Can I use PHP to create a desktop icon?

[laredotornado]

Using PHP 4 and a custom icon (.ico) file, how could I create a file
users download to their machine such that clicking on it launches their
default web browser with a particular URL?

Thanks for any advice, - Dave

[Alvaro G. Vicario]

*** la***********@zipmail.com escribió/wrote (12 Jun 2006 10:56:16 -0700):

Using PHP 4 and a custom icon (.ico) file, how could I create a file
users download to their machine such that clicking on it launches their
default web browser with a particular URL?

I guess you have *.url files in mind. If you open one of them in your
favourite text editor, you'll realize the format is pretty straightforward:

[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://www.google.com

I can think of two issues:

1) It isn't cross-platform
2) You can't store the icon or specify what icon explorer should display
There's a simple multiplaform alternative: a simple HTML file with a
redirection (META tag or JavaScript). It doesn't solve the icon issue
though.

--
-+ Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
++ http://bits.demogracia.com es mi sitio para programadores web
+- http://www.demogracia.com es mi web de humor libre de cloro
--

[Kimmo Laine]

<la***********@zipmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@j55g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

Using PHP 4 and a custom icon (.ico) file, how could I create a file
users download to their machine such that clicking on it launches their
default web browser with a particular URL?

If your target group don't know how to bookmark, they must be really really
really stupid bunch. I'd understand if the clients were intelligent stones
or sticks with just enough brainpower to open the page but no idea how to
drag it to favourites. And now you expect that these highly intelligent
sticks and stones know how to download and use the shortcut? Something
really wrong there.

--
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