/* -*- Mode: C++; tab-width: 3; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 2 -*-
 *
 * ***** BEGIN LICENSE BLOCK *****
 * Version: MPL 1.1/GPL 2.0/LGPL 2.1
 *
 * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version
 * 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
 * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
 *
 * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 * for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the
 * License.
 *
 * The Original Code is the Mozilla browser.
 *
 * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is
 * Netscape Communications, Inc.
 * Portions created by the Initial Developer are Copyright (C) 1999
 * the Initial Developer. All Rights Reserved.
 *
 * Contributor(s):
 *   Scott MacGregor <mscott@netscape.com>
 *
 * Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of
 * either of the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (the "GPL"),
 * or the GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1 or later (the "LGPL"),
 * in which case the provisions of the GPL or the LGPL are applicable instead
 * of those above. If you wish to allow use of your version of this file only
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 * the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this file under
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 *
 * ***** END LICENSE BLOCK ***** */

#include "nsISupports.idl"

interface nsIURI;
interface nsIFile;
interface nsIPrompt;

/**
 * The external protocol service is used for finding and launching
 * platform specific applications for particular protocols.
 *
 * You can ask the external protocol service if it has an external
 * handler for a given protocol scheme. And you can ask it to load 
 * the url using the default handler.
 */
[scriptable, uuid(a49813a4-98b7-4bdb-998c-8bd9704af0c0)]
interface nsIExternalProtocolService : nsISupports
{
  /**
   * Check whether a handler for a specific protocol exists.
   * @param aProtocolScheme The scheme from a url: http, ftp, mailto, etc.
   * @return true if we have a handler and false otherwise.
   */
  boolean externalProtocolHandlerExists(in string aProtocolScheme);

  /**
   * Check whether a handler for a specific protocol is "exposed" as a visible
   * feature of the current application.
   *
   * An exposed protocol handler is one that can be used in all contexts.  A
   * non-exposed protocol handler is one that can only be used internally by the
   * application.  For example, a non-exposed protocol would not be loaded by the
   * application in response to a link click or a X-remote openURL command.
   * Instead, it would be deferred to the system's external protocol handler.
   */
  boolean isExposedProtocol(in string aProtocolScheme);

  /**
   * Used to load a url via an external protocol handler (if one exists)
   * @param aURL The url to load
   */
  void loadUrl (in nsIURI aURL);

  /**
   * Used to load a URI via an external application. Might prompt the user for
   * permission to load the external application. Replaces loadUrl()
   *
   * @param aURI    The URI to load
   * @param aPrompt If null we grab one from windowwatcher if we need it
   */
  void loadURI(in nsIURI aURI, in nsIPrompt aPrompt);

  /**
   * Gets a human-readable description for the application responsible for
   * handling a specific protocol.
   *
   * @param aScheme The scheme to look up. For example, "mms".
   *
   * @throw NS_ERROR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
   *        If getting descriptions for protocol helpers is not supported
   * @throw NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE
   *        If no protocol helper exists for this scheme, or if it is not
   *        possible to get a description for it.
   */
  AString getApplicationDescription(in AUTF8String aScheme);
};