Just a quick question regarding integrated file association in PA 12.0.
Will this function in the same way that (say) eXpresso does at the moment, or will it be a bit slicker than that?
eXpresso works fine when you are opening a saved file and you then specify the portableapp to use for opening. eXpresso is no good at opening URL links in email messages - or at least that I can see.
I click on a URL link in Thunderbird and would like the link open in (say) my portable Google Chrome app. But that doesn't happen, instead the link opens MS Internet Explorer.
The French portable launcher (name being deliberately avoided!!) had really good file association. You could click on a link in an portable app email and it would open using your preferred portable browser.
I know in the past John Haller has said that the French launcher was using a form of CAFE, Coffee, eXpresso - but it must have been doing something more than that; it almost seemed like it was working within some kind of sandbox when working with file associations.
I'm not a programmer, but I just want to know if File Associations in 12.0 will work along the same lines as that French app? (BTW: looks like development on that has well and truly halted, so big chance for PA to maximise on this).
Thanks in advance.
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It's real file associations which can only be done registry-based. They're done via the HKCU (current user) registry hive. Windows will use that over stuff in HKLM without needing to have admin rights or affect the permanent associations on the machine. You've been able to do it this way with PortableApps.com since around 2008 with the PortableFileAssociator add-on. The illegal French package does it this way now IIRC. Cafe and eXpresso are much more simplistic and work based on clicking on things, primarily in explorer. That's why things clicked in other apps (like email links) don't work.
The illegal French site ceased updating apps 3 months ago in early July and a ton of them now have significant security vulnerabilities. They've also been losing apps. Piriform confirmed that the illegal suite doesn't have permission for CCleaner, Speccy, Recuva or Defraggler, so they'll likely be cease and desisted on those soon as well, though I'm not sure any admins are around to remove them. They may have to get the web provider to just pull those downloads or the site offline.
I've been debating creating a simple converter so users of the illegal suite don't lose their data (bookmarks, emails, etc) and can transfer them to legal, updated apps. The illegal French suite's app directory layout is based on PortableApps.com Format (since they began by stealing our apps), so it wouldn't be that difficult to accomplish. Most of their users were unaware they were even using illegal software, so they shouldn't suffer because of an irresponsible and unethical publisher.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thanks for highlighting the way file associations will work in PA 12.0 and the heads up on the PortableFileAssociator addon (must have had my head buried in the sand not to have noticed that).
I'm really looking forward to seeing PA 12.0 file association.
The "illegal French site" going belly up so suddenly and leaving thousands of users up the proverbial creek without a paddle, just highlights the need to make sure that PortableApps is going to be around for a long time to come. For that reason alone, I'm off to click on that "Make A Donation" button.
Cambridge, UK
Neat. Like that.
Cambridge, UK
Was this idea abandoned after all? Can't find this feature in latest PA platform.
There were a lot of other changes, new features, and bug fixes, however File Associations wasn't complete enough to make it into 12.0 (or the subsequent 12.0.x releases at least as far as 12.0.3).
The idea has not been abandoned, it's just really complicated and John's still working on getting it to work right.
~3D1T0R
Thanks for the update.
It's explained right in the release announcement in the "Next Steps" section: https://portableapps.com/news/2014-08-28--portableapps.com-platform-12.0...
Note that all the current temporary file association utilities don't work with Windows 8/8.1 due to the OS prompting the user directly for app associations. And this is a larger and growing percentage of Windows machines. Windows 9 - which enters public testing in about a month - will work the same way. We're looking into a way to work around it temporarily, but may simply leave it as is and let users be prompted once for each file type by the OS as user-level associations are temporarily altered. In addition to that hitch, there are a lot of GUI elements to finish, translations to do, and code to finish for it to be working to a level we're comfortable with for all users. And it's competing for development time with quite a few features and bugs: https://portableapps.com/node/28593 Granted, many are a lower priority, but some are higher.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Team,
Windows 8 and 10 aside...
Which is the *best* file association program for those of us using Windows 7 with UAC disabled?
It has been a while since the last update on this thread, and I was wondering if File Associations are still coming at some point?
Happy New Year!
It amazes me that on the internet you can be anything you want, and yet so many people still choose to be idiots.
It's fully discussed over here: https://portableapps.com/node/52680
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!