How do I create my own URL protocol? (e.g. so://…) [closed]

Answer 1

You don't really have to do any registering as such. I've seen many programs, like emule, create their own protocol specificier (that's what I think it's called). After that, you basically just have to set some values in the registry as to what program handles that protocol. I'm not sure if there's any official registry of protocol specifiers. There isn't really much to stop you from creating your own protocol specifier for your own application if you want people to open your app from their browser.

Answer 2

The portion with the HTTP://,FTP://, etc are called URI Schemes

You can register your own through the registry.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/
  your-protocol-name/
    (Default)    "URL:your-protocol-name Protocol"
    URL Protocol ""
    shell/
      open/
        command/
          (Default) PathToExecutable

Sources: https://www.iana.org/assignments/uri-schemes/uri-schemes.xhtml, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa767914(v=vs.85).aspx

Answer 3

Here's a list of the registered URI schemes. Each one has an RFC - a document defining it, which is almost a standard. The RFC tells the developers of new applications (such as browsers, ftp clients, etc.) what they need to support. If you need a new base-level protocol, you can use an unregistered one. The other answers tell you how. Please keep in mind you can do lots of things with the existing protocols, thus gaining their existing implementations.