Internal Associations - Associate Files with Total Commander

[tpr]

I would be happy to see a feature to be able to associate files with Total Commander. TC would check whether the given filetype is available in the Internal Associations list, and open the file with the program defined there if yes.

For example, if text files (txt) were associated with Notepad++ in Internal Associations, opening txt files with TC would open the file in Notepad++.

This would make available handling filetypes outside TC, for example 3rd party applications (search applications, email clients, literally anywhere), SendTo, etc. without having to make system-wide associations.

I think this feature would nicely extend the existing Internal Associations feature.

[ghisler(Author)]

Hmm, where is the advantage? You still need to create system-wide associations (in this case, with TC instead of the program directly). All it would do is making the launch slower...

[tpr]

The advantage would be that you would have to create your filetype associations in one global place (TC). All applications that you configure to open files with TC don't need to be modified. So if you change your image viewer, you would have to change associations only in TC.

In external search applications you could also open the file with the application you set in TC (provided if the search application supports this feature). For example Everything, FileLocator Pro.

Or consider email clients or browsers, usually it is possible to set external applications - this time TC only.

In RJ Texted (and perhaps other similar code editors) supports external tools, and instead of defining a bunch of tools, you could define TC only (and TC would open the file in the right application).

This should also work if you drop a file to TC's icon.

Thanks for your time.

[umbra]

Hi tpr, I don't see the point either.
You want do store and configure all your associations in TC instead of standard Windows tools like the "Default Programs" dialog. I don't see any advantage there.
And if you installed some new application, you would have to set its associations twice - once in the central catalog of Windows (to set the association to TC) and once in TC (to set the association back to the original application). I'd call that a big disadvantage.
I see only one good usage for your request - if I had some archives that could be opened only by a wcx plugin and I was using the Explorer, associating those files with TC might make sense. But since I use TC as my primary file-manager, I have never encountered this kind of situation.

[tpr]

I'm using portable applications most of the time, that's why the standard solutions for setting file associations are a no go for me. But TC's internal associations are intended for such usage, aren't they?

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes they are - but portable associations don't work in other programs of the target system because the files are not associated with Total Commander either.

[tpr]

No, they wouldn't be associated with Total Commander in the system.

I mean in 3rd party applications you can set tools to open files with. Instead of adding say 9 tool to a code editor, you would set only one (TC). So if you are editing a html and click on Open with Total Commander, it would be opened in your browser. If it is a txt file, it would be opened in a text editor. If an rtf file, in wordpad, etc. (these associations are set in TC's internal associations).

Image: http://rolandtoth.hu/pic/tc-rj-texted.png

If you search for a file in a 3rd party search tool and in the results list you select pdf file and select Open with Total Commander, it would pass the pdf's path to TC and TC would open it in the PDF Viewer you have set in TC's internal associations.

As you can see, no system-wide associations were set at all.

The benefit is that in all of these applications TC are set as an external tool. So if you change your pdf viewer from Sumatra to Foxit for example, you have to modify TC's internal associations only and all your applications that are set to open pdfs with TC will open them with Foxit.

So TC would serve as a central/global place where your portable associations are kept.

[MVV]

Maybe you can try something like F4Menu?

[tpr]

As I see that is nothing to do with the Internal Associations, but thanks for the tip.