URI & URL's for OpenSIM

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Nalates
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URI & URL's for OpenSIM

Post by Nalates »

Basic URI System
Second Life residents are familiar with web links to regions within Second Life. Click on a link in a web page or forum post and the Second Life viewer opens, one logs in, and is delivered to the location within Second Life. No searching or wondering around. It would be nice to have something similar for OpenSIM locations. Well there is... URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)... Unfortunately the system has yet to be fully implemented. Therefore it’s not working very for now. If you do not care about the detail of the coming system, skip down to: Creating a Usable Link for Others

A URL (Locator) and a URN (Name) are types of URI. The typical URL is a URI that provides information on how to connect (which program to use, i.e., an HTTP browser like Firefox) and the network location where the resource can be found. We are used to seeing URL's like http://forums.openuru.org/viewtopic.php.

These are read in a left-to-right and right-to-left dance. The red http tells the computer which program to use to access the resource. Once the program opens it looks at the '//' to decide where it will look, in this case the '//' tells it the network or world wide web.Next it gets the Top Level Domain, the far right end of the string the blue org. This tells the program which directory to use to find the server hosting the resource. Moving left to the domain (forums.openuru.) is used to ask the ORG name server for an Internet Protocol address (e.g., 66.147.242.90). The program then asks at '66.147.242.90' for the location of the forums. subdomain. Once that is found the program naviages the path to the resource /viewtopic.php. One then sees the resource, like a web page, displayed.

Second Life URL’s
To make a distinction and avoid an explanation Linden Lab describes linking to regions within their virtual world as using a SLURL. You see them written as; secondlife://Region/123/45/67/

The secondlife: part tells the computer to use the Second Life viewer. Next the '//' is there to signify the resource is on the network. Linden Lab then hides some of the address by building the domain name of their access server into the viewer. The hidden part is: https: //login.agni.lindenlab.com/cgi-bin/login.cgi. The remaining part of the SLURL is the region name and the coordinate location within the region, X, Y, Z.

To get a ‘SLURL’ type URL for OpenSIM one needs to find a way to tell the computer which viewer to use and which access server to go to. There is a way to do that.

How to Make OpenSIM and Other Grid URL’s
For an alternate explanation see: addressing places in virtual worlds…or: why SLURLs are bad

Rather than construct a SLURL type link one creates a proper URI schema URL. The way an address is constructed is to start with the secondlife: part and replace it with something more versatile. The program ID rezzme: or other variant is used. For example: opensim:. For now the later is more functional. Then add the parts missing from the SLURL’s. The result is something like:
opensim:// opensim.zurich. ibm. com:9000/zurela/128/34/23

The blue part: opensim.zurich. ibm. com:9000 is the access server. The 9000 is a port address. It is common for SL and OpenSIM grids to use port 9000. If some other port is used the grid operator will usually make that clear.

The /zurela/128/34/23 part is the region name and coordinates. You can get these values by traveling to the location in game/world, opening your Map, select Copy SLURL (or whatever the button says in your viewer), and pasting into Word, Notepad or any text place that will accept a text paste.

Now one might think this link could be pasted into a web page, clicked on, and be delivered to the location. Things are not yet that simple, yet. You can try pasting the URL into your browser to see what happens.

Getting OpenSIM & Other URL’s Working
OpenSIM.org has created a program to fix the problem. Download the OpenSIM Launcher. This sets up an intermediate program to catch and handle URL’s starting with opensim:. Once installed a click on an opensim URL will cause the launcher to open. Because you may use any of several viewers, the launcher gives you a choice of which viewer to use. It remembers ID’s and is somewhat like the grid handlers in the newer viewers.

You can add more viewers to the default list of 3 viewers that come installed. Find the program’s folder in your Program Files. Open the Viewers.ini files with Notepad (or other text editor) and edit it. You see what you need to add.

With the launcher installed you should be able to click on URL’s for various grids and end up at the right place. However, you can see that that the link won’t work for that that have not yet installed the launcher. So, this is not the best of solutions, yet.

Creating a Usable Link for Others
For now there seems to be no easy way to have a link in a web page that sends people to a location in the Hypergrid. (correct me if I’ve missed something) The system for getting it working has been spec’d. But for now it has not been implemented.

This leaves us with creating links that can be copy/pasted into the chat window or the Map window. One can then click on the link that forms in the chat history window after a paste and say. Or use the Map and paste and click teleport.

To create links people can use in this way, go to the destination, open the Map, click copy SLURL, and paste the result into a web page or note card with instructions on how to use it.

Let me know if anyone knows a better way.

Edit: Added the link to Launcher... :oops:
Nalates
GoW, GoMa and GoA apprentice - Guildmaster GoC - SL = Nalates Urriah
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Dot
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Re: URI & URL's for OpenSIM

Post by Dot »

The OpenSim Launcher is here (I think!): http://lab.newworldgrid.com/index.php/OpenSim_Launcher

Note that it is for Windows PCs only.
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Nalates
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Re: URI & URL's for OpenSIM

Post by Nalates »

:lol: Thanks Dot... I put the text in to add the link to the launcher and then forgot it... :oops:
Nalates
GoW, GoMa and GoA apprentice - Guildmaster GoC - SL = Nalates Urriah
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