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Thorzdad · Dec 7, 2017, 06:23 PM

What would cause the default app for a particular file format to suddenly change?

Yesterday, jpegs on my iMac would open by default in Preview. Today, I discover that the default app for jpegs has somehow changed to Fireworks.

I reset the default app in an Info window and select "Change all" option. That seems to work for awhile, but I keep running across jpegs that still have Fireworks as default. While I do have Fireworks on my Mac, I've never so much as opened it.

FWIW, this in 10.9.5.

andi*pandi · Dec 7, 2017, 06:57 PM

Hmm. I would say that opening things in fireworks would have confused it, except you haven't.

Changing it back via info window is exactly what I would have done.

Anyone else use the machine? Any updates done lately?

Thorzdad · Dec 7, 2017, 07:38 PM

No, no one else uses the machine. Everyone has separate user accounts, anyway. The only thing I've updated this week was the new version of Firefox. I checked its preferences, and it lists jpegs as a Preview document.

reader50 · Dec 7, 2017, 10:07 PM

Your ~~desktop database~~ LaunchServices database may have mild corruption. If you have Onyx, go to the Maintenance (tab) -> Rebuilding -> LaunchServices (checkbox). Uncheck all the other items you don't want to do, and click the Run Tasks button