Ubuntu – Associating file types in Ubuntu 13.10

13.10file association

I just upgraded from Ubuntu 13.04 to the latest release, saucy-salamander, also known as Ubuntu 13.10. I am facing problems with associating file types to applications. Instead of the traditional applications list that all the other versions of Ubuntu offered when a person is trying to associate a file to an application, Ubuntu 13.10 is giving me an option to search to the application executable.. which is rather frustrating.

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How do i activate the old and traditional method whereby i have to chose an application directly without hunting down through the system for the executable…??

Best Answer

I suggest Ubuntu-Tweak to configure the file associations, as Anwar Shah suggests here: Change all associations from gedit to another application.

First you must download the installer (a .deb file) from http://ubuntu-tweak.com/. Then open the file and install the program from Ubuntu Software Center. Finally, Open Ubuntu-Tweak an go to Admins -> File Type Manager.

At the list, look for your filetype and clic Edit -> Add to choose your custom application.

If you are trying to associate a Wine app (i. e. MS-Word to open .doc and .docx filetypes), you can add the application to the list if you edit the .desktop file located in ~/.local/share/applications/. Then, locate the "Exec=" parameter and, at the end of the line, add %U.

For MS-Word 2007:

gedit ~/.local/share/applications/wine/Programs/Microsoft\ Office/Microsoft\ Office\ Word\ 2007.desktop

At the end of "Exec=" line, add %U. My file looks like this now:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=Microsoft Office Word 2007 Exec=env WINEPREFIX="/home/goghard/.wine_Office2007" wine C:\\windows\\command\\start.exe /Unix /home/goghard/.wine_Office2007/dosdevices/c:/users/goghard/Start\ Menu/Programs/Microsoft\ Office/Microsoft\ Office\ Word\ 2007.lnk %U

Type=Application

StartupNotify=true

Comment=Create and edit professional-looking documents such as letters, papers, reports, and booklets by using Microsoft Office Word.

Icon=2C1E_wordicon.0

For more detailed info, look the answer of user24185 at: How to associate file types with wine in nautilus.