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How can I set a helper application given a explicit path to the application?

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  • 2 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by cprsn

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FIrefox was not opening downloaded pdf files the way I wanted it to, so I found my way to the area in FF settings where I could associate a program with a file type. Works fine now, but I didn't see a way to directly enter the path to the application. I had to manually navigate though the filesystem to /usr/bin/evince. That's very obnoxious, especially since it takes a while for FF to list the contents of /usr/bin. Am I missing something or is there not a way to just directly enter the path to the helper application?


Firefox 61.0 Platform: Linux x86_64

FIrefox was not opening downloaded pdf files the way I wanted it to, so I found my way to the area in FF settings where I could associate a program with a file type. Works fine now, but I didn't see a way to directly enter the path to the application. I had to manually navigate though the filesystem to /usr/bin/evince. That's very obnoxious, especially since it takes a while for FF to list the contents of /usr/bin. Am I missing something or is there not a way to just directly enter the path to the helper application? Firefox 61.0 Platform: Linux x86_64

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Hi, should have gone through here and Clicked on PDF and then Set who was doing it if it was there : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/applications-panel-set-how-firefox-handles-files

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Thanks for the reply. As I indicated in my original post, I was able to set the PDF application fine. It was just very cumbersome. The page you mention does have a link to this:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

So, I could edit handlers.json in my profile directory, but hand edits to JSON files are also very annoying and forces me to restart FF so the change takes affect.

I wouid like to know if there is a straightforward way to set a helper application if I know the exact path to the application without having to manually navigate using a file picker, edit JSON files, or restart FF.