How do I change the File Association of an attachment (.DOC)

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Ptaker
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Joined: September 22nd, 2004, 11:09 am

How do I change the File Association of an attachment (.DOC)

Post by Ptaker »

I am using Windows 2000, TB Version version 1.5.0.2 (20060308).
When I double click on a .doc (word document) in windows explore, it properly opens Microsoft Word to view the document.

Problem: When I double click on a .doc attachment (word document) in Thunderbird, it keeps opening it in Word Pad.

Since my association outside of TB is correct, how do I get TB to open the document in Microsoft Word. There is no OPEN WITH when you right click on the attachment, only OPEN.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bob
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smsmith
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Post by smsmith »

Please take a look at Tools -> Options -> Attachments. Press the "View and Edit Actions" button. .DOC should be one of the entries. Edit the action so that the files open in Word.
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Daifne
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Post by Daifne »

I removed your e-mail address because we do not give email support, but more importantly, spammers harvest email addresses from public forums like this.
Ptaker
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Joined: September 22nd, 2004, 11:09 am

Post by Ptaker »

There is nothing in the View & Edit Actions section. All is grayed out.

Can you tell me how to add something so the TB program will look to Microsoft Word to open future .doc extensions?

Bob
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smsmith
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Post by smsmith »

Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it sounds. It involves manually editing a file that I am not completely comfortable with.

But, since your Actions are not defined, you can try copying the following into a file called mimeTypes.rdf:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<RDF:RDF xmlns:NC="http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf#"
         xmlns:RDF="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
  <RDF:Seq RDF:about="urn:mimetypes:root">
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/msword"/>
  </RDF:Seq>
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:application/msword"
                   NC:value="application/msword"
                   NC:editable="true"
                   NC:fileExtensions="doc"
                   NC:description="Microsoft Word Document">
    <NC:handlerProp RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:handler:application/msword"/>
  </RDF:Description>
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/msword"
                   NC:prettyName=""
                   NC:path="" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetypes">
    <NC:MIME-types RDF:resource="urn:mimetypes:root"/>
  </RDF:Description>
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:handler:application/msword"
                   NC:alwaysAsk="false"
                   NC:useSystemDefault="true">
    <NC:externalApplication RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/msword"/>
  </RDF:Description>
</RDF:RDF>

The file will be in your profile folder:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder

Add that code to the file (just replace anything in the file with that text above). Make sure that Tb is closed when you try this. Then, save the file and open Tb. Try opening an attachment or checking the Actions to see if it is listed now (Tools -> Options -> Attachments). You can edit that file using Notepad or Wordpad.

I was hoping to find an extension to make this simpler, but couldn't find anything.
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tanstaafl
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Post by tanstaafl »

I suspect your mimetypes.rdf file is corrupt. I suggest you delete it. The next time you run Thunderbird it will create a new one with default values. Then try to open a .doc attachment. It should not know how to do that and will ask you what to use. Tell it to use MS-Word (by browsing to the executable) AND check the checkbox to remember that setting.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Actions_for_a ... file_types
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