Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

mint4all · 2020-08-03 18:40:15

Greetings!

It appears that in xfce's Settings Editor (Mint 20.0-Xfce4.14) for "Preferred Applications", there's no option to chose a different text editor than the one bundled by the distro (XED, in this instance). How can I modify that setting so that thunar will launch my choice of edit app? Googled this question but only found answers for terminal-based editors.

Thanks for any further info...

Last edited by mint4all (2020-08-08 23:34:18)

MrEen · 2020-08-03 20:46:12

See if this helps;

In Thunar, right click one of the files you want opened in your preferred text editor, and choose Open With > Open with Other Application. There should be a check box there to make what you select the default.

mint4all · 2020-08-03 21:04:14

MrEen wrote:

See if this helps;
In Thunar, right click one of the files you want opened in your preferred text editor, and choose Open With > Open with Other Application. There should be a check box there to make what you select the default.

Thanks for your quick reply. I am aware of this feature, and use it frequently. Alas, it doesn't do what I am looking for -- that thunar, by default, simply invokes MY preferred editor and not the last use app, or the one i have to hunt for.

Here's my problem: both Mint's "Xed" and gnome's "gedit" have adopted a "tabbed" interface. However, I prefer to open 2 instances of my editor when comparing text/source files (i do that frequently), instead of the editor app opening a second tab. Both apps support the "--new-window" option on the command line, but that isn't really workable for me whenever i open a file via thunar. Though creating a dedicated launch button (with that optional flag) would open a new instance of the app, that defeats the purpose of opening files via the file manager. Adding a custom action to thunar might be an option, but it would bloat thunar's right-click menu even more.

Would you happen to know where xfce's "Preferred Applications" options are being configured/setup, and how can I add my preferred editor app (with the requisite comand line option) to those preferences?

alcornoqui · 2020-08-03 21:47:11

Perhaps this instructions are still valid: https://superuser.com/questions/704046/ … linux-mint

Apparently, it was/is a known problem with Mint.

MrEen · 2020-08-03 22:52:20

Yeah. As the in the link alcornoqui shared, ~/.local/share/applications/defaults.list

mint4all · 2020-08-03 23:22:50

alcornoqui wrote:

Perhaps this instructions are still valid: https://superuser.com/questions/704046/ … linux-mint
Apparently, it was/is a known problem with Mint.

Thanks for sharing this link! After mulling this over a bit, and hesitating messing with that default list, i've figured out a workable alternative: I was aware that .desktop files (aka launchers) can be saved in ~/.local/share/applications, and that /usr/share/applications holds the majority of installed .desktop files.

So i located the corresponding, original .desktop files for xed and gedit, copied them to ~/.local/share/applications, edited both files by adding the "--new-window" flag to the respective program names, and there i have it: both xed and gedit open a new instance when i need one, and not just another tab -- straight from thunar. Of course, thunar just invokes whichever editor i used last unless i override that default via the "Open with other app" option.

Thank y'all for your help!

mint4all · 2020-08-08 23:46:05

Just on the off-chance that someone else has a problem with those editor apps' tabbed behavior, I found out that by "clicking-and-holding" one of those tabs, then "dragging" it outside the app's primary window (ie onto the desktop) and "dropping" it opens a new instance of the app, with the dragged/dropped tab in its new, primary window -- exactly as one would do with thunar if it were configured to open a tab instead of a new instance of thunar.

Life and learn ...;)

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2020-08-03 18:40:15

Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#2 2020-08-03 20:46:12

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#3 2020-08-03 21:04:14

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#4 2020-08-03 21:47:11

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#5 2020-08-03 22:52:20

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#6 2020-08-03 23:22:50

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

#7 2020-08-08 23:46:05

Re: Change default / preferred Text Editor [Solved[

Board footer