Re: Suggestion for file type detection approach

[Olaf Frączyk <olaf cbk poznan pl>]

On Sat, 2003-12-27 at 15:31, Geoffrey wrote:
> gardnerbiggs houston rr com wrote:
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: iain <iain prettypeople org> Date:
> > Thursday, December 25, 2003 11:55 am Subject: Re: Suggestion for file
> > type detection approach
> > 
> > 
> >> On Thu, 2003-12-25 at 14:48 -0300, Fabio Gomes wrote: However...
> >> 
> >> 
> >>> DETECTION BY SUFFIX 1.Allows wrong results on invalid input
> >>> (files with wrong suffixes)
> >> 
> >> Cannot be fixed to run correctly.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Yes it can, the file suffix can be changed.
> > 
> > There is nothing more frustrating than opening a dir of mp3's in
> > nautilus and have it take over 2 min to display the files.  While in
> > windows it takes the blink of an eye.
> 
> In a blink of an eye because it's making assumptions based on file 
> suffix, which has no guarantee to be correct.
File sniffing does not guarantee it either. 
Users expect, that the action (which application is to be run) is
determined by file extension. 
The mime-type idea is a terrible thing for a normal user. They simply
don't understand it.
> 
> > 
> > I am all for nautilus using the extension when available and sniffing
> > when appropriate (a file missing a suffix or when requested by the
> > user)
> 
> File sniffing is at least attempting to apply some logical effort to 
> file determination.
But impractical because of slowness. And not ease to understand for
users.

The ideal would be ti switch to recognizing file type by it's extension
but if one extension is used for different mime types, then
in such case nautilus should detect mime type from file content. This
should be controlled by user - eg. if user wants to associate an
extension with another application, he would get dialog box with
question if previous association is to be dropped or if the mime type
for this extension should be detected by file content.

Regards,

Olaf
> 
> -- 
> Until later, Geoffrey	esoteric 3times25 net
> 
> Building secure systems inspite of Microsoft
> 
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