Re: GNUstep "open" tool

[Tom Hageman]

Hi Jeff,

On Thu, 22 Nov 2001 11:28:29 -0500, Jeff Teunissen wrote:
> Gregory Casamento wrote:
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > Actually, I just checked on my NeXT box running OS4.2, the OPENSTEP
> > "open" doesn't do this.  When I say:
> >
> > open OpenUp.app  (which is in LocalApps on my machine)
> >
> > from a terminal and I am not in a directory which contains the
> > application, it does not automatically launch the application. It says
> > "Can't stat file /home/heron/OpenUp.app." I have tried with several
> > other applications as well. On the other hand, when I type "open
> > somthing.zip" it does get opened or when I go to LocalApps and type
> > "open OpenUp.app" it starts as well.
> >
> > I'm wondering if this could be added as a "feature" for GNUstep, but
> > I'm tempted to maintain compatibility.
>
> Hmm, that functionality must have been added to OS X. I just assumed,
> based on faulty memory, that it was always there.

The NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP open had an -a flag to do this.  Here's its manpage:

====

open(1)             UNIX Programmer's Manual              open(1)

NAME
     open - open files

SYNOPSIS
     open [ -a app ] [ -o ] [ -p ] [ -NXHost hostname ] filename
     ...

DESCRIPTION
     The open command opens a file (or a directory), just as if
     you had double-clicked the file's icon.

     You can specify one or more file names (or pathnames), which
     are interpreted relative to the Shell or Terminal window's
     current working directory.  For example, the following com-
     mand would open all WriteNow files in the current working
     directory:

          open *.wn

ARGUMENTS
     -a       specifies an application to use for opening the
              file.

     -o       opens the file (can be used in combination with
              -p).

     -p       causes the file to be printed instead of opened.

     -NXHost  opens the file on the specified host (if its window
              server is public).

====

Another interesting feature that isn't apparent from this manpage is that  
it could be used to pipe text into, like:

        ps -auxwwww | open

It would open in Edit, or the default application in general.  It even  
did the sensible thing with rtf (opened as rich-text in Edit) and eps  
files (opened in Preview).  (Actually, it just writes out its input in a  
temporary file in /tmp (possibly with an .rtf or .eps extension if so  
gleaned from the data), and opens that.)

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