How do I aviod webloc files?

Not answering your question I'm afraid as I'm looking for the same ... a simple way to convert .webloc into .url. I've spent many hours searching for this. All I found were pages full of script talk (that I couldn't make sense of) and script/converter downloads with no longer available originators/untraceable sources (I didn't want to download them).

As a simple home user ... there has to be something easy that can be done no? I've tried changing .webloc to .url but that didn't help. Currently I'm asking my colleagues on Windows to convert for me and then send me the .url files ... seems a bit silly!

How do .url files work again (I mean, what is the internal structure they have? I can't recall offhand). I could maybe whip something up then....

Thank you Mark,I hope I am giving you the info you need ...

I'm looking for the Mac version of this (Win XP): "I just right click, go to-->New-->Shortcut and then paste in my url and it makes it for me".

The "it" is a little clickable icon/image (it usually has the browser logo on it with an .url extension) that'll take you to the website in question when you click it. I use these little icons for customers to direct them to my blog/store/facebook simply by clicking on them.

On my Mac I can create url shortcuts without any problem simply by dragging the url address on my finder, BUT (and herein lies the problem) it'll show up with the .webloc extension and I cannot share these with my Win buddies, because they don't work for them. I've tried changing the .webloc extension to .url but that didn't work for my Win friends.

The little I gathered from the scripting discussions I read is that is has to do with the Mac resource fork but frankly, all that scripting stuff is way above my head.

[url=http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040111200114634[/url] This is a good example of what I mean ... this discussion here starts off with something that makes me go "hey I can do that", even up to the reply where someone says .. here's a script to use with Safari. And then they all go ballistic and talk all script stuff and it is no longer clear, even if you are willing as a simple home user.

This looks like the kind of thing I am looking for: [url=http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Utilities/Web-Location-Converter.shtml[/url] but I cannot find the originator and I'm a bit weary to download and install that script.

Thank you!

Just shows you how much of a "home user" I am .. I thought the [url] tags were going to create a hyperlink and I can' find an "edit" option either. Sorry people!

Open Textedit, click and drag URL (from Safari) into (untitled) document, an Http link is formed.

You can save as many links as you like, or open up the file later and add more links. Save it as
a .rtf document (default) and it can be used in windows or Mac.

Kj

Message was edited by: KJK555

"How do .url files work again (I mean, what is the internal structure they have? "

http://www.webreference.com/html/tutorial1/5.html

Here you go, and by the way, I drag and dropped the above URL into this reply, the same way
you would do to a create a html link in a textedit document.

Well, this is what I came up with, http://www.markdouma.com/developer/WeblocFinagler.zip. (.zip, 110 KB). You can drag .webloc files onto the application icon or onto the main window to have them converted to .urls. Source code is included. (I've written a ton of these types of things for my own use, so it only took a few lines of code to re-purpose it .webloc to .url). .url files are saved to the same folder as the original .webloc file, and it has a built-in duplicate filename handler so no files are overwritten.

Hope this helps....

Hey, thanks Mark. I ran into the problem the other day--dropped a URL I wanted to use in my Win7 install onto a shared FAT32 partition, and discovered that the resultant webloc file doesn't work in Windows. Bummers. Just tried your new Finagler app, dropped my non-working webloc file on it and got a .url file, which I'm assuming will work when I'm booted in Win7. Interestingly enough, to me, it works right now in Safari on the Mac.
Francine


Francine
Schwieder

Hi Mark:
Firefox, opera and others don't understand the webloc finangler format. I believe an .html
link format will be required for web browsers other than Safari.

The easiest way is to convert is drag/drop the webloc file(s) into textedit and then save as a
web page (html). You can save as many (or as few) urls as you want (just start a new line for
each webloc file that is drag/dropped into textedit. After you are done, save file as web page.
You can then drag/drop web page file onto firefox/opera, etc and a page with links will appear.
click link(s) you want to open. 🙂

Why webloc? I cannot see that they do anything, more than a URL file.

They are very handy in a couple of ways. You can double click on it and your browser will open (if it's not already running) and take you to that page. You can also drag and drop them into an open browser window, which will also then take you to that page. Neither of which you can do with the text of a URL.

It is a nuisance though that they are Mac specific, just as dragging a URL to the desktop in Windows creates the same kind of item as a webloc file that doesn't work on the Mac.

As mentioned, you can drag the URL into a rich text file where it will become a link, which can just be double clicked by a user on either platform. That's about the easiest way I can think of. It's either that, or plain text. But that would require copy/pasting the URL into the browser's URL field. Nowhere near as convenient.

Thank you for your response KJK555, I appreciate it! This is great and handy info, but doesn't really result in a clickable icon that'll take me to a website. I am looking - as is the OP - for a cross-platform, one-click (icon-like) alternative to the .webloc format with a .url extension.

Your Finagler looks very promising Mark! Thank you so much. From your description, it does exactly what I'm looking for. I've downloaded/opened it on my iMac, which is still running on 10.5(8) and I got the message that it wouldn't work on this version. My MacBook has 10.6 and I can't wait to try it on there, because I have the feeling this little app is IT! I don't have my Book ready at hand right now but will post here the minute I do.

UPDATE: I've just tested the Webloc Finagler on my 10.6(4) MacBook and it does, kind sir, EXACTLY what it is I'm looking for. Last test is to ask my PC buddies if they work for them. So far, Mark, my gratitude for spending the time and sharing your experience and knowledge! I will repost with the results. I'm sending off the results right now.

If you use a browser other than Safari to create the webloc file (drag/drop url to desktop), the file
created will be a true xml (.plist) type of file that indeed will be clickable by most browsers.

Using Firefox, this type of file was created:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>URL</key>
<string> http://apple.com/</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Safari created this:

bplist00—SURL_ http://www.apple.com/
(the rest of the code is in the resource fork)

There is a trick to convert safari webloc file to plist:

open a blank textedit page, drag drop safari created webloc file on the page,
a link is formed. Drag drop link back to desktop, viola!, a new plist type webloc file
is created! and it can used with most any browser including Safari.


Kj ♘

Message was edited by: KJK555

I just discovered an even easier solution to make plist type webloc files:

Using Finder, create a new empty folder on the desktop.
Double click it (Finder window opens). Now leave the finder window open
and drag drop URL's into the open Finder window from Safari, Firefox, Opera, etc.
.plist type webloc files are created, and will work on most browsers.

Kj