<sect1 id="file-assoc">
<sect1info>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Mike</firstname>
<surname>McBride</surname>
</author>
</authorgroup>

<date>21/10/2000</date>
<releaseinfo>1.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>files association</keyword>
<keyword>association</keyword>
</keywordset>
</sect1info>
<title>File Associations</title>
<sect2 id="file-assoc-intro"><title>Introduction</title>

<para>One of the most convenient aspects of KDE, is its ability to
automatically match a data file, with its application.  As an example, when you
click on your favorite <application>KWord</application> document in
<application>konqueror</application>, KDE automatically starts
<application>KWord</application>, and automatically loads that file into
<application>KWord</application> so you can begin working on it.</para>

<para>In the example above, the <application>KWord</application> Data file, is
<emphasis>associated</emphasis> with <application>KWord</application> (the
application).  These file associations are crucial to the functioning of
KDE.</para>

<para>When KDE is installed, it automatically creates hundreds of file associations to many of the most common data types. These initial associations are based on the most commonly included software, and the most common user preferences.</para>
<para>Unfortunately, KDE can not:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>predict every possible combination of software and data files</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>prepare for file formats not yet invented</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>or predict everyone's favorite application for certain file formats</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>You can change your current file associations or add new file associations
using this module.</para>

<para>Each file association is recorded as a mime type.  <abbrev>MIME</abbrev> stands for
"Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions". It allows a computer to determine the
type of file, without opening and analyzing the format of each and every
file.</para>

</sect2>
<sect2 id="file-assoc-use"><title>How to use this module</title>
<para>The file associations are organized into 7 categories:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Applications</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Audio</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Images</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Inode</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Messages</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Text</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Videos</para></listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>All of the file associations are sorted into one of these
categories.</para>

<note><para>There is no functional difference between any of the categories.
These categories are designed to help organize your file associations, but they
do not alter the associations in any way.  </para></note>

<para>The categories are listed in the box labeled "Known Types".</para>

<para>You can explore each of these categories, and see the file associations
contained within each one, by simply double clicking on the category name.  You
will be presented with a list of the associated mime-types under that
category.</para>

<tip><para>You can also search for a particular mime-type by using the search
box. The search box is labeled "<guilabel>Find filename pattern</guilabel>" and
is located above the category list.</para>

<para>Simply type the first letter of the mime-type you are interested in.  The
categories are automatically expanded, and only the mime-types that include that
letter are displayed.</para>

<para>You can then enter a second character and the mime-types will be further
limited to mime types containing those two characters.</para></tip>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-add"><title>Adding a new mime type.</title>

<para>If you want to add a new mime type to your file associations, you can
click on the "<guibutton>Add</guibutton>" button.  A small dialog box will
appear.  You select the category from the drop down box, and type the mime name
in the blank labeled "<guilabel>Type name</guilabel>".  Click
"<guibutton>OK</guibutton>" to add the new mime type, or click
"<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>" to not add any new mime-types.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-del"><title>Removing a mime type.</title>

<para>If you want to remove a mime type, simply select the mime type you want to
delete by clicking once with the mouse on the mime type name.  Then click the
button labeled "<guibutton>Remove</guibutton>".  The mime type will be deleted immediately.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-edit"><title>Editing a mime types properties.</title>

<para>Before you can edit a mime types property, you must first specify which
mime type.  Simply browse through the categories until you find the mime type
you want to edit, then click once on it with the mouse.</para>

<para>As soon as you have selected the mime type, the current values of the mime
type will appear in the module window.</para>

<para>You will notice the current values are split into two tabs:  General and Embedding</para>
<para><emphasis>General Tab</emphasis></para>
<para>There are 4 properties for each mime type in this tab:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Mime Type Icon: This is the icon that will be visible when using
<application>Konqueror</application> as a file manager.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Filename Patterns: This is a search pattern which KDE will use
to determine the mime type.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Description:  This is a short description of the file type.
This is for your benefit only.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Application Preference Order: This determines which applications
will be associated with the specified mime-type.</para></listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para><emphasis>Embedding Tab</emphasis></para>
<para>The Embedding tab allows you to determine if an file will be viewed within a konqueror window, or by starting the application.</para>
</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-icon"><title>Changing the Icon</title>
<para>To change the icon, simply click on the Icon button.  A dialog box will
appear, which will show you all available icons.  Simply click once with the
mouse on the icon of your choice, and click "<guibutton>OK</guibutton>".</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-pattern"><title>Editing the mime-type patterns</title>

<para>The box labeled "Filename Patterns", determines what files will be included
within this mime-type.</para>

<para>Usually, files are selected based on their suffix.  (Examples:  Files that
end with ".wav" are sound files, using the WAV format and files that end in ".c"
are program files written in C).</para>

