Re: Firefox helper applications (system-wide)

[John Summerfied <debian herakles homelinux org>]

Jos Vos wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to figure out the algorithm of how Firefox determines
> its helper applications for a certain mime type (that it offers
> you with the "Open with ..." selection), assuming the user did
> not configure/overrule any preferences himself.
>
> So far, I have found out: 
>
> -  If something is in /etc/mailcap it is taken as (default)
>    choice and offered as such in the selection box.
>    
> -  If it's not in /etc/mailcap, it seems to find something from
>    another source, probably /usr/share/desktop/applications (?).
>    However, if multiple desktop entries match the same mime type,
>    I could not find out how it chooses one (and why only one is
>    offered).
>
> -  I never managed to see multiple alternatives offered in the
>    selection window, only a default (or nothing) and "Other",
>    which results in a file selection window.
>
>    For example I want to be able to have a choice betweeen
>    xpdf and acroread, but I did not find a method to specify this.
>
> Can someone point me to a resource where is described how Firefox
> finds the offered choice(s) and if/how there can be more than one
> choice for a given mime type?

I would try something like
strace -f -q -o /tmp/firefox-openes -e trace=open firefox
then use firefox until you're sure it's read the necessary files.


Then examine /tmp/firefox-openes to see what files are used. Lots will 
be obviously wrong, and with a little use of awk and/or sed, sort xargs 
and grep you might be able to refine the list a little.



--

Cheers
John

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