Here's some more on launching URLs in Web browsers...

You may recall a post recenty that mentioned the use of the shell command in MC/Rev to launch a URL. After tracking down a formatting issue (with help from Scott Raney and Michael Kahn), it appears the handler below could be a reliable option for launching URLs on Windows.

on launchBrowser theURL
  set the hideConsoleWindows to true
  put empty into theTitle
  if "NT" is in the systemVersion then
    set the shellCommand to "cmd.exe"
    put quote & quote into theTitle
  end if
  get shell("start" && theTitle && theURL)
end launchBrowser

Passing a URL to this handler should launch the URL in the default browser on any system from Win95 to XP, even with parameters included in the URL string. If the handler vails for you, let me know off list what your findings are. Testing here on Win95/98/2K/XP appeared to work in all cases.

Posted 5/29/2002 by Scott Rossi to the MetaCard List   (See the complete post/thread)