The Browsers.dat file is available if you need to change the way a browser is launched by NoteTab, or to define the parameters for a new browser. If you delete this file, then NoteTab will use the default settings for the most popular browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, and Opera). This topic explains the structure of the file and the meaning of its fields.
Currently, the Browsers.dat file accepts up to 9 fields under each section. The format is identical to an .ini file. You have the section name that is between square brackets and can be used in the browser field of NoteTab. The values below the section name define how the browser is launched and how to communicate through DDE (if the feature is supported). The value of the field name comes after the equal sign. For the main browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, and Opera), NoteTab stores default values for each field. You can override these values by defining the field under the corresponding section for the browser. When a field is not defined, the default values are used. Below you can see the default values for Internet Explorer:
Fields Explained
Command
This field is used to specify the program file that must be launched and possible command-line switches (useful to inhibit the loading of the default homepage, or turn off the splash screen). If you have several versions of a browser, you can create a different section for each one and then include the full browser path+filename in the Command value. The Command value is used to open the first instance of a browser window when DDE is enabled, and to open each window when DDE is disabled.
UseDDE
A value of "1" tells NoteTab that the browser supports DDE. A value of "0" means DDE is not supported by the browser (or should not be used).
The following fields are only checked if UseDDE=1...
Application
The value corresponds to the DDE server name. If the section name does not match the server name, then you must define this field with the appropriate value. The list below shows the server names for the main browsers:
Internet Explorer: IExplore
Internet Explorer 2.x: Mosaic
Netscape 6.x: Netscape6
Netscape (4.x and older): Netscape
Mozilla: Mozilla
Opera: Opera
DdeCommand
Only use this field if the command to launch the first instance of a browser for DDE communication is different from the once used in the "Command" field. At the time of writing this, only Opera has this requirement in order to operate reliably.
DdeExec
This is the list of parameters that need to be sent to the DDE server to open a URL. The %1 represents the place marker for the URL and %2 for the window value. A window value of 0 indicates that the URL should be opened in a new window (or tab) and a value of -1 tells it to reuse the active window (this feature is not supported by Netscape 6.x). All the main DDE browsers support the same DdeExec parameters. If you always want your URLs to open in the same window, you can override the default value by adding the actual window code instead of the place marker. Example:
DdeExec="%1",,-1,0,,,,
Topic
This is the name of the command that is sent to the DDE server to initiate a specific action. All the main DDE browsers support the same Topic value: WWW_OpenURL. As a result, you normally never need to include this field. However, if you ever encounter a browser that supports another Topic name, then you can use this field to override the default value.
It's unlikely that you will ever need to use the three last fields:
Application_New
DdeExec_New
Topic_New
They are useful if the field values for opening a new window are different from those for opening a link in the same window. None of the current popular browsers need these, though it appears Internet Explorer 6.x supports the topic name "WWW_OpenURLNewWindow", but it's not necessary to use it. However, these field are available in case a new browser requires different values.