Open a file in the default text editor programmatically The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer...
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Open a file in the default text editor programmatically
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I'm writing a program and I need to implement opening a particular file in a text editor. The file type has a different association by default (it's associated to the program itself), so calling xdg-open $file wouldn't work. Using $EDITOR is sub-optimal because it usually contains the terminal text editor, and I'd like to open a GUI text editor if that's the first preference. It is also unclear how to find the default terminal emulator to open a terminal $EDITOR.
I can query the (possibly GUI) editor with xdg-mime query default text/plain, which gives me a .desktop file, but I'm not sure how to go about actually running it, especially since it may contain Terminal=true which then again raises an issue of figuring out what the default terminal is.
To clarify, the program is not a script or something which already runs in the terminal. It is a GUI application, so launching a terminal editor would require figuring out what the default terminal is.
So, what's the best way to programmatically open a file in a default, possibly GUI, text editor?
desktop editors mime-types
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
|
show 1 more comment
I'm writing a program and I need to implement opening a particular file in a text editor. The file type has a different association by default (it's associated to the program itself), so calling xdg-open $file wouldn't work. Using $EDITOR is sub-optimal because it usually contains the terminal text editor, and I'd like to open a GUI text editor if that's the first preference. It is also unclear how to find the default terminal emulator to open a terminal $EDITOR.
I can query the (possibly GUI) editor with xdg-mime query default text/plain, which gives me a .desktop file, but I'm not sure how to go about actually running it, especially since it may contain Terminal=true which then again raises an issue of figuring out what the default terminal is.
To clarify, the program is not a script or something which already runs in the terminal. It is a GUI application, so launching a terminal editor would require figuring out what the default terminal is.
So, what's the best way to programmatically open a file in a default, possibly GUI, text editor?
desktop editors mime-types
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should setEDITORaccordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use"$EDITOR" "$file"(or possibly"${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file"to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that$EDITORis use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call$EDITORif it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
1
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
I'm writing a program and I need to implement opening a particular file in a text editor. The file type has a different association by default (it's associated to the program itself), so calling xdg-open $file wouldn't work. Using $EDITOR is sub-optimal because it usually contains the terminal text editor, and I'd like to open a GUI text editor if that's the first preference. It is also unclear how to find the default terminal emulator to open a terminal $EDITOR.
I can query the (possibly GUI) editor with xdg-mime query default text/plain, which gives me a .desktop file, but I'm not sure how to go about actually running it, especially since it may contain Terminal=true which then again raises an issue of figuring out what the default terminal is.
To clarify, the program is not a script or something which already runs in the terminal. It is a GUI application, so launching a terminal editor would require figuring out what the default terminal is.
So, what's the best way to programmatically open a file in a default, possibly GUI, text editor?
desktop editors mime-types
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I'm writing a program and I need to implement opening a particular file in a text editor. The file type has a different association by default (it's associated to the program itself), so calling xdg-open $file wouldn't work. Using $EDITOR is sub-optimal because it usually contains the terminal text editor, and I'd like to open a GUI text editor if that's the first preference. It is also unclear how to find the default terminal emulator to open a terminal $EDITOR.
I can query the (possibly GUI) editor with xdg-mime query default text/plain, which gives me a .desktop file, but I'm not sure how to go about actually running it, especially since it may contain Terminal=true which then again raises an issue of figuring out what the default terminal is.
To clarify, the program is not a script or something which already runs in the terminal. It is a GUI application, so launching a terminal editor would require figuring out what the default terminal is.
So, what's the best way to programmatically open a file in a default, possibly GUI, text editor?
desktop editors mime-types
desktop editors mime-types
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 14 hours ago
Ivan Molodetskikh
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
asked 14 hours ago
Ivan MolodetskikhIvan Molodetskikh
62
62
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should setEDITORaccordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use"$EDITOR" "$file"(or possibly"${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file"to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that$EDITORis use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call$EDITORif it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
1
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should setEDITORaccordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use"$EDITOR" "$file"(or possibly"${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file"to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that$EDITORis use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.
– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call$EDITORif it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
1
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should set
EDITOR accordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should set
EDITOR accordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use
"$EDITOR" "$file" (or possibly "${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file" to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that $EDITOR is use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use
"$EDITOR" "$file" (or possibly "${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file" to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that $EDITOR is use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call
$EDITOR if it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call
$EDITOR if it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
1
1
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The *.desktop file you get is in one of two locations:
$HOME/.local/share/applications/
/usr/share/applications/
So you need to look for it there, then parse the Exec= line and run it passing all the arguments, e.g.:
$(grep Exec /usr/share/applications/seahorse.desktop | cut -d= -f2)
To determine the default terminal emulator on debian-like distributions you can run the following and similarly parse the output to get the path:
update-alternatives --query x-terminal-emulator
or just try to run the command you need directly:
x-terminal-emulator -e "your command here"
If you need to make it distribution agnostic you'll need to implement Desktop Environment guessing as it seems to depend on the way each DE store their configuration. You might want to take a look at xdg-terminal code which is part of xdg utilities package responsible for running the default terminal (but for some reason isn't distributed).
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
update-alternativesseems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Tryx-terminal-emulator -e $your_commandbut my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.
– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,x-terminal-emulatorisn't present here either, unfortunately.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found isxdg-terminalbut I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.
