Unable to choose default application

Question

I just upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10 and wanted to set up .z4 files so that they would be opened by gargoyle-free (as an example) although gargoyle-free is not an option in the default application list that arises from the context menu. It used to be possible to manually enter a default application directly from the dialog, however the feature seems to have been replaced by a simplified (and unfortunately useless) "Find application online" button. Is there perhaps a new way to do this that doesn't involve messing with the command line?

Some applications (like clementine audio player) aren't listed in "Other Applications".

Solution 1

Right click on the file you want to open, select Properties, go to tab Open with.

If the application you want to use to open a file is not listed on the program list select Other Applications and press the button Add.

Solution 2

Starting in gnome3 only apps whose .desktops have a %letter on the Exec= line will be shown on the right click > Properties menu, they also obviously need an appropriate MimeType= line.

In the 2nd example given here, clementine, the current Exec= is "Exec=clementine"

To show in the r.click > Properties menu it would need to be this, though other letter possibilities would be f or F

Exec=clementine %U

Solution 3

The button to add a new program to that list was removed in GTK+ 3.0, which is used in Ubuntu 11.10.

The good news is that you can add programs to that list manually by adding a .desktop launcher in ~/.local/share/applications.

The bad news is that the "Create Launcher" dialog was part of GNOME 2.0, so you need to create a .desktop lanucher manually. You could copy one from /usr/share/applications, open it in Gedit (it's just a text file) and modify the Exec and Name lines (and any other lines if you want).

Comments

[Bruno Pereira]

you do not need to install alacarte to add an launcher to an application.

[Bruno Pereira]

@Anentropic askubuntu.com/questions/67382/…

[Anentropic]

thanks that's a useful tip... though it doesn't explain why Add button is disabled and how to make it work? Linux is so tiring sometimes...

[Cyle]

What if the application you're looking for isn't listed under other applications?

[Bruno Pereira]

@Cyle Shouldn't be hard.