Re: relative URLs VRML viewed from HTML-browsers

Mike Heck ([email protected])
Fri, 12 May 95 16:32:35 -0700

> > > Actually, Netscape realized this so their 1.1 version sends the original
> > > URL to the external browser.
> >
> > But the helper application shouldn't have to rely on browser behavior
> > this way.
>
> Browser behavior when communicating with external viewers must be
> standardized. I think we should accelerate that process by NOT corrupting
> the VRML spec with a "Your URL is" hint. Our success in getting Netscape to
> support WebSpace shows that getting the right thing to happen isn't really
> that hard.
>
> This is a temporary problem that doesn't merit a permanent addition to the
> VRML spec.

"corrupting the VRML spec"? By adding one more hint? :-) That sounds more
like an emotional response than a carefully considered, technical argument.

The fact is, this is a significant problem and, waddya know, it actually has
a simple straightforward solution! The VRML community needs this hint.

First, not everyone uses Netscape. Second, Netscape 1.1 only fixed the
problem for their UNIX versions -- it still doesn't work under Windows.
(OK, to be completely accurate, the browser doesn't pass the URL the first
time it starts the helper application. It does work subsequently because
the DDE protocol is used instead of cmd line arguments.)

Remember that this is a *hint*. So it would nice to see it added to the
VRML spec as a "standard" hint, but if that doesn't happen... that should
not stop VRML authors from using it anyway to make their scenes work better.

-Mike Heck <[email protected]>
Template Graphics Software