<para>You should enter your filename mask in this combo box.</para>

<para>The asterisk (*) is a wildcard character that will be used with nearly
every mime type mask. A complete discussion of wildcards is beyond the scope of
this manual, but it is important to understand that the asterisk (in this
context), "matches" any number of characters.  As an example:  "*.pdf" will
match "Datafile.pdf", "Graphics.pdf" and "User.pdf", but not "PDF",
"Datafile.PDF", or ".pdf".</para>

<tip><para>It is very beneficial to have multiple masks.  One for lower case,
one for upper case, etc.  This will help ensure that KDE can determine the file
type more accurately.</para></tip>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-desc"><title>Editing a mime types description.</title>
<para>You can type a short description of the mime type in the text box labeled
"<guilabel>Description</guilabel>".  This lable is to help you, it does not affect the function of
the mime type.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-app"><title>Editing the application
associations</title>

<para>There are four buttons (<guibutton>Move Up</guibutton>, <guibutton>Move
Down</guibutton>, <guibutton>Add</guibutton> and <guibutton>Remove</guibutton>)
and a combo box (which lists the applications) which are used to configure the
applications.</para>

<para>The combo box lists all of the applications associated with a specific
mime-type.  The list is in a specific order.  The top application is the first
application tried.  The next application down the list is the second,
etc.</para>

<note><para>What do you mean there is more than one application per mime-type?
Why is this necessary?</para>

<para>We started out by saying that KDE comes preconfigured with hundreds of
file associations.  The reality is, each system that KDE is installed on has a
different selection of applications.  By allowing multiple associations per
mime-type, KDE can continue to operate when a certain application is not
installed on the system.</para>

<para>As an example:</para>
<para>For the mime type "pdf", there are two applications associated with this
file type.  The first program is called "PS Viewer".  If your system does not
have "PS Viewer" installed, then KDE automatically starts the second application
"Adobe Acrobat Reader".  As you can see, this will help keep KDE running strong
as you add and subtract applications.</para></note>

<para>We have established that the order is important.  You can change the order
of the applications by clicking once with the mouse on the application you want
to move, and then clicking either "<guibutton>Move Up</guibutton>" or
"<guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>".  This will shift the currently selected
application up or down the list of applications. </para>

<para>You can add new applications to the list by clicking the button labeled
"<guibutton>Add</guibutton>".  A dialog box will appear. Using the dialog box,
you can select the application you want to use for this mime type.  Click
"<guibutton>OK</guibutton>" when you are done, and the application will be added
to the current list.</para>

<para>You can remove an application (thereby ensuring that the application will
never run with this mime-type by clicking once on the name of the application,
and clicking the "<guibutton>Remove</guibutton>" button.</para>

<tip><para>It is a good idea to use the "<guibutton>Move Up</guibutton>" and
"<guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>" buttons to adjust the unwanted application to
a lower position in the list, rather than deleting the application from the list
entirely.  Once you have deleted an application, if your preferred application
should become compromised, there will not be an application to view the data
document.</para></tip>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="file-assoc-embedding"><title>Embedding</title>
<para>By clicking on the <guilabel>Embedding</guilabel> tab, you are presented with:</para>
<para>Three radio buttons labeled <guilabel>Left click action</guilabel>.  This determines how <application>konqueror</application> views the selected mimetype.</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term>Show file in embedded viewer</term>
<listitem><para>If this is selected, the file will be shown <emphasis>within</emphasis> the konqueror window.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term>Show file in seperate viewer</term>
<listitem><para>This will cause a seperate window to be created when showing this mime-type.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term>Use group settings.</term>
<listitem><para>This will cause the mime-type to use the settings for the mime-type group. 
(if you are editing an audio mime type, then the settings for the audio group are used).</para></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist>


<para>Below this, is a listbox labled <guilabel>Services Preference Order</guilabel></para>
<para>When you are in konqueror, you can right mouse click, and a menu will with an entry labled <guimenu>Preview with...</guimenu> will appear.  This box lists the applications that will appear, in the order they will appear, under this menu.
</para>
<para>You can use the <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton> buttons to change the order.</para>

</sect3>




<sect3 id="file-assoc-use-done"><title>Making changes permanent</title>
<para>When you are done making any changes to mime types, you can click
"<guibutton>Apply</guibutton>" to make your changes permanent, but keep you
in this module.</para>

<para>You can click "<guibutton>OK</guibutton>" to make your changes permanent
and return you to the main screen of the control center.</para>

<para>You can click "<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>" to abort any changes and
return you to the main screen of the control center.</para>

</sect3>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="file-assoc-author">
<title>Section Author</title>
<para>Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
