xml File Association in 2 Clicks

File associations determine which default application will open a specific file, and also which application a given file will open in, when its icon is double clicked.

File association can be useful in Painter, as for example, the associated Painter version should automatically launch and display the RIF document after double clicking the RIF file icon. Another possible advantage is that this method of opening the file should also bypass Painter’s welcome screen (a potential work-around for users having difficulty in opening/launching the application).

On both Mac and Windows platforms, the file associations can be changed so that the file defaults to a different application. This can be  done on a per-file basis, or alternatively, there is an option to open to change which application opens all files of a particular type.

Painter brush variant xml files contain all the brush settings specific to that variant, and can be found in brush category folders, within a Painter brush library folder. If you have never opened one of these files in a text editor, then it can be an interesting exercise. It should be possible to open one of these files via the text editor’s Open dialog. On the Mac, if you right click (Ctrl + Click) on the variant xml file icon, and choose Open With from the contextual menu, it is possible to select an application in which to immediately open the file. At the very top of this list is the current default application which the file is associated with.

There are several tutorials covering how to change the file association on the Windows platform. However, as I only have access to a Mac, I will demonstrate how to change xml file association in order that these files will open in an excellent freeware text editor called TextWrangler. If you are using Painter on the Mac platform, in later posts we shall be utilizing some useful AppleScripts in the text editor.

Step 1. Download the TextWrangler application from the Bare Bones product page.

Step 2. Double Click on the TextWrangler dmg file and drag the TextWrangler icon in the dialog to the Applications folder in order to install it.

Step 3. In the Finder, navigate to your Painter application folder > Brushes folder > Painter Brushes > Acrylics (or any other brush category folder), select a variant xml file (Captured Bristle for example).

Step 4. Right click (Ctrl + Click) on the xml file icon in Finder window and choose Get Info from the contextual menu.

Step 5. In the Get Info dialog, click on the ‘Open with’ drop-down, and choose TextWrangler from the menu.

Step 6. For all xml documents to be opened with TextWrangler, click the ‘Change All’ button.

Note that this will not affect how Painter uses the file within the application, the difference is that next time you double click a Painter xml file icon, instead of Painter opening with a “File Cannot Be Opened” message, TextWrangler will open instead, and display the document text.