Re: Need help with mime types & file associations: SOLVED!

[Joshua Smith <jesmith kaon com>]

I'm not sure what the version numbers are, but by following a bunch of  
2002-era mail threads, I did manage to get file associations working in  
JDS v3.  The secret recipe:

1) The association between extension and mime type happens by adding an  
XML file to /usr/share/mime/packages and running update-mime-database.
2) The association between mime type and application name happens in a  
.keys file in /usr/share/mime-info/.
3) The associations between application name and the actual application  
(didn't see that level of abstraction coming, did you?!), happens with  
a .applications file in /usr/share/application-registry/.

Oh, and you have to run nautilus --quit in order to see any of these  
changes take effect.

I haven't figured out how to get my icon to show for the mime type yet,  
but I think it will be easy.

New question: If I did these things in a Linux installer, would file  
associations work (using some backward-compatibility rules), or do I  
need to create a .desktop file and do the update-desktop-database stuff  
for machines running up-to-date versions of gnome and nautilus?

Also: Is /usr/share standard?  It seems to serve the function I recall  
/usr/local/ served in the old days.  (Which is kind of ironic, if you  
think about it ;)  The machine they provided me doesn't have a  
/usr/local at all.

Final question: Would someone on this list be willing to test-drive a  
Linux installer for me once I've got the Solaris/JDS thing worked out?

-Joshua

On Sep 11, 2006, at 6:01 AM, Alexander Larsson wrote:

> On Fri, 2006-09-08 at 10:56 -0400, Joshua Smith wrote:
> > Nautilus Guri,
> >
> > First, the caveats: I REALLY REALLY tried to figure this out myself,
> > and found lots of thoroughly unhelpful hints on the web.  I tried to
> > look in the Gnome FAQ Wiki, but the web server said "permission
> > denied", and I tried to search the archive of this mailing list, but
> > that is broken too.  If there is a better place to post this question,
> > please let me know.
> >
> > Problem Summary:
> >
> > I am trying to configure an installer for my software, such that when
> > the user tries to open a file with a particular extension, my program
> > runs and is given that file as it's argument.  (On Windows, I do this
> > through a bunch of cryptic registry entries; on the Mac, I put some
> > voodoo into an Info.plist file.)
> >
> > Details:
> >
> > 1. My file format is really ZIP/JAR with a different extension, just
> > like OpenOffice docs.
> > 2. I need this to work with Sun JDS, which uses some version of Gnome
> > and version 2.6.0 of Nautilus.  (I don't know how to find out what
> > version of Gnome is running.)
> > 3. The desktop is ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that my files are mime type
> > application/zip
> > 4. I'm very comfortable with Unix, dating back decades, but I have no
> > experience whatsoever with modern Unix GUIs
> >
> > What I think I know:
> >
> > A) I need to convince the desktop that files ending in .mesonjar are
> > mime type application/x-meson
> > B) I need to convince the desktop to open application/x-meson files
> > using my program
> >
> > I'm mostly focused on A, since B seems to be pretty well documented
> > (.desktop files seem to be the key), and I have to get A done before I
> > can start to think about getting B right.
> >
> > I read the man page on mime magic, which says that file sniffing is
> > going to take priority over anything else I do.  That looked bad until
> > I looked at the magic file, and found the line for ZIP is commented  
> > out
> > because it would keep StarOffice from recognizing its own files
> > (according to a comment).  This does leave me quite mystified as to  
> > how
> > it knows my files are really ZIPs... is there something else that does
> > the same thing as /etc/gnome-vfs-mime-magic?
>
> This is a bit tricky, as the mime type handling has changed over the
> years. If you were using the most recent code adding a shared-mime-info
> xml snippet and running update-mime-database would be enough, because
> gnome-vfs always prefers the extension magic over sniffing for files
> that sniff as zip files these days (for this specific reason).
>
> However, since you don't really know what version of gnome you're using
> its a bit tricky. Not to mention that I don't remember in what versions
> we changed what exactly.
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 
> =-=-=
>  Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat,  
> Inc
>                    alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se
> He's a gun-slinging playboy romance novelist who hides his scarred  
> face behind
> a mask. She's a supernatural belly-dancing journalist with the soul of  
> a
> mighty warrior. They fight crime!