Advanced Desktop Features

The `Open With' Window

When you open a file, the application that's designated as the file's preferred application displays the file's contents. However, there are times when you may want to use some other application to open the file. To get a list of candidate applications, select a file in a Tracker window and choose the Open With command in the File menu. An Open With window is displayed that shows all the applications the system thinks it can use to open the file.

The applications are divided into four "relations," by their aptness for opening the file:

The first relation always contains the preferred application (only). This is the application that's used by default to open the file.
The second relation shows all applications that handle the file's specific type. These "alternate" applications are every bit as appropriate as the preferred application.
The third relation shows applications that know how to handle the file's generic type. Examples would be video applications that open any MPEG file, or applications that open any type of text file, whether the text is in a word processing file or source code file.
In the fourth relation are wildcard applications that will try to open any file.

If you select an application other than the preferred one, the Open and Make Preferred button becomes live. This button makes the application you choose the preferred app to open this file and all other files of the same type. Selecting an app in the list and choosing Open uses the chosen app without changing the identity of the preferred application.

If the system can't identify the type of file you're trying to open, the Open With window will list all applications, and list as them as "Does not handle file." If you choose one of these apps, an overly cautious dialog warns you that the application you've selected to open your file doesn't support the file.

You can also get to the Open With list by popping open a file's context menu. The four relations are divided graphically: