URLs to Run External Apps

[DrJJWMac]

I would like specifically to integrate fields in Tap Forms to make calls to external apps. As an example, I would like to have a field in Tap Forms that contains a URL link to a defining project or task in my Omnifocus app … omnifocus:///task/jPjrPBY-hgj … and have that link be active to jump to and show the project or task.

I could see this type of URL field having general use, perhaps even across the desktop + iX versions.

Thanks!

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JJW

[Brendan]

Hello JJW,

Just use the Website Address field type for this and you should be good to go. I don’t have omnifocus, but I just tried from Tap Forms HD to Tap Forms for iPhone on my iPad using tapforms:// as the URL and it just worked. Tap Forms HD quit and then Tap Forms for iPhone launched.

Try that with your omnifocus:// URL and it should just work.

Thanks!

Brendan

[DrJJWMac]

Nope! Sorry. This is for the Desktop version, not the iX version. The Website Address field tries to open the default browser with the URL. What I am asking is to have the Desktop version initiate a call to the app in the URL.

You might try with something like Curio or Omnifocus on the Desktop. They support the “Copy as Link” command.

I have not yet tried to copy over the test DB from the Desktop to my iPod to see if the protocol is handled there properly.

Thanks.

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JJW

[Brendan]

Does that work from Safari to launch other apps with those URL schemes?

[DrJJWMac]

No. And it is not supposed to AFAIK. I believe, the URL indicator … applicationname://…. is supposed to be recognized at the Finder level as a call to invoke the application name while passing the parameter that follows.

IOW, what is being used as a Website field in Tap Forms automatically calls the default browser and passes the URL. Instead, I would like a field where the URL is to be passed directly to the OS. …

Actually, I would like this to happen in a general text field automatically. That way, I can type a note that says …

> gotta meet with my boss about this project omnifocus://….

In the meantime, I’d be happy now just being able to define an “app URL” field on a form.

Think of it as a difference between http://… versus emailto://… versus ftp://… versus … Each of these are different protocol handlers. Only the first is to call the default Web browser. The second calls the mail program, and the third the defaults to the ftp program. A URL curio://… should therefore default to the application (named) Curio by extension.

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JJW

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