https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=475200
Bug ID: 475200
Summary: File associations are inherited in the incorrect order
Classification: Applications
Product: systemsettings
Version: 5.27.7
Platform: Archlinux
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: normal
Priority: NOR
Component: kcm_filetypes
Assignee: plasma-b...@kde.org
Reporter: adam.m.fontenot+...@gmail.com
CC: fa...@kde.org
Target Milestone: ---
SUMMARY
In the course of discussing Bug 425154, we discovered several inheritance
issues that make having a fallback association much more irritating than it is
supposed to be. One of these issues was fixed, the other got missed. I'm filing
this report so that the defect is clearly documented and doesn't slip through
the cracks.
File associations form a directed acyclic graph (DAG), not a tree, which means
that there's not a obvious right answer for the order to traverse the graph
(which matters when determining priority for file associations). Right now KDE
appears to traverse it in depth-first order, which means that some associations
intended to be fallbacks will be hit before some associations that are not.
For correct behavior, KDE needs to special-case certain fallback associations
so that they always appear last, move to breadth-first graph traversal, or
both. (Or potentially other workarounds for the issue that I'm not seeing.)
The reproduction steps below reference the following file association
inheritance graph, turned into a tree (with duplicate nodes):
> application/json
> │
> text/javascript
> │
> application/ecmascript
> │
> ┌────────────┴────────────┐
> │ │
> application/x-executable text/plain
> │ │
> application/octet-stream application/octet-stream
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Have an application like Kate set to open text/plain, and a fallback
application like Okteta set to open application/octet-stream.
2. Don't have any applications set to open JS / JSON files directly.
3. Click to open a JSON file in Dolphin.
OBSERVED RESULT
The file opens in Okteta.
EXPECTED RESULT
Given the configuration stated above, JSON files should open with the
text/plain association, not with application/octet-stream.
Given the structure above, traversing the graph in breadth-first order would
give the correct associations, and it seems like a much better default.
Note however that there is no guarantee of this always holding true. For
example, if application/ecmascript inherited something like text/script
instead, and *that* inherited text/plain, then breadth first order would still
result in application/octet-stream being hit first.
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.7
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.109.0
Qt Version: 5.15.10
Kernel Version: 6.4.12-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This is made more annoying by the fact that some applications (e.g. Firefox)
are reported to sometimes tamper with the system file associations. Users have
ended up with Okular (in particular) set to open application/octet-stream as a
result of PDFs not always having a mimetype available, which has led to a lot
of confusion. Bug 425154 is about the pain points that result from having an
application/octet-stream association set, this bug is specifically about
inheritance ordering that sometimes results in this association being preferred
even when a better association is available.
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