A Native Messaging Host (launcher) for "Open with" add-on
Lightweight (17kb non-compressed binary), C-based, compatible with Firefox, Chrome & Opera
"Open with" is a great add-on for calling external programs from the browser.
It comes very handy when you need to open a page on another browser, pass a link to a specific program, etc ...
Unfortunately, starting from Firefox 57, only WebExtensions add-ons are enabled.
Which means that a 3rd party, standalone app (aka Native Messaging Host) is now necessary for the add-on to work.
The current solution implemented by "Open With" is a python Script. This (obviously) require Python and the user must use the command line to setup the script.
This project offers a lightweight standalone binary along with simple installation scripts (InstallWin.bat & UninstallWin.bat for Windows)
See the release page for binary downloads and history of releases.
Currently only Windows is supported.
Porting to Linux and Mac OS is not planned, but should be straightforward.
In Windows, you can use Mingw to build the binary.
gcc -s owclauncher.c -o owclauncher.exe
Use InstallWin.bat and UninstallWin.bat for easy setup & removal.
The default installation directory on Windows is:
%AppData%\owclauncher\ (usually translates to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\owclauncher) The installation is user-specific. Administrator privileges are NOT required.
"Look for Browsers" feature is not yet implemented. You have to add other browsers manually.
Specials thanks to Geoff Lankow for his great work on Open With, and for keeping it free and open.