Thunderbird won't open http: links in firefox

[Karl Klinger]

On 2010-09-29 20:06, Jim Cunning wrote:
> Karl Klinger wrote:
>> On 2010-09-27 15:59, Jim Cunning wrote:
>>
>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>> Hash: SHA1
>>>
>>> I am having trouble getting thunderbird to open firefox when I click
>>> on http: links in mail messages.
>>>
>>> 1. I've set the following in prefs.js:
>>>           user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.https",
>>> "/usr/bin/firefox");
>>>           user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.http",
>>> "/usr/bin/firefox");
>>> 2. I've set firefox as my default browser in Menu->System
>>> Settings->Default Applications
>>> 3. I have installed firefox-gnome-support.
>>>
>>> When I click on an http: or https:  link, thunderbird displays the
>>> "finger pointing" cursor and outlines the link, but does nothing
>>> else.  When I right click on the link in the message, I get a pop-up
>>> with choices for "Select All", "Convert to->", Copy Link Location",
>>> "Save Link Target", and "Report E-mail Scam".  There is no choice like
>>> "Open with..."
>>>
>>> What do I need to add or select in KDE, firefox, or thunderbird to get
>>> this to work?
>>>
>> In the thunderbird menu:
>> 	Edit ->  Preferences
>>
>> Choose the Attachments tab in the Preferences dialog.  In the Action
>> drop down lists for http and https chose "Use Firefox (default)".
>>
>> I recently had this stop working for unknown reasons.  I changed the
>> choice to "Always ask" and then back again, and now it works again.
>>
>> Karl
>>
> Thanks, Karl, but unfortunately there is nothing listed in the Action
> drop down list, and there appears to be no way to add a new action.
> Perhaps that the root problem, so how does one go about creating a new
> action in the Thunderbird preferences?
>
First of all, to make sure we're on the same wavelength, I'm using the 
3.0.8 version of Thunderbird.

What appears in the list seems to be controlled by this file in the home 
directory:

  .mozilla-thunderbird/xxxxxxxx.default/mimeTypes.rdf

where xxxxxxxx is a random string. When I renamed this file I came up 
with an empty list.

This is the contents of my file:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<RDF:RDF xmlns:NC="http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf#"
          xmlns:RDF="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
   <RDF:Description 
RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/pdf"
                    NC:path="/usr/lib/Adobe/Reader8/bin/acroread"
                    NC:prettyName="acroread" />
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:scheme:handler:http"
                    NC:useSystemDefault="true"
                    NC:alwaysAsk="false" />
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:application/pdf"
                    NC:value="application/pdf"
                    NC:editable="true"
                    NC:fileExtensions="pdf"
                    NC:description="PDF document">
     <NC:handlerProp RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:handler:application/pdf"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:scheme:handler:https"
                    NC:useSystemDefault="true"
                    NC:alwaysAsk="false" />
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetypes">
     <NC:MIME-types RDF:resource="urn:mimetypes:root"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Seq RDF:about="urn:mimetypes:root">
     <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/pdf"/>
   </RDF:Seq>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:schemes">
     <NC:Protocol-Schemes RDF:resource="urn:schemes:root"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:handler:application/pdf"
                    NC:alwaysAsk="false"
                    NC:saveToDisk="false"
                    NC:useSystemDefault="false"
                    NC:handleInternal="false">
     <NC:externalApplication 
RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/pdf"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:scheme:https"
                    NC:value="https">
     <NC:handlerProp RDF:resource="urn:scheme:handler:https"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:scheme:http"
                    NC:value="http">
     <NC:handlerProp RDF:resource="urn:scheme:handler:http"/>
   </RDF:Description>
   <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:root"
                    NC:en-US_defaultHandlersVersion="-1" />
   <RDF:Seq RDF:about="urn:schemes:root">
     <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:scheme:http"/>
     <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:scheme:https"/>
   </RDF:Seq>
</RDF:RDF>

You could try pasting this into your file and see if it works.

Karl