– cprn
14 hours ago
add a comment |
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The *.desktop file you get is in one of two locations:
$HOME/.local/share/applications/
/usr/share/applications/
So you need to look for it there, then parse the Exec= line and run it passing all the arguments, e.g.:
$(grep Exec /usr/share/applications/seahorse.desktop | cut -d= -f2)
To determine the default terminal emulator on debian-like distributions you can run the following and similarly parse the output to get the path:
update-alternatives --query x-terminal-emulator
or just try to run the command you need directly:
x-terminal-emulator -e "your command here"
If you need to make it distribution agnostic you'll need to implement Desktop Environment guessing as it seems to depend on the way each DE store their configuration. You might want to take a look at xdg-terminal code which is part of xdg utilities package responsible for running the default terminal (but for some reason isn't distributed).
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
update-alternativesseems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Tryx-terminal-emulator -e $your_commandbut my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.
– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,x-terminal-emulatorisn't present here either, unfortunately.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found isxdg-terminalbut I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.
– cprn
14 hours ago
add a comment |
The *.desktop file you get is in one of two locations:
$HOME/.local/share/applications/
/usr/share/applications/
So you need to look for it there, then parse the Exec= line and run it passing all the arguments, e.g.:
$(grep Exec /usr/share/applications/seahorse.desktop | cut -d= -f2)
To determine the default terminal emulator on debian-like distributions you can run the following and similarly parse the output to get the path:
update-alternatives --query x-terminal-emulator
or just try to run the command you need directly:
x-terminal-emulator -e "your command here"
If you need to make it distribution agnostic you'll need to implement Desktop Environment guessing as it seems to depend on the way each DE store their configuration. You might want to take a look at xdg-terminal code which is part of xdg utilities package responsible for running the default terminal (but for some reason isn't distributed).
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
update-alternativesseems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Tryx-terminal-emulator -e $your_commandbut my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.
– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,x-terminal-emulatorisn't present here either, unfortunately.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found isxdg-terminalbut I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.
– cprn
14 hours ago
add a comment |
The *.desktop file you get is in one of two locations:
$HOME/.local/share/applications/
/usr/share/applications/
So you need to look for it there, then parse the Exec= line and run it passing all the arguments, e.g.:
$(grep Exec /usr/share/applications/seahorse.desktop | cut -d= -f2)
To determine the default terminal emulator on debian-like distributions you can run the following and similarly parse the output to get the path:
update-alternatives --query x-terminal-emulator
or just try to run the command you need directly:
x-terminal-emulator -e "your command here"
If you need to make it distribution agnostic you'll need to implement Desktop Environment guessing as it seems to depend on the way each DE store their configuration. You might want to take a look at xdg-terminal code which is part of xdg utilities package responsible for running the default terminal (but for some reason isn't distributed).
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
The *.desktop file you get is in one of two locations:
$HOME/.local/share/applications/
/usr/share/applications/
So you need to look for it there, then parse the Exec= line and run it passing all the arguments, e.g.:
$(grep Exec /usr/share/applications/seahorse.desktop | cut -d= -f2)
To determine the default terminal emulator on debian-like distributions you can run the following and similarly parse the output to get the path:
update-alternatives --query x-terminal-emulator
or just try to run the command you need directly:
x-terminal-emulator -e "your command here"
If you need to make it distribution agnostic you'll need to implement Desktop Environment guessing as it seems to depend on the way each DE store their configuration. You might want to take a look at xdg-terminal code which is part of xdg utilities package responsible for running the default terminal (but for some reason isn't distributed).
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
edited 13 hours ago
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
answered 14 hours ago
cprncprn
3621715
3621715
update-alternativesseems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Tryx-terminal-emulator -e $your_commandbut my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.
– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,x-terminal-emulatorisn't present here either, unfortunately.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found isxdg-terminalbut I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.
– cprn
14 hours ago
add a comment |
update-alternativesseems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Tryx-terminal-emulator -e $your_commandbut my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.
– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,x-terminal-emulatorisn't present here either, unfortunately.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found isxdg-terminalbut I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.
– cprn
14 hours ago
update-alternatives seems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
update-alternatives seems to not be present on my system (Arch Linux).– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Try
x-terminal-emulator -e $your_command but my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.– cprn
14 hours ago
Good catch, it's for Debian derivatives. Try
x-terminal-emulator -e $your_command but my guess is it's Debian as well... I'll update the answer when I find a more POSIX solution.– cprn
14 hours ago
Yeah,
x-terminal-emulator isn't present here either, unfortunately.– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Yeah,
x-terminal-emulator isn't present here either, unfortunately.– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found is
xdg-terminal but I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.– cprn
14 hours ago
Well, the only "official" way of doing it I found is
xdg-terminal but I can't find it installed on any of my distributions. You might need to duplicate what it does.– cprn
14 hours ago
add a comment |
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ivan Molodetskikh is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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If a GUI text editor is the first preference of the user, they should set
EDITORaccordingly, IMHO. What if a user isn't even using X, i.e. they are using your script on a head-less machine without ever having used any graphical environment with their account?– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
Then, if it is indeed a terminal editor, how do I open that? I'd need to somehow retrieve the default terminal emulator?
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
My point is that you, as the script writer, should not worry about what editor the user wants or can use. It would be enough to use
"$EDITOR" "$file"(or possibly"${EDITOR:-vi}" "$file"to use a default value) in the script, and then document the fact that$EDITORis use for editing files from within the script. This is what most other utilities do. You would otherwise built in a dependency on a particular set of applications. This is personal opinion on my part though.– Kusalananda♦
14 hours ago
The problem is that it's not a script, so I can't just call
$EDITORif it's a terminal editor. I'd need to launch an actual terminal.– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago
1
Good point, I added a paragraph about that.
– Ivan Molodetskikh
14 hours ago