[TxMt] The file association war

[Charilaos Skiadas]

On Sep 19, 2006, at 11:09 PM, Trevor Harmon wrote:

> I suppose I'm also asking the broader question of why apps like  
> TextMate/BBEdit/etc. have to associate themselves with anything to  
> begin with. For example, when I install two C++ editors, they fight  
> for the .cc association, and I guess whichever one is installed  
> last wins. Seems like a rather weak way of managing file associations.

I'm afraid this will be far from a satisfactory answer, but this is  
partly the system's fault, it is how Launch Services works. The  
various programs don't claim an association, they just state their  
ability to open a particular kind of file. With few notable  
exceptions, programs won't aggressively try to set themselves as  
handlers of particular data types, they just tell the system that  
they can open those data types. The system has been programmed to  
function in this "last come, last served" kind of way.

I am however relatively ignorant in these matters, so I will shut up  
for now and let someone with more experience provide a better  
explanation. For what it's worth, I agree that this system is not ideal.

> Trevor

Haris