xdg-mime

XDG-MIME(1)                     xdg-mime Manual                    XDG-MIME(1)

NAME
       xdg-mime - command line tool for querying information about file type
       handling and adding descriptions for new file types

SYNOPSIS
       xdg-mime query {filetype | default} ...

       xdg-mime default application mimetype(s)

       xdg-mime install [--mode mode] [--novendor] mimetypes-file

       xdg-mime uninstall [--mode mode] mimetypes-file

       xdg-mime {--help | --manual | --version}

DESCRIPTION
       The xdg-mime program can be used to query information about file types
       and to add descriptions for new file types.

COMMANDS
       query
           Returns information related to file types.

           The query option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is
           not recommended to use xdg-mime query as root.

           The following queries are supported:

           query filetype FILE: Returns the file type of FILE in the form of a
           MIME type.

           query default mimetype: Returns the default application that the
           desktop environment uses for opening files of type mimetype. The
           default application is identified by its *.desktop file.

       default
           Ask the desktop environment to make application the default
           application for opening files of type mimetype. An application can
           be made the default for several file types by specifying multiple
           mimetypes.

           application is the desktop file id of the application and has the
           form vendor-name.desktop.  application must already be installed in
           the desktop menu before it can be made the default handler. The
           application's desktop file must list support for all the MIME types
           that it wishes to be the default handler for.

           Requests to make an application a default handler may be subject to
           system policy or approval by the end-user. xdg-mime query can be
           used to verify whether an application is the actual default handler
           for a specific file type.

           The default option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is
           not recommended to use xdg-mime default as root.

       install
           Adds the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file to the
           desktop environment.  mimetypes-file must be a XML file that
           follows the freedesktop.org Shared MIME-info Database specification
           and that has a mime-info element as its document root. For each new
           file type one or more icons with name type-subtype must be
           installed with the xdg-icon-resource command in the mimetypes
           context. For example the filetype
           application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text requires an icon named
           application-vnd.oasis.opendocument.text to be installed (unless the
           file type recommends another icon name).

       uninstall
           Removes the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file and
           previously added with xdg-mime install from the desktop
           environment.  mimetypes-file must be a XML file that follows the
           freedesktop.org Shared MIME-info Database specification and that
           has a mime-info element as its document root.

OPTIONS
       --mode mode
           mode can be user or system. In user mode the file is (un)installed
           for the current user only. In system mode the file is (un)installed
           for all users on the system. Usually only root is allowed to
           install in system mode.

           The default is to use system mode when called by root and to use
           user mode when called by a non-root user.

       --novendor
           Normally, xdg-mime checks to ensure that the mimetypes-file to be
           installed has a proper vendor prefix. This option can be used to
           disable that check.

           A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and is
           terminated with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are
           encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations
           name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The
           purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts.

       --help
           Show command synopsis.

       --manual
           Show this manual page.

       --version
           Show the xdg-utils version information.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       xdg-mime honours the following environment variables:

       XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
           Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value
           makes xdg-mime do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting a
           higher value increases the verbosity.

       XDG_UTILS_INSTALL_MODE
           This environment variable can be used by the user or administrator
           to override the installation mode. Valid values are user and
           system.

EXIT CODES
       An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code
       indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:

       1
           Error in command line syntax.

       2
           One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.

       3
           A required tool could not be found.

       4
           The action failed.

       5
           No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.

SEE ALSO
       xdg-icon-resource(1), xdg-desktop-menu(1), Shared MIME database
       specification[1], MIME applications associations specification[2]

EXAMPLES
           xdg-mime query filetype /tmp/foobar.png

       Prints the MIME type of the file /tmp/foobar.png, in this case
       image/png

           xdg-mime query default image/png

       Prints the .desktop filename of the application which is registered to
       open PNG files.

           xdg-mime install shinythings-shiny.xml

       Adds a file type description for "shiny"-files. "shinythings-" is used
       as the vendor prefix. The file type description could look as follows.

           shinythings-shiny.xml:

           <?xml version="1.0"?>
           <mime-info xmlns='http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info'>
             <mime-type type="text/x-shiny">
               <comment>Shiny new file type</comment>
               <glob pattern="*.shiny"/>
               <glob pattern="*.shi"/>
             </mime-type>
           </mime-info>

       An icon for this new file type must also be installed, for example
       with:

           xdg-icon-resource install --context mimetypes --size 64 shiny-file-icon.png text-x-shiny

AUTHORS
       Kevin Krammer
           Author.

       Jeremy White
           Author.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2006

NOTES
        1. Shared MIME database specification
           http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/shared-mime-info-spec/

        2. MIME applications associations specification
           http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-apps-spec/

xdg-utils 1.0                     01/11/2021                       XDG-MIME(1)