automatic proxy configuration in firefox

2007-11-03T15:43:00+01:00

In an erlier article i describe how to switch between the network environments i am using, but there was one programm i could not convince to let me change the proxy settings via apple script - firefox.

i still needet to switch the firefox settings per hand - something i didnt like at all.

one day the little "fetch proxy settings for url" dialog part from the firefox proxysettigns made me courious and i found out, that firefox expects a javascript file on this url, which tells firefox what proxy to use.

function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {
    if ( dnsResolve( host ) == "127.0.0.1" ) {
        return "DIRECT";
    } else {
        return "PROXY proxyhost:8080";
    }
}

this script can use some predefined functions like "isInNet" or "dnsResolve" to determine which network Im in and use the appropriate proxy. the file doesnt even have to live on a http server, a file:// url is sufficient.

e voila - no more manual proxy switching

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automatic proxy configuration in firefox