Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

afulm · 2015-06-18 22:24:05

When I try to open a file or directory from say qbittorrent or clementine in xfce, I get the message:
"Failed to open URI "file:///somewhere/filename%20with%20spaces".
Googling told me this problem was due to passing a "%U" instead of a "%F" somwhere, but I don't know where to change this.

Trilby · 2015-06-18 22:31:51

I don't use any DE or those kinds of gui tools, but the "%U" instead of an "%F" issue would be in the .desktop files. There are systemwide .desktop files in /usr/share/applications/ and you can override these with your own customized versions in ~/.local/share/applications/

So a workaround at least would be to copy the relevant desktop files from the system-wide folder to your user's folder and edit them appropriately changing %U to%F.

afulm · 2015-06-19 14:18:49

Thanks, that's what was I thought myself, but in that case I have no idea what .desktop files to change. Thunar for example is already %F, as is the other applications that would open the files.

Trilby · 2015-06-19 14:22:33

The problem may be also be in xdg-open. Many desktop apps pass the file name to xdg-open if the file icon is clicked on or otherwise 'activated'.

toz · 2015-06-19 16:32:58

I believe its this exo bug that you are experiencing.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-06-18 22:24:05

Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

#2 2015-06-18 22:31:51

Re: Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

#3 2015-06-19 14:18:49

Re: Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

#4 2015-06-19 14:22:33

Re: Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

#5 2015-06-19 16:32:58

Re: Can't open files with spaces from gui applications

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