[arch-general] File Associations for firefox & thunderbird :)^

[Peter Lewis]

On Tuesday 15 Jun 2010 at 06:48 Madhurya Kakati wrote:
> >>>>> I am a full time KDE user and I don't have GNOME or its libraries.
> >>>>> Firefox and Thunderbird keep asking me to choose applications to open
> >>>>> .pdf, .doc, .xls, http://, etc.
> >>>>> Is there no package which can fix the file associations for FF and TB
> >>>>> ?
> >>>> 
> >>>> That's likely some xdg stuff. It usually works using gnome, KDE and
> >>>> xfce but nothing else. KDE probably has some preferences thing
> >>>> somewhere, otherwise you're pretty much as f..... as everyone who
> >>>> doesn't use a big DE. Hurray for 'Desktop Integration'..
> >>> 
> >>> I don't think so.
> >>> xdg-settings --list gives on default-web-browser.
> >> 
> >> You can't use xdg-settings when you don't have one of the major DEs
> >> running, xdg-open falls back to a hardcoded array of browsers in that
> >> case. It's all quite awkward if you don't use gnome, kde or xfce.
> >> I know, doesn't really help with your problem..
> > 
> > Have you read the first line of my post properly ? I said I am a 100% KDE
> > user.
>
> tried system settings? the file associations there i guess.

I've come across this problem too. I've never managed to get Firefox to honour 
KDE's file associations (which is big negative IMO), but on one machine, it 
did remember what I told it to do. From memory, Firefox's file associations 
can be edited in Edit->Preferences->Content, but I'm not sure if Thunderbird 
has something similar, since I don't use it.

So can Firefox use XDG? I was under the impression that it just managed its 
own associations.

On another machine though, with an identical set-up, it continually asks for a 
binary to open the file with, and you have to point the file dialog to 
/usr/bin/okular or whatever. This is annoying, but I've no idea why it worked 
in one case by not the other.

Pete.