Opening Files

When you open a file, Nautilus performs the default action for that file type. The default action can be one of the following:

• Use a viewer component to display the file in the view pane.

• Launch an application that opens the file.

Nautilus checks the contents of a file to determine the type of a file. If the first lines do not determine the type of the file, then Nautilus checks the file extension.

If you cannot find the file that you want to open, you can use Search Tool. To start Search Tool, choose Actions -> Search for Files.

Viewing Files in the View Pane

Nautilus contains viewer components that enable you to display particular types of file in the view pane. For example, you can display the following types of files in the view pane:

• Plain text files

• Portable Network Graphics (PNG) files

• Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) files

To reload the contents of the view pane, choose View -> Reload. To stop loading an item in the view pane, choose View -> Stop.

When you display a file in the view pane, the viewer component might add menu items to the Nautilus menus. The menu items relate to the file type that is displayed. For example, when you display a PNG file, the View menu contains Interpolation, Dither, and other submenus.

Also, when you display some types of file in the view pane, you can use the Nautilus zoom buttons to change the size of the item.

To Execute the Default Action

To execute the default action for a file, double-click on the file. For example, if the default action for plain text documents is to display the file in a text viewer. In this case, you can double-click on the file to display the file in a text viewer.

You can set your Nautilus preferences so that you click once on a file to execute the default action. For more information, see To Set Icon and List Views Preferences.

To Execute Non-Default Actions Using the Open With Submenu

To execute actions other than the default action for a file, perform the following steps:

1. In the view pane, select the file that you want to perform an action on. Choose File -> Open With. The Open With submenu opens. The items in this submenu correspond to the contents of the following parts of the File Types and Programs preference tool:

   • Default action drop-down list in the Edit file type dialog

   • Viewer Component drop-down list in the Edit file type dialog

2. Choose an action from the Open With submenu.

To Execute Other Actions When Displaying a File

When you display a file in the view pane, the side pane might contain buttons. Figure 7–2 shows the side pane when a text file is displayed in the view pane.

Figure 7–2 Side Pane When a File is Displayed in the View Pane

The buttons represent any actions that are defined in the File Types and Programs preference tool. The actions are defined in the Default action drop-down list in the Edit file type dialog in the File Types and Programs preference tool. Click on a button to execute an action. For example, if an action defined for plain text documents is to open the file in gedit. If this action is defined, an Open with gedit button is displayed in the side pane. To open the file in the gedit application, click on the Open with gedit button.

A button that represents the action does not appear in the side pane if the actions are excluded in either of the following dialogs:

• Open with Other Application

• Open with Other Viewer