Registering Electrum as default URI handler?

[japerry]

How does one go about setting Electrum as the default URI handler? I.E. when I encounter an bitcoin:xxx link on a website and click on it I want Electrum to open automatically. Windows 7. Chrome browser if that matters.

[shorena]

Its OS specific.

#1 hit win+r to open "run", enter regedit and confirm with ok.
#2 go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bitcoin\shell\open\command
#3 edit the (Standard) from whatever it is now to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\electrum.exe" "%1" (modify path if needed)

Edit: tested here -> http://213.165.91.169/

only works if electrum is alreay open

[japerry]

Its OS specific.

#1 hit win+r to open "run", enter regedit and confirm with ok.
#2 go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bitcoin\shell\open\command
#3 edit the (Standard) from whatever it is now to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\electrum.exe" "%1" (modify path if needed)

Edit: tested here -> http://213.165.91.169/

only works if electrum is alreay open

Hmm.. Did what you said. Electrum is open. Nothing happened. Here's what I have in the registry entry:

"T:\Electrum-BTC\electrum.exe" "%1"

Do I need to reboot or something for it to take effect?

I'm using the portable version of Electrum on a encrypted drive.

[Mitchell]

Shouldn't it be "T:\Electrum-BTC\electrum.exe %1"? I can't test this right now as I'm on a Mac.

[japerry]

Shouldn't it be "T:\Electrum-BTC\electrum.exe %1"? I can't test this right now as I'm on a Mac.

Not Sure. I found it in the registry and just modified the pointer to the executable.

[shorena]

Shouldn't it be "T:\Electrum-BTC\electrum.exe %1"? I can't test this right now as I'm on a Mac.

No its "path" "%1" for me and it works.

Didnt require a reboot. Maybe it works if you escape the " as here[1].

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79010.msg880750#msg880750

[japerry]

Shouldn't it be "T:\Electrum-BTC\electrum.exe %1"? I can't test this right now as I'm on a Mac.

No its "path" "%1" for me and it works.

Didnt require a reboot. Maybe it works if you escape the " as here[1].

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79010.msg880750#msg880750

Hmm... Still no joy.. Oh well. I'll play with it some more.

[ThomasV]

Its OS specific.

#1 hit win+r to open "run", enter regedit and confirm with ok.
#2 go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bitcoin\shell\open\command
#3 edit the (Standard) from whatever it is now to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\electrum.exe" "%1" (modify path if needed)

Edit: tested here -> http://213.165.91.169/

only works if electrum is alreay open

any idea how we could automate this with the installer?

[shorena]

Its OS specific.

#1 hit win+r to open "run", enter regedit and confirm with ok.
#2 go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bitcoin\shell\open\command
#3 edit the (Standard) from whatever it is now to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\electrum.exe" "%1" (modify path if needed)

Edit: tested here -> http://213.165.91.169/

only works if electrum is alreay open

any idea how we could automate this with the installer?

Sadly not, but Multibit HD does it with the installer (I had to change it from Multibit HD to Electrum). I was not able to find the actual installer with the source though. This[1] sounds like its not published with the rest of the source.

[1] https://github.com/bitcoin-solutions/multibit-hd/blob/189ba7970d36226da75f55c850432e49c6529f3c/.gitignore#L26

[Mitchell]

It's possible to create a Windows installer that does the Regedit stuff automatically using something like NSIS. I could write one that wraps around a portable Electrum version, but that isn't something you would want (a third party person making an installer for a portable program).

If I were you, I would ask the Electrum developers to create a specific installer for Windows that handles the Registry stuff.

[shorena]

It's possible to create a Windows installer that does the Regedit stuff automatically using something like NSIS. I could write one that wraps around a portable Electrum version, but that isn't something you would want (a third party person making an installer for a portable program).

If I were you, I would ask the Electrum developers to create a specific installer for Windows that handles the Registry stuff.

Well, it looks like we have one here and interested. Electrum is using NSIS[1]. Do I see a new Electrum contributor on the horizon?

[1] https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/c86ef5e8b0dcebf1940a68e8857165e6e4768920/contrib/build-wine/electrum.nsi

[Mitchell]

Guess I'll become an Electrum contributor! Will add the necassary changes to the file once I'm home.

[shorena]

Guess I'll become an Electrum contributor! Will add the necassary changes to the file once I'm home.

Let me know if you need someone to test the installer.

[Mitchell]

Pull request created.

[Mitchell]

Alright, my pull request has been accepted. If you download the latest Windows Installer (must be the Installer, it can't be the Standalone or Portable version) it will set the URI handler for "bitcoin:" to Electrum (and override the previous URI handler if it exists).

If you use Google Chrome and just installed Electrum you might need to restart the browser/your computer.

[japerry]

Alright, my pull request has been accepted. If you download the latest Windows Installer (must be the Installer, it can't be the Standalone or Portable version) it will set the URI handler for "bitcoin:" to Electrum (and override the previous URI handler if it exists).

If you use Google Chrome and just installed Electrum you might need to restart the browser/your computer.

Nice! Thanks!!

[Mitchell]

No problem and enjoy!

[japerry]

Alright, my pull request has been accepted. If you download the latest Windows Installer (must be the Installer, it can't be the Standalone or Portable version) it will set the URI handler for "bitcoin:" to Electrum (and override the previous URI handler if it exists).

If you use Google Chrome and just installed Electrum you might need to restart the browser/your computer.

Nice! Thanks!!

The good news is that it works great with Firefox! Yay! The bad news is that it doesn't work with Chrome. I've tried restarting Chrome and clicking on Shorena's test link and it does nothing.

 

[Mitchell]

Hmmmm, strange. It should work for Chrome as well. I'll look into it.

EDIT: It seems to be a Chrome issue: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=560809 I'll see if I can work around it or not. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

[japerry]

Hmmmm, strange. It should work for Chrome as well. I'll look into it.

EDIT: It seems to be a Chrome issue: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=560809 I'll see if I can work around it or not. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Oh please don't apologize at all! The fact that the issue is being addressed is fantastic! I'd be more than happy to test any changes for you. Please let me know if I can be of assistance. BTW running Windoze 7 here.

[Mitchell]

Hmmmm, strange. It should work for Chrome as well. I'll look into it.

EDIT: It seems to be a Chrome issue: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=560809 I'll see if I can work around it or not. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Oh please don't apologize at all! The fact that the issue is being addressed is fantastic! I'd be more than happy to test any changes for you. Please let me know if I can be of assistance. BTW running Windoze 7 here.

If I have any changes to test, I'll let you know! I run W10 so that and W7 should cover everything.