Wiring Netscape for Sound

Netscape Navigator comes with a built-in application called NAPlayer that plays the AU sound files that are the Web's de facto standard. However, with so many Windows types flooding the Net, the WAV format is popping up more and more. The Netscape programmers realized this, so they built support for WAV files into Navigator 3.0. If you use an earlier version, however, you have to tell Navigator how to play WAV files. (This applies to MIDI files, as well.) Here are the steps to follow:
  1. In Navigator, pull down the Options menu and select General Preferences to display the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Select the Helpers tab.
  3. Select the Create New Type button. Navigator pops up the Configure New Mime Type dialog box.
  4. Enter audio in the Mime Type box, enter x-wav in the Mime SubType box (if you're setting up Navigator to play MIDI files, enter x-midi, instead), and then select OK.
  5. In the File Extensions text box, type wav (or midi for MIDI files).
  6. Activate the Launch the Application option.
  7. In the text below this option, type MPLAYER.EXE. This tells Navigator to launch the Media Player accessory whenever it comes across a WAV (or MIDI) sound file.
  8. Select OK.
If you don't use Windows, or if you'd like to extend Navigator's sound capabilities to include more advanced sound formats such as RealAudio, then you need to install the appropriate plug-in. A plug-in is a small program that essentially attaches itself to Navigator and becomes a part of the program. To see the latest list of available plug-ins, head for the following page and then click on the Audio/Video link:

http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/version_2.0/plugins/

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating an HTML Web Page, 2nd Edition,

Copyright © 1997 Paul McFedries and Que.

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