File association defaults

[Clay Weber]

On Saturday 06 March 2010 08:32:15 pm Steve Morris wrote:
> On 07/03/10 11:20, Mark Greenwood wrote:
> > On Saturday 06 Mar 2010 23:41:28 Steve Morris wrote:
> >> On 06/03/10 13:31, Clay Weber wrote:
> >>> On Friday 05 March 2010 08:12:43 pm Steve Morris wrote:
> >>>> I am having an issue with file association defaults in Kubuntu/Ubuntu.
> >>>> In Firefox the default for pdf mimetypes was to ask for information on
> >>>> how they should be handled. When the dialogue box pops up as a result
> >>>> of clicking on the link, the open with entry lists Ocular as the
> >>>> default, but if I look at the kde file associations for pdf files the
> >>>> first application listed in the list of handling applications is
> >>>> Acrobat. If I click on the Open with dropdown it only specifies
> >>>> Ocular not all the applications listed in the kde file associations
> >>>> as being able to handle pdf files.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Hence the questions I have are:
> >>>>       * What in Kubuntu/Ubuntu constitutes the default application for
> >>>>       a
> >>>>       
> >>>>         file type and where is specified/modified.
> >>> 
> >>> In System Settings' File Associations area
> >> 
> >> That is where I looked and was why I was querying why the application
> >> listed by the firefox prompt dialog did not match this.
> >> 
> >>>>       * Why does the open with entry in the dialogue box (I'm assuming
> >>>>       
> >>>>         this is gtk) not appear to honour the kde configuration,
> >>>>         particularly when if I double click a pdf file in krusader if
> >>>>         opens acrobat to display it as indicated by the kde file
> >>>> 
> >>>> associations.
> >>> 
> >>> because firefox may use it's own  method for determining file
> >>> associations, it has it's own unique settings that seem to be
> >>> independent of what the system default is.
> >>> 
> >>> Wow, downloading acrobat now, sure is a pig:
> >>> 
> >>> $The following NEW packages will be installed:
> >>>     acroread
> >>> 
> >>> 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
> >>> Need to get 63.5MB of archives.
> >>> After this operation, 153MB of additional disk space will be used.
> >>> 
> >>> What I have discovered is that when installing acroread via the
> >>> commandline, it offers the choice of setting the systemwide file
> >>> association for pdf to acroread (and does so for my firefox setup - it
> >>> is the fist thing in the dropdown list). This option I know does not
> >>> happen using KPackagekit as it doesn't yet support this sort of apt
> >>> dialog. This probably explains why Firefox does not see this, though
> >>> KDE still seems to notice the change, or automatically puts newly
> >>> installed things at the top of the list in terms of file associations.
> >> 
> >> I installed Acroread via Synaptic which does support that sort of apt
> >> dialogue and I did select the system wide file association. As I
> >> understand it Firefox is using gtk as its gui interface, so I am
> >> assuming the dialog that pops up to canvas what the user wants to do is
> >> a standard gtk dialog that should be obeying kde or gnome settings
> >> depending on the desktop being used, hence in the open with dialog it
> >> should show all applications configured as handling pdf files, or am I
> >> missing something here?
> > 
> > I don't think firefox honours any of the desktop settings, there are ways
> > to set firefox's associations but I can't remember what they are.
> > Google.
> 
> The issue is not the Firefox associations. I have changed these to use
> the acroread plugin if the mimetype is specified correctly, but the
> issue here is caused by firefox's association being set to "Ask", and
> the resultant gtk dialog "Open With" option not specifying the correct
> default application nor offering the choice between all applications
> configured by kde as handling pdfs.
> 
> regards,
> Steve
> 
> > mark
> >
> >> regards,
> >> Steve
> >> 
> >>>> regards,
> >>>> Steve

You have to point it to /opt/Adobe/Reader9/bin/acroread when setting the file 
association in Firefox (using the "other" option) . Then it will show up in 
the "open with" dialog. Of course, the included ff plugin/extension seems to 
override any setting you make anyway.

My previous experiment was using a clean, un-customized FF profile. Tonight, my 
results are using my existing FF profile and settings. Changing systemwide 
defaults do not affect existing user defaults in terms of what FF is using


-- 
Clay Weber
http://kubuntuforums.net
http://flyballmaine.com
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