Browser Integration

In our FAQ pages appeared a series of indications on how to integrate DharmaPhone with standard Web browsers. As a lot of questions regarding this issue were received by our hotline department, we decided to enhance the indications provided to further clarify the issue. Following the directives shown below, you will be able to design Web pages capable of placing Internet Calls.

Actually, DharmaPhone fully supports Microsoft Internet Explorer (from versions 3.X) and Netscape Navigator, as these are considered the most widely-used browsers. As these integration methods use absolutely standard ways to allow cooperation between DharmaPhone and browsers, many of the not-so-typical software packages will manage to be used too.

The method used to place Internet calls from Web content used with Microsoft Internet Explorer was already described in DharmaPhone's FAQ. This method is (by now) only supported by Microsoft's own browser, and should be avoided when developing pages that will be accesed by (for example) Netscape Navigator users.

The second method described uses an intermediate file, and is fully supported by Netscape and Microsoft's products. So is the preferred way to implement DharmaPhone call links within Web pages.

Final users do not have to make any changes to their machine's configuration to use DharmaPhone from their browser. All configuration operations are performed by DharmaPhone upon initial execution. Just by downloading DharmaPhone from our site and running it once, allows DharmaPhone to fully configure the system.

In this page you will find:
- Information on DharmaPhone's command-line options.
- Inmediate URL Integration method (Microsoft Internet Explorer only).
- Intermediate file Integration Method (both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator supported).

Command Line options

DharmaPhone accepts several command-line options when started. This can be used to (for example) to create a series of shortcut icons on the desktop to place calls automatically when double-clicked.

Please, note that DharmaPhone's command line options are case sensitive. Options must be typed as they appear below.

'callto' command line option.

This is the mostly used command-line option. This starts a DharmaPhone call inmediately after program execution. If you wish to make a call to a friend of yours who's computer IP address is 192.200.21.4 (and DharmaPhone is located in the C:\Dharma folder) we can place a call by simply:

- Click 'Start'
- Click 'Run...'
- Type 'C:\Dharma\DPD.EXE /callto:192.200.21.4'

To create a shortcut on your desktop to call your friend, follow these steps:

- On your desktop, click your right mouse button (the desktop popup menu will appear).
- Select 'New/Shortcut'.
- The 'New shortcut' dialog box will appear.
- In 'Command line' type (for example) 'C:\Dharma\DPD.EXE /callto:192.200.21.4' and click 'Next'.
- In 'Select a name for the shortcut' type anything you want: this will appear below the new icon on the desktop.Type, for example 'DharmaPhone - John Smith'.
- Click 'Finish': You now have a desktop shortcut you can use to call your friend John.

'register' command line option

It is quite possible that DharmaPhone's integration capabilities stop working with no aparent reason - you probably moved the executable to another directory, and browsers can no longer find it!

The '/register' command line option forces DharmaPhone to re-register itself. This way integration functionality will work again.

To re-register DharmaPhone, proceed as follows:

- Click 'Start'
- Click 'Run...'
- Type 'C:\Dharma\DPD.exe /register' (or whatever the path you placed DharmaPhone in).

Inmediate URL (Internet Explorer only)

DharmaPhone registers a new protocol in your computer: the dpd:// protocol. This protocol can be used from within a Web page to initiate an Internet Call to another machine, given it's name, IP address, or ILS-registered E-Mail address.

For example, to show the following text in a web page that allows the user to click on the link (the 'here' word) and start a DharmaPhone call to 'webmaster@site.com' (note this is a 'fake' link):

Click here to call WebMaster

the following HTML fragment is needed:

<p>
Click <a href="dpd://webmaster@site.com">here</a> to call WebMaster
</p>

DharmaPhone accepts the following URL types:

- A computer name (p.e. dpd://testmachine.datavoice.es)
- An IP address (p.e. dpd://192.141.56.22)
- An E-Mail address (p.e. dpd://webmaster@place.com). In this case, the address is checked against the ILS server used by DharmaPhone. If such address is not found, the call fails.

Intermediate File (Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator)

The second method to integrate DharmaPhone with Web browsers involves the use of an intermediate file that the browser must get from the server. This file (with .DPD extension) contains a list of command line options that DharmaPhone will use. So to place a DharmaPhone call, just place a link in your pages to your .DPD files.

For example, to show the following text in a web page that allows the user to click on the link (the 'here' word) and start a DharmaPhone call to 'webmaster@site.com' (note this is a 'fake' link):

Click here to call WebMaster

the following HTML fragment is needed:

<p>
Click <a href="webmaster.dpd">here</a> to call WebMaster
</p>

The file 'webmaster.dpd' on the server contains the arguments passed to DharmaPhone. In this case it contains a line of text as follows:

/callto:webmaster@place.com

When the user clicks on the link, the browser downloads the 'webmaster.dpd' file from the server. As '*.DPD' files are registered by DharmaPhone, the program is initiated automatically. It then reads the command line options from the file and executes them.

DharmaPhone accepts the following URL types: