Adding or Changing a MIME Type Handler

Symptom

Files or protocols are opened with the wrong application.

Problem

The MIME type handler for the file type or the protocol is missing or misconfigured.

Solution

Change the MIME type handler or add a new one.

MIME type handlers are defined by *.desktop files in the /usr/share/applications.mime/ directory.

To add a new *.desktop file, use the following sample and edit it according to your needs:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Name=Browser//A name for the MIME type handler
Categories=Application
Exec=/usr/bin/firefox %u//The binary to execute on opening an associated file
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;text/html;application/xhtml+xml;//A list of MIME types separated by semicolon
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false
NoDisplay=true

You can find out more about *.desktop files in a specification at freedesktop.org.

These are the default handlers on IGEL Linux:Images (opened via gpicview)

• image/bmp;

• image/gif;

• image/jpeg;

• image/jpg;

• image/png;

• image/x-bmp;

• image/x-pcx;

• image/x-tga;

• image/x-portable-pixmap;

• image/x-portable-bitmap;

• image/x-targa;

• image/x-portable-greymap;

• application/pcx;

• image/svg+xml;

• image/svg-xml;

Videos and Music (opened via /services/mplr/bin/mediaplayer)

Note that /services/mplr/bin/mediaplayer calls either /config/sessions/mediaplayer0 if existent or totem if this is not the case

• application/mxf;

• application/ogg;

• application/ram;

• application/sdp;

• application/smil;

• application/smil+xml;

• application/vnd.ms-wpl;

• application/vnd.rn-realmedia;

• application/x-extension-m4a;

• application/x-extension-mp4;

• application/x-flac;

• application/x-flash-video;

• application/x-matroska;

• application/x-netshow-channel;

• application/x-ogg;

• application/x-quicktime-media-link;

• application/x-quicktimeplayer;

• application/x-shorten;

• application/x-smil;

• application/xspf+xml;

• audio/3gpp;

• audio/ac3;

• audio/AMR;

• audio/AMR-WB;

• audio/basic;

• audio/midi;

• audio/mp4;

• audio/mpeg;

• audio/mpegurl;

• audio/ogg;

• audio/prs.sid;

• audio/vnd.rn-realaudio;

• audio/x-ape;

• audio/x-flac;

• audio/x-gsm;

• audio/x-it;

• audio/x-m4a;

• audio/x-matroska;

• audio/x-mod;

• audio/x-mp3;

• audio/x-mpeg;

• audio/x-mpegurl;

• audio/x-ms-asf;

• audio/x-ms-asx;

• audio/x-ms-wax;

• audio/x-ms-wma;

• audio/x-musepack;

• audio/x-pn-aiff;

• audio/x-pn-au;

• audio/x-pn-realaudio;

• audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin;

• audio/x-pn-wav;

• audio/x-pn-windows-acm;

• audio/x-realaudio;

• audio/x-real-audio;

• audio/x-sbc;

• audio/x-scpls;

• audio/x-speex;

• audio/x-tta;

• audio/x-wav;

• audio/x-wavpack;

• audio/x-vorbis;

• audio/x-vorbis+ogg;

• audio/x-xm;

• image/vnd.rn-realpix;

• image/x-pict;

• misc/ultravox;

• text/google-video-pointer;

• text/x-google-video-pointer;

• video/3gpp;

• video/dv;

• video/fli;

• video/flv;

• video/mp4;

• video/mp4v-es;

• video/mpeg;

• video/msvideo;

• video/ogg;

• video/quicktime;

• video/vivo;

• video/vnd.divx;

• video/vnd.rn-realvideo;

• video/vnd.vivo;

• video/x-anim;

• video/x-avi;

• video/x-flc;

• video/x-fli;

• video/x-flic;

• video/x-flv;

• video/x-m4v;

• video/x-matroska;

• video/x-mpeg;

• video/x-ms-asf;

• video/x-ms-asx;

• video/x-msvideo;

• video/x-ms-wm;

• video/x-ms-wmv;

• video/x-ms-wmx;

• video/x-ms-wvx;

• video/x-nsv;

• video/x-ogm+ogg;

• video/x-theora+ogg;

• video/x-totem-stream;

• x-content/video-dvd;

• x-content/video-vcd;

• x-content/video-svcd;

Documents (opened via /usr/bin/evince)

• application/pdf;

• image/tiff

Web (opened via /usr/bin/firefox -remote)

• x-scheme-handler/http;

• x-scheme-handler/https;

• text/html;

• application/xhtml+xml;