Modifying the "Open with..." list
François de Dardel
given file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture
files, you get an incredibly long list including totally useless
options courtesy Adobe, such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or
"makebutton.exe" whilst I would like to get only the main options, i.e.
GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few others.
I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it is
so I can reduce the list to show only the options that are meaningful
to me?
Thanks in advance for any hint.
I have asked the same question a few months ago, but did not see a
reply. Sorry.
--
Franēois de Dardel
http:/mapage.noos.fr/dardelf/
Faber est suae quisque fortunae
Enlever le quatorze pour m'écrire
Remove fourteen in the address to send mail
Andy Hewitt
> Clicking with the "ctrl" key offers a list of applications to open a
> given file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture
> files, you get an incredibly long list including totally useless
> options courtesy Adobe, such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or
> "makebutton.exe" whilst I would like to get only the main options, i.e.
> GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few others.
>
> I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
> options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it is
> so I can reduce the list to show only the options that are meaningful
> to me?
>
> Thanks in advance for any hint.
>
> I have asked the same question a few months ago, but did not see a
> reply. Sorry.
It might be worth trying Zingg, which is more configurable.
Should be able to find it on www.macupdate.com.
--
Andy Hewitt
<http://www.thehewitts.eclipse.co.uk/>
TaliesinSoft
(in article <44c3b07a$0$25663$79c1...@nan-newsreader-05.noos.net>):
> Clicking with the "ctrl" key offers a list of applications to open a given
> file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture files, you get
> an incredibly long list including totally useless options courtesy Adobe,
> such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or "makebutton.exe" whilst I would like
> to get only the main options, i.e. GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few
others.
>
> I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
> options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it is so I
> can reduce the list to show only the options that are meaningful to me?
a) control-click on the file icon
b) select Get Info
c) look for Open With
d select an application from the drop down list
After that, all files of the same kind will have that application as the
preferred opener.
--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... talies...@mac.com
G.T.
Thanks, an answer to a question that he didn't ask. Now can you answer
his question? I need a refresher for the same issue.
Greg
--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons
François de Dardel
> François de Dardel <dard...@noos.fr> wrote:
>
>> Clicking with the "ctrl" key offers a list of applications to open a
>> given file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture
>> files, you get an incredibly long list including totally useless
>> options courtesy Adobe, such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or
>> "makebutton.exe" whilst I would like to get only the main options, i.e.
>> GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few others.
>>
>> I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
>> options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it is
>> so I can reduce the list to show only the options that are meaningful
>> to me?
>
> It might be worth trying Zingg, which is more configurable.
Thanks, I have tried Zingg, but I still would prefer to edit the "normal" list.
--
François de Dardel
TaliesinSoft
(in article <12c7ei6...@corp.supernews.com>):
> TaliesinSoft wrote:
>> On Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:23:07 -0500, François de Dardel wrote
>> (in article <44c3b07a$0$25663$79c1...@nan-newsreader-05.noos.net>):
>>
>>
>>> Clicking with the "ctrl" key offers a list of applications to open a given
>>> file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture files, you
>>> get
>>
>>
>>> an incredibly long list including totally useless options courtesy Adobe,
>>> such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or "makebutton.exe" whilst I would
>>> like
>>> to get only the main options, i.e. GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few
>>
>> others.
>>
>>> I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
>>> options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it is so
>>> I
>>> can reduce the list to show only the options that are meaningful to me?
>>
>>
>> a) control-click on the file icon
>>
>> b) select Get Info
>>
>> c) look for Open With
>>
>> d select an application from the drop down list
>>
>> After that, all files of the same kind will have that application as the
>> preferred opener.
>>
>
> Thanks, an answer to a question that he didn't ask. Now can you answer
> his question? I need a refresher for the same issue.
But it was such a nice answer! :-)
I misread the question (even though I quoted it, making things even worse)
and thought that what was being asked was how to change the default
application that opens a particular kind of file.
As for how to edit the list, I haven't the foggiest.
William Mitchell
> Clicking with the "ctrl" key offers a list of applications to open a
> given file type, presumably according to its extension. With picture
> files, you get an incredibly long list including totally useless
> options courtesy Adobe, such as "constrain to 64 pixels.exe" or
> "makebutton.exe" whilst I would like to get only the main options,
> i.e. GraphicConverter, Photoshop and few others.
>
> I know there is a plist or something in the System that contains these
> options. Have tried in vain to locate it. Anyone knows which file it
> is so I can reduce the list to show only the options that are
> meaningful to me?
>
I think I can tell you where the list comes from, and how it can be
changed. I don't know if this would be the best way to do it, or
even if it works. Of course you wouldn't want to change any files
without first making at copy, _not_an_alias_, so you can copy it back
if things go bad. With that precaution, it should be safe.
Have the developer package installed, so you can conveniently inspect
and change a plist.
Go to the app in finder, control-click and select "view package
contents". You will get a new finder window, with a single folder
called "contents". Inside that there will be a file called
"info.plist". Double click on that to open it - it will open in
Property List Editor.app. Click on the arrow to expand "root",
and then "CFBundleDocumentTypes". You will get a series of numbers,
and when you expand one of those one variable will be
"CFBundleTypeExtensions". Clicking on that will give a series of
numbered strings, giving extensions which the app wants OS X think it
can open. If you delete one of these (click on it to select it,
then click the delete button at the top) and save the file,
then OS X should leave it off the "Open With" list.
I don't know how quickly the change should come up.
As I said, this is unverified. However it should be safe if you
previously saved a copy of the file.
--
Bill Mitchell
Dept of Mathematics, The University of Florida
PO Box 118105, Gainesville, FL 32611--8105
mitc...@math.ufl.edu (352) 392-0281 x284