Open files with other applications sometimes not possible

[Redsandro]

Since Ubuntu 12.04 you cannot manually specify a program anymore in the Open With context-item.

According to the documentation at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu...iles-open.html

you'll have to click on "Other Applications" to find all available applications, which isn't always true.

For example, I installed XnViewMP, the image viewer that is a ridiculous amount better than anything available in the repositories.

Here is the application installed. It works perfectly when I start it from here.



Here is the list of other applications, and the application I installed is not there.



Some time ago I did have an association with an older installation of XnViewMP, which was installed at a different path and doesn't exist anymore. For PNG files, this association is still visible but broken:



There is no way to remove or edit (repair) it.

• How do I add applications that are not listed?
• How do I remove obsolete apps that cannot be removed?
• Is there a mimes cache somewhere? Note that ~/.local/share/mime does not help.

When I google, I'm getting results from the good old days, where you had an add and a remove button:
http://www.watchingthenet.com/ubuntu...file-typs.html
Unfortunately, that's not possible anymore.

[dino99]

i suppose your 12.04 installation is a 64 bits one, because xnview is.

[Vaphell]

check /usr/share/applications/xnviewmp.desktop (or whatever it's called)
is there a placeholder for opened file in Exec= line? something like Exec=xnviewmp %U
afaik 'other applications' dialog shows only those programs which have that explicit %U

[Redsandro]

check /usr/share/applications/xnviewmp.desktop (or whatever it's called)
is there a placeholder for opened file in Exec= line? something like Exec=xnviewmp %U

Yes, and the file does exist. It is a batch file referencing a binary file which also exists. When I run either of those, the application starts normally.

$ cat /usr/share/applications/XnView.desktop 

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=XnView Multi Platform
GenericName=XnViewMP
Comment=Graphic viewer, browser, converter
Exec=xnview %U
TryExec=xnview
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/XnView/xnview.png
Categories=Graphics;
StartupNotify=true

$ which xnview 
/usr/sbin/xnview
$

i suppose your 12.04 installation is a 64 bits one, because xnview is.

True. I think I couldn't even install the 32 bit .deb if I wanted to. Please note that the app works fine if I launch it from the menu or command line. The problem lies with associating files.

[spacemig]

Any luck with this problem?

I get the same problem when I try to associate Matlab files. It won't show in the 'Other Applications' list.

Any idea how to associate Matlab (*.m) files with Matlab in Ubuntu 12.04?

[HiImTye]

search for the extension in /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache and then copy that extension type into $HOME/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list below 'added associations'

make sure you are using the .desktop file for that program. for instance, if I want to add GIMP to .png I would do something like:

tye@T:~$ cat /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache | grep -iE 'png|gimp'
application/pdf=evince.desktop;gimp.desktop;
application/postscript=evince.desktop;gimp.desktop;
image/bmp=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/g3fax=gimp.desktop;
image/gif=gimp.desktop;firefox.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/jpeg=gimp.desktop;firefox.desktop;eog.desktop;shotwell-viewer.desktop;
image/pcx=gimp.desktop;
image/png=gimp.desktop;firefox.desktop;eog.desktop;shotwell-viewer.desktop;
image/svg+xml=inkscape.desktop;gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/tiff=evince.desktop;gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;shotwell-viewer.desktop;
image/x-compressed-xcf=gimp.desktop;
image/x-fits=gimp.desktop;
image/x-icon=gimp.desktop;
image/x-png=eog.desktop;
image/x-portable-anymap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-portable-bitmap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-portable-graymap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-portable-pixmap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-psd=gimp.desktop;
image/x-psp=gimp.desktop;
image/x-sgi=gimp.desktop;
image/x-tga=gimp.desktop;
image/x-wmf=gimp.desktop;
image/x-xbitmap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-xcf=gimp.desktop;
image/x-xpixmap=gimp.desktop;eog.desktop;
image/x-xwindowdump=gimp.desktop;
tye@T:~$ cat $HOME/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list | sed 's|\(\[Added Associations\]\)|\1\nimage/png=gimp.desktop;|' > mimeapps.list
tye@T:~$ mv -f mimeapps.list $HOME/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list