#225 how to use desktop shortcut with url

[Kim Nielsen]

I don't quite understand the description of the run cmd in the help file - and searching the forum has not helped me either. But as I understand it one should be able to create a desktop shortcut that let's pwsafe open an url and typing a username and a password. Is this correct ? If yes - could I pls. have an example on how this is done ? I can't get it working.

[DrK]

I really don't understand what you want to do in relation to the Run command.

An entry's Run command allows you to enter a string that is the same as you would enter in a Windows Run feature from the Start Menu - but with the added feature of substitution of fields from that Password Safe entry.

So, the Run field could be: %windir%\notepad.exe ${dbdir}\${u}.txt

which would use Notepad to open the text file "xxx.txt" in the same directory as the current database where 'xxx' is the username field of that entry.

In order to open a URL and type in a username and password into that web page, you should use the "Browse+Autotype" command from the Edit menu, Toolbar (if you have added it via Customize via right-click on the Toolbar) or the right-click context menu on that entry. It effectively firsts opens the URL specified in that entry and then performs the AutoType (either what you may have specified for that entry or the default).

Does this help?

David

[Kim Nielsen]

Hi David, Thank you for your response. Well - I figured as much. I thought that maybe one could create a desktop shortcut that called PWSAFE to go to an URL and let PWSAFE enter userid and password. This would be faster than first opening PWSAFE and then select one's entry to go to an url etc. A desktop shortcut would be very nice in my opinion. I know of course there are macro programs available that does just that - but I thought it might be possible with PWSAFE also.
But it seems not to be the case.

Kind regards

[DrK]

Kim,

Even if such a thing were possible, you would still have to enter the database passphrase so that PWS could open it, decrypt it, select the entry and do the Browse + Autotype. If you didn't do this, then someone could come along to your PC, double click a shortcut on your desktop and be automatically logged into your Bank account!

OK that aside, what you seem to be asking for is a new Command Line argument to tell PWS on startup (after a valid database passphrase has been entered) to go to a particular entry and perform the Browse + AutoType function. Is that correct?

We already have some Command Line arguments as documented in the Help file: currently -r, -v, -e, -d, -c, -s, -m, -u, -h and -g. For example: you could create a shortcut to "pwsafe database" and PWS would then select that database for opening and you would then enter the appropriate passphrase. Now, although we could add another e.g. "-b entry" to browse to that entry and then "-a" to perform Autotype, we are going to run out of letters to cater for all possible functions - like: copy the password, username, notes, URL or email fields to the clipboard and then there are the 'Browse to URL', 'Browse to URL + Autotype', 'Send Email' and 'Run' command functions! etc. etc.

The final problem is how to define the entry to ensure the correct one is selected. Each entry has a unique field (a UUID) but that is not easily displayed, except if you export the database to a XML file - so I don't think we could ask the user to specify the entry via that 32 hexadecimal character field! The "Group/Title/Username" combination is unique in a database, so this could be the way to specify the entry. This would have to be specified as one field, since the "-g" and '-u" arguments are already used, but would need a character to act as a delimiter. I suppose the first character of the string could be used as such.

So effectively you are asking for new Command Line arguments "-b" and "-a", such that a shortcut could contain something like (assuming none of the group, title or user fields contain a question mark and, if they did, then the user must pick a character that none of them contain instead):
pwsafe "database name" -b ?group?title?user? -a

The only thing now is to persuade the Project Admin that this is good idea and would be used by more than one person :-)

David

[Kim Nielsen]

Hi David. Thank you very much for your long and interesting answer ! :-) I see what you mean - and I think we can close this issue. More to it ( much more ) than I originally thought.

Thanks again.

Kind regards

Kim