Types of files

TypesFichiers

Français

What is a type of files ?

A file is traditionnally designed by a specification, that is composed of four elements :

• The disk
• in the standard syntax, the disk is designated by a capital letter, followed by a semi-column (C:)
• in the UNL syntax, the disk is designated by two backslashes followed by a server name, a further backslash, and a domain name
• the path, that is a succession of directoriesnames separated by backslashes (Documents and Settings\Jojo\Mes Documents)
• the name of the file is comprised between the last backslash and the last dot
• the type of the file is determined by the extension, which starts at the last dot.

The program that is used by default to open the file depends on its type.

Association of programs to a type of files

To each type of files, are associated one or several actions, and to each action a program to open the file. Generally speaking, one of the actions is considered as the default action, and will be launched by a double-click on the file in the explorer. The other actions are launched by a right click on the file, followed by the selection of the action in the contextual menu.

Windows can also use DDE for certain actions. The following program does not support DDE.

Under Windows XP, in the explorer, the command Tools / Options of the folder, presents the following dialog box (this is the illustration of the french version)  :

In the list, depress the first letter of the extension allows to access quickly to the properties of the type of files. An administrator can then click on Modify to change the program that will be called.

On the contrary, in Windows 98, in the list of types of files, each extension is preceded by a dot, so that pressing the initial of the extension gives no result, and you have to progress page by page. The program hereunder anticipates the correction that has been brought in the following systems. On another way, it can be considered handy in Windows XP to call this program with the runas command, with administrator rights, to change the program that calls a type of files, within a limited user session.

The buttons appear once you have selected a type of files.

Attention, an "icon" button appears, nevertheless this function is not developped

In the list, under the file extensions, appear the proposed actions. You can create a new one by clicking on "Nouvelle commande" (new command), or suppress the selected action by clicking on "Supprimer cette commande" (suppress this command).

After selecting an action, you can select the correspondant program, thanks to the "Sélectionner le programme" button (select the program). After that, a dialog box will propose to insert the path to the program in front of the existing syntax in the textbox down the dialog box, or to replace it. After any modification, a green button appears in the dialog box illustrated hereabove, to validate the change.

Go to the main page.