Open all non image files in associated program

[Dreamer]

Solution A - Drop down lists

Maybe we could add another option there - "Text files (txt, htm, pdf?...)".

What do you think?

1. All text files?

And what should be default options?

2. Open in XnView

1. Maybe, just an idea...

2. OK, but what about "All other files" - they can't be opened in xnview, I think there should be default option "Open in associated program" since it's the expected behavior.

[helmut]

Maybe we could add another option there - "Text files (txt, htm, pdf?...)"....

PDF files can be complex and contain text, but also contain images. And the "nature" of HTML is pretty different to text, too. So a group "Text files" does not make too much sense.

[helmut]

...
2. OK, but what about "All other files" - they can't be opened in xnview, I think there should be default option "Open in associated program" since it's the expected behavior.

Correct, for "All other files" the setting "Open in associated program" should be default.

[helmut]

Below please find some "loud thoughts" while trying to find a good solution. I haven't found a good solution, yet, perhaps my thoughts are still useful in some way:

Basically we have three actions:
1 - Open in XnView
2 - Open with associated program
3 - No action

And we want to assign file types (.gif, .bmp, .avi, .txt) with these actions.

So the user interface would look like this:




A specific file type can be assigned to only one of the three groups, so one of the groups must not be specified by the user. The group "Open in XnView" is largest (for most users), so "Open in XnView" gets "All other file types":


Now, we still have the problem that specifying the groups is a bit complicated and some people might have to specify many filetypes (e.g. all those people who do not want to open their images in XnView). So this is not a good solution, yet.

Have to think more about this....

[xnview]

Now, we still have the problem that specifying the groups is a bit complicated and some people might have to specify many filetypes (e.g. all those people who do not want to open their images in XnView). So this is not a good solution, yet.

Have to think more about this....

Yes i think that it's too complicated for basic users...

[Dreamer]

What about...

This solution (A):


...and (B) add all extensions to xnview.ini file. Advanced users could edit .ini file, they could add/remove/move any extension there.

E.g.:
None="zip"
OpenWith AssociatedProgram="exe,avi,mov,mpg,wmv,mp3,wav"
OpenInXnView="*(?)"

Or:

(C) Add one special page to options, just for advanced users with this and few other options. This page should be blank, just with one option "[ ] Show special page for advanced users", maybe with some warning...

Of course, options above (B and C) should have higher priority and/or option (A) (image) should be greyed out then.

[Clo]

Dreamer

Hello !

(C) Add one special page to options, just for advanced users with this and few other options. This page should be blank, just with one option "[ ] Show special page for advanced users", maybe with some warning...

• Although the idea of a "wildcard" Option-page for advanced users be not so bad, I guess that a page, even with a warning, should be tempting for newbies who could set a pretty mess

- Why not make simpler, like I proposed already in this same thread ?
- Extra INI-entries could solve many issues, I'm not the only thinking so, and we have a nice free tool now to add entries…
- Just my modest opinion, of course…

Kind regards,
Claude
Clo

[xnview]

What about...

This solution (A):


...and (B) add all extensions to xnview.ini file. Advanced users could edit .ini file, they could add/remove/move any extension there.

E.g.:
None="zip"
OpenWith AssociatedProgram="exe,avi,mov,mpg,wmv,mp3,wav"
OpenInXnView="*(?)"

I think this solution is better...

[helmut]

What about...

This solution (A):


...and (B) add all extensions to xnview.ini file. Advanced users could edit .ini file, they could add/remove/move any extension there.

E.g.:
None="zip"
OpenWith AssociatedProgram="exe,avi,mov,mpg,wmv,mp3,wav"
OpenInXnView="*(?)"

...

Good suggestion - we're progressing.

I assume the settings in the .ini file are meant to be extra settings which have nothing to do with the settings in the options dialog and which override the settings made in the dialog, right?

[ouistiti]

So, from Option pages or direcly in the INI results the same, finally…All options in all dialogues (even complex) lead finally to have entries in the INI file, except if you use only the Register…

Paul

[helmut]

So, from Option pages or direcly in the INI results the same, finally…All options in all dialogues (even complex) lead finally to have entries in the INI file, except if you use only the Register…

I think this would not apply, here, this is why I'm asking in my above post. Or how would XnView match three options (OpenNone, OpenWithXnView, OpenWithAssociatedProgram) to four groups (Images, Videos, Audio, All other files) in the dialog?

[ouistiti]

Please, let me know WHERE do you save that bunch of options, whether the program doesn't write them as INI entries ?
....Hard-coded ?
Paul

[helmut]

Please, let me know WHERE do you save that bunch of options, whether the program doesn't write them as INI entries ?
....Hard-coded ?
Paul

The settings will be handcoded in the .ini file using a text editor and will remain unchanged by XnView when writing the .ini file. So users can change it if needed, but there's no GUI in XnView to change them. See Clo's posts in Extra INI-entries….

But let's wait for Dreamer's reply how this is meant to work.

[Dreamer]

I assume the settings in the .ini file are meant to be extra settings which have nothing to do with the settings in the options dialog and which override the settings made in the dialog, right?

Yes. (See above)

Although the idea of a "wildcard" Option-page for advanced users be not so bad, I guess that a page, even with a warning, should be tempting for newbies who could set a pretty mess

OK so I have some more suggestions for (C) (special page in options):
[Reset] button to reset all changes here with confirmation dialog - important!

Or: Just 1 entry in .ini file: ShowSpecialPage=0 (0=default, with 1 it would be enabled-shown in xnview)

So I think we should have (B) (.ini) or (B) and (C) (.ini and Special page in options). There should be more options (in .ini and Special page). What do you think?

[helmut]

This discussion is much related with discussion in topic File Inclusion/Exclusion. I'd like to first finish the other discussion and then continue this one.

A question:
In the above drafts we have "Open in XnView", "Open in Associated Program", and "No action". I wonder whether "No action" is really needed.