NAME

       xdg-mime - command line tool for querying information about file type handling and adding
       descriptions for new file types

SYNOPSIS

       xdg-mime query {filetype | default} ...

       xdg-mime default application mimetype(s)

       xdg-mime install [--mode mode] [--novendor] mimetypes-file

       xdg-mime uninstall [--mode mode] mimetypes-file

       xdg-mime {--help | --manual | --version}

DESCRIPTION

       The xdg-mime program can be used to query information about file types and to add
       descriptions for new file types.

COMMANDS

       query
           Returns information related to file types.

           The query option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is not recommended to
           use xdg-mime query as root.

           The following queries are supported:

           query filetype FILE: Returns the file type of FILE in the form of a MIME type.

           query default mimetype: Returns the default application that the desktop environment
           uses for opening files of type mimetype. The default application is identified by its
           *.desktop file.

       default
           Ask the desktop environment to make application the default application for opening
           files of type mimetype. An application can be made the default for several file types
           by specifying multiple mimetypes.

           application is the desktop file id of the application and has the form
           vendor-name.desktop.  application must already be installed in the desktop menu before
           it can be made the default handler. The application's desktop file must list support
           for all the MIME types that it wishes to be the default handler for.

           Requests to make an application a default handler may be subject to system policy or
           approval by the end-user. xdg-mime query can be used to verify whether an application
           is the actual default handler for a specific file type.

           The default option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is not recommended to
           use xdg-mime default as root.

       install
           Adds the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file to the desktop environment.
           mimetypes-file must be a XML file that follows the freedesktop.org Shared MIME-info
           Database specification and that has a mime-info element as its document root. For each
           new file type one or more icons with name type-subtype must be installed with the
           xdg-icon-resource command in the mimetypes context. For example the filetype
           application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text requires an icon named
           application-vnd.oasis.opendocument.text to be installed (unless the file type
           recommends another icon name).

       uninstall
           Removes the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file and previously added
           with xdg-mime install from the desktop environment.  mimetypes-file must be a XML file
           that follows the freedesktop.org Shared MIME-info Database specification and that has
           a mime-info element as its document root.

OPTIONS

       --mode mode
           mode can be user or system. In user mode the file is (un)installed for the current
           user only. In system mode the file is (un)installed for all users on the system.
           Usually only root is allowed to install in system mode.

           The default is to use system mode when called by root and to use user mode when called
           by a non-root user.

       --novendor
           Normally, xdg-mime checks to ensure that the mimetypes-file to be installed has a
           proper vendor prefix. This option can be used to disable that check.

           A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and is terminated with a dash
           ("-"). Companies and organizations are encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably
           the organizations name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The
           purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts.

       --help
           Show command synopsis.

       --manual
           Show this manual page.

       --version
           Show the xdg-utils version information.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       xdg-mime honours the following environment variables:

       XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
           Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value makes xdg-mime do more
           verbose reporting on stderr. Setting a higher value increases the verbosity.

       XDG_UTILS_INSTALL_MODE
           This environment variable can be used by the user or administrator to override the
           installation mode. Valid values are user and system.

EXIT CODES

       An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates failure. The
       following failure codes can be returned:

       1
           Error in command line syntax.

       2
           One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.

       3
           A required tool could not be found.

       4
           The action failed.

       5
           No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.

SEE ALSO

       xdg-icon-resource(1), xdg-desktop-menu(1), Shared MIME database specification[1], MIME
       applications associations specification[2]

EXAMPLES

           xdg-mime query filetype /tmp/foobar.png

       Prints the MIME type of the file /tmp/foobar.png, in this case image/png

           xdg-mime query default image/png

       Prints the .desktop filename of the application which is registered to open PNG files.

           xdg-mime install shinythings-shiny.xml

       Adds a file type description for "shiny"-files. "shinythings-" is used as the vendor
       prefix. The file type description could look as follows.

           shinythings-shiny.xml:

           <?xml version="1.0"?>
           <mime-info xmlns='http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info'>
             <mime-type type="text/x-shiny">
               <comment>Shiny new file type</comment>
               <glob pattern="*.shiny"/>
               <glob pattern="*.shi"/>
             </mime-type>
           </mime-info>

       An icon for this new file type must also be installed, for example with:

           xdg-icon-resource install --context mimetypes --size 64 shiny-file-icon.png text-x-shiny

AUTHORS

       Kevin Krammer
           Author.

       Jeremy White
           Author.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2006

NOTES

        1. Shared MIME database specification
           http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/shared-mime-info-spec/

        2. MIME applications associations specification
           http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-apps-spec/