Can't Assign .SLA Extension to Scribus in Windows 7

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DavidBrennan

I recently downloaded Scribus 1.4.3, which did not automatically delete 1.4.2, so I deleted that manually, instead.

Everything seems okay, except now all .SLA files have to be dragged-and-dropped to the Scribus icon to open.  For some reason, I cannot assign the extension to Scribus in Windows.  So, I looked through the settings in Scribus because it seemed likely you could assign the program to the .SLA extension there, but I could not see how to do it.

So, does anybody know how the .SLA extension can be properly assigned to Scribus in Windows?

samps

Hold the shift-button while right-clicking on a .sla file, choose 'Open with'. On the dialog that opens, choose 'browse' and find your Scribus application. Tick the 'Always open this sort of file..' option and Windows re-assigns .sla to open with Scribus.

Samps

DavidBrennan

Yes, I've tried this - I tried pointing to both the Scribus shortcut and the .EXE file.  I also tried going through the Extension Manager  in the Windows Control Panel.

But it just isn't taking.

samps

Okay... In that case, I would try looking through the registry for mentions of the 1.4.2 version and subtly change the keys to point to the 1.4.3. I am not sure what string to search for tho'

Samps

DavidBrennan

At this point, I've tried deleted 1.4.2, and I've also changes its association to other programs (accidentally).  Also, I'm not sure how to change a registry string, or what to look for.

There's no way within Scribus to designate it as the default program for .SLA files?

Nermander

No, because it's not Scribus that handles that stuff, it's the operating system (or really the shell used, in this case Windows Explorer).


DavidBrennan

Well, for the time being, it looks like I'll just be dragging-and-dropping every time I want to open a Scribus file.

If I find a solution later on, I'll post it here.  Obviously, if anybody else finds a solution, share it here, if you please.


DavidBrennan

Okay, I will look into these and report back.  I appreciate the insight.

bernd

I can't get Opens with... to show on the context menu even if I'm holding the shift button. Strange. It shows with many file types, but not .sla.

I did find that if I click Properties, there's on the General tab a button labelled Change, next to Opens with and I could browse with that to the Scribus binary.

Still, most every other piece of software manages to provide an option to create these O/S bindings, and Scribus does not which is a small fail to my mind. Not a major issue, but not slick.

Nermander

It's usually not the program itself that creates these associations, it's the installer. And on my machine SLA are associated with Scribus, so in some circumstances it works as intended.

One thing might be if you previously had two versions of Scribus installed and uninstalled one of them the uninstall might have removed the associations.

bernd

Very fair point. Still, it's not uncommon, perhaps especially with media players for the software itself on the preference dialog to have an option to recapture associations as competing software will steal them away7 ;-). It's not like we have one media player installed. But even for office software, Microsoft, Open and Libre all can a steal the .doc and .docx associations and it's nice to be able easily to bind them back to the preferred program when multiple are installed.

So I'll go a bit softer and not call the lack of an inprogram feature a fail, so much as a wonderful feature if it were added, given that clearly the associations do get lost it seems - mine were missing and I found a few results on Google reporting same ;-).

Really not a Scribus issue mind you if Windows made it easier. On XP there was an easy way to set it from Explorer. And oddly for .sla I can't get "Open with ..." on the context menu at all and am bamboozled. But fortunately found it on the file properties dialog.

But if I had limited time (who doesn't?) there may be other things I'd work on in Scribus too, I get the prioritization thing too.

BobR

Scribus' list of previous and recently opened files, in the opening screen, makes it easy to find your .sla files, unless you have too many or too old files. 

Not to excuse  win 7's stubborn refusal to let .sla be assigned to Scribus.

Someone said that the problem is in the way Scribus sets up its registry entry. Or maybe Win 7 made a change without telling non-windows applications.