What is a Windows Live Messenger Protocol Handler?
What is a Protocol Handler.
Windows Live Messenger includes the ability to use protocol handler's that interact with the Windows Live Messenger Client. In the world of Internet Explorer and other browsers, it is the definition of a set of text followed by a colon which launches a defined program that takes in a parameter which is consumed by the called program.
The table below describes the available Protocol Handlers that interact with the Windows Live Messenger Client.
Command Messenger Action Example
"Add": Adds a contact to the buddy list. msnim:add?contact=nada@nowhere.com
"Chat": Start a conversation with a contact. msnim:chat?contact=nada@nowhere.com
"Voice": Start a voice conversation with a contact. msnim:voice?contact=nada@nowhere.com
“Video” Start a video conversation with a contact. msnim:video?contact=nada@nowhere.com
Example:
The classic example of a protocol handler is the "mailto:" protocol handler. This text when in a HTML page creates a link that when clicked launches the default mail client on the machine. Any text after the protocol handler's colon is passed into the receiving mail client. For example, the following protocol handler starts up a mail client with a blank message to the user nada@nowhere.com:
mailto:nada@nowhere.com