linux set file associations from the command line

[COKEDUDE]

At various times it is helpful to know how to setup file associations from the command line. Sometimes file managers just won't work, other times you may have a corrupted file or bad line in your file. I will give 3 examples.

Pick out out a file of the type of file you want to set.
I picked an avi, m4a, and jpg.
Then query the file to figure out the mimetype syntax.

xdg-mime query filetype /home/bob/Downloads/vid1.avi

Check what the default program is of that mimetype.
Figure out what the programname.desktop of the program you want to use is. The simplest way to do this is by checking your mimeapps.list file located here. Obviously change your username.

vi /home/bob/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list

If that doesn't work try searching for the file with a similar command.

find / -iname '*vlc.desktop*' 2>/dev/null

If the programname.desktop file has a weird name then you will need to grep for that file. Handbrake has the weirdest file name I have seen so I will use that as my example.

sudo grep -riI "handbrake" /usr/share/applications/* 2>/dev/null
/usr/share/applications/ghb.desktop:Name=HandBrake

Check what the default program is of that mimetype.

xdg-mime query default video/x-msvideo

Set the file association.

xdg-mime default vlc.desktop video/x-msvideo

The examples.

xdg-mime query filetype /home/bob/Downloads/vid1.avi
xdg-mime query default video/x-msvideo
xdg-mime default vlc.desktop video/x-msvideo

xdg-mime query filetype /media/3CACE1E0ACE194A4/Anthem.m4a
xdg-mime query default audio/mp4
xdg-mime default vlc.desktop audio/mp4

xdg-mime query filetype /home/bob/Downloads/shellr.jpg
xdg-mime query default image/jpeg
xdg-mime default gwenview.desktop image/jpeg

Verify that what you were trying to set worked. First check the mimeapps.list. Then use your favorite file manager to verify your work or use xdg-open.

vi /home/bob/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list

xdg-open /home/bob/Downloads/vid1.avi

[dewdrop_world]

Doesn't work for me. After "xdg-mime default ... ..." I have this in mimeapps.list:

text/x-lilypond=frescobaldi.desktop

That's based on:

$ xdg-mime query filetype ~/...../middle-fast-1b.ly
text/x-lilypond

I also logged out and logged back in, but xdg-open still insists on opening .ly files in gedit.

More ideas?