How to Set Up a Helper Application

Install The Program

First you must have the helper application available on your computer. This can be any executable program that will run on your system. It can be a commercial application like Word, Wordperfect, Excel, or Lotus. It can be a freely distributed program like Quicktime. The web page you are viewing at should tell you what application you need and provide links to download the appropriate program. The file extension provides additional clues about the type of file.

Many applications are freely available on the Web. Just download the program and install it on your computer.

Configure Your Browser

After you have downloaded and installed the helper application, your browser must be configured to handle the file type. For example, if you want to view a Quicktime movie, you must tell Netscape what to do with this file.

Method 1. If the "MIME Type" is correctly configured on the server and Netscape does not know how to display it, Netscape will display an "unknown file type" message box shown below.

In this example the server has told Netscape that it is sending a file (since you selected something) with a "video/quicktime" type. Since Netscape does not know how to play Quicktime videos it needs to know what to do. If you have a program on your computer that can run this type of file, select the "Pick App" button. This displays up a file dialog box where you can select the program (the appropriate *.exe file) to run this file. After you have selected the program, Netscape will start the program and open the file. The next time you select a file with the same MIME type, Netscape will know what helper application to use.

If you do not have a program to display this type of file, select "Save File". At a latter time run the appropriate program to view the file.

For additional information about helper applications select "More Info".

Method 2. If the MIME type is not correctly configured on the server, Netscape will not realize that needs a helper application. When this happens Netscape will display garbage and you must manually configure the helper application. This is also a good way to see what helper applications are configured. From the menu bar Select (Options | General Preferences | Helpers). The window is shown below.

This Window lists File type (discussed above), Action (what to do with the file type), and Extensions (file extensions identify files without a MIME type). From this Widow you can add new file types, change the action for a file type, and add additional file extensions for a file type. In the example shown the file type "video/fli" is selected. This will launch the application "aawin.exe" any time a file with the "video/fli" MIME type or a file with a *.flc extension is downloaded. For additional information select "Help".

More detailed information about Helper Applications (setup, about) is available from Netscape.

This page is maintained by
Scott Van Bramer
Department of Chemistry
Widener University
Chester, PA 19013

Please send any comments, corrections, or suggestions to svanbram@science.widener.edu.

This page has been accessed times since 1/5 /96 .
Last Updated 1/5/96