key:

  • "UseRegex" = dword:00000001

On this case all patterns must be valid regular expressions, so you cannot mix regular expression patterns and wildcard patterns.

Regular expression patterns must match to the whole URL, not partially. Prealse remind that you must put .* at the end of the pattern if the pattern needs to be matched to arbitrary paths under a specific host.

Please see the following page for the grammar of the regular expression:

https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/regex/ecmascript

A browser names can be added in this case too. Please add a browser name after $ assertion like this:

  • 0001 = ^http(s)?://(.+\\.)?example\\.(org|com)(/.*)?$firefox

ZonePatterns

Use this option to map browsers to security zones in Internet Explorer. The configuration syntax is the same as URLPatterns and HostNamePatterns.

e.g.)

  • 0001 = intra|ie
  • 0002 = internet

The following security zone names are supported.

  • Type: String
    • local
    • intra
    • trusted
    • internet
    • restricted

Note that URLPatterns and HostNamePatterns take precedence over ZonePatterns.

DefaultBrowser

You can change the browser for opening unmatched URLs by setting the registry value DefaultBrowser under the top of BrowserSelector key.

  • Type: String
    • ie
    • firefox
    • chrome

e.g)

The default value of DefaultBrowser is ie.

SecondBrowser

If you leave the browser name empty for each URL patterns, the browser specified by DefaultBrowser will be used for them. If you want to change the browser for such URL patterns, you can do it by the registry value SecondBrowser under the top of BrowserSelector key.

  • Type: String
    • Empty (Default)
    • ie
    • firefox
    • chrome

e.g.)

  • SecondBrowser = chrome
  • URLPagtterns
    • 0001 = http://*.example.com
    • 0002 = http://*.example.org
    • ...

FirefoxCommand

If you have a multiple versions of Firefox installed on your system, you can use this option to specify which Firefox you want to launch.

  • Type: String
    • Empty (Default)
    • Local Windows Path Fromat: C:\path\to\firefox.exe

CloseEmptyTab

Whether or not to close the remaining empty tab after an alternate browser is launched.

  • Type: DWORD
    • 1: Close (Default)
    • 0: Don't close

OnlyOnAnchorClick

Whether or not to launch an alternate browser only on clicking an link.

  • Type: DWORD
    • 0: Launch an alternate browser on all navigations
    • 1: Launch an alternate browser only on clicking an link

Include

The path of external INI file to load additionally. Note that it does not support recursive loading (Include in the child config is ignored).

  • Type: String
    • Both following formats are available.
    • Local Windows Path Fromat: C:\path\to\file.ini
    • UNC Format: \\HostName\ShareName\path\to\file.ini

EnableIncludeCache

Whether or not to use a cache file when a specified external INI file isn't available.

  • Type: DWORD
    • 0: Don't Use (Default)
    • 1: Use

The cache files are stored under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow (shell:LocalAppDataLow) folder.

Note that the filename of cache file should be replaced from \, : to _ in Include.

e.g.)

  • Include="c:\\Users\\Public\\BrowserSelector.ini" will be cached as:

    • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\LocalLow\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\C__Users_Public_BrowserSelectror.ini

  • Include="\\\\HostName\\ShareName\\path\\to\\BrowserSelector.ini" will be cached as:

    • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\LocalLow\ClearCode\BrowserSelector\__HostName_ShareName_path_to_BrowserSelectror.ini

How to collect logs

BHO debug log

  1. Set a common option Debug to 1. For example, put Debug=1 under the [Common] section in the file BrowserSelector.ini.
  2. Download the debug log collection tool. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/debugview (Click the "Download DebugView" link.)
  3. Extract files from the downloaded file.
  4. Launch Dbgview.exe, an extracted file, with the administrator privilege.
  5. Turn on both checkboxes Capture Win32 and Capture Global Win32 under the Capture menu.
  6. Reproduce the problem you need to inspect.
  7. Save log file as a file via the Save As... command under the File menu.

Chroem debug log

On redirections from Chrome to others

  1. Copy a shortcut to Chrome to the desktop (or anywhere).
  2. Right click on the shortcut and choose "Property".
  3. Add a command line option --enable-logging=1 at the end of the "link target" field. (Please note that you put a space between the path to the exe file and the added option.)
  4. Confirm that there is no running process of chrome.exe with the Task Manager.
    • Exit them if there is any running process.
  5. Launch Chrome with the shortcut.
  6. Reproduce the problem you need to inspect.
  7. Exit Chrome.
  8. Get the log file generated at %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\chrome_debug.log.

On redirections from others to Chrome

  1. Set a common option ChromeDebug to 1. For example, put ChromeDebug=1 under the [Common] section in the file BrowserSelector.ini.
    • Set a common option ChromeDebugVerbose as an integer value between 1 to 3 if you need more details. For example, put ChromeDebugVerbose=1 under the [Common] section in the file BrowserSelector.ini.
  2. Confirm that there is no running process of chrome.exe with the Task Manager.
    • Exit them if there is any running process.
  3. Reproduce the problem you need to inspect.
  4. Exit Chrome.
  5. Get the log file generated at %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\chrome_debug.log.

Edge debug log

On redirections from Edge to others

  1. Copy a shortcut to Edge to the desktop (or anywhere).
  2. Right click on the shortcut and choose "Property".
  3. Add a command line option --enable-logging=1 at the end of the "link target" field. (Please note that you put a space between the path to the exe file and the added option.)
  4. Confirm that there is no running process of msedge.exe with the Task Manager.
    • Exit them if there is any running process.
  5. Launch Edge with the shortcut.
  6. Reproduce the problem you need to inspect.
  7. Exit Edge.
  8. Get the log file generated at %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\chrome_debug.log.

On redirections from others to Edge

  1. Set a common option EdgeDebug to 1. For example, put EdgeDebug=1 under the [Common] section in the file BrowserSelector.ini.
    • Set a common option EdgeDebugVerbose as an integer value between 1 to 3 if you need more details. For example, put EdgeDebugVerbose=1 under the [Common] section in the file BrowserSelector.ini.
  2. Confirm that there is no running process of chrome.exe with the Task Manager.
    • Exit them if there is any running process.
  3. Reproduce the problem you need to inspect.
  4. Exit Edge.
  5. Get the log file generated at %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\chrome_debug.log.

Footnotes

  1. This is because there is an limitation that an explicit operation by the user is always required to allow accessing to file URLs on Chrome. ↩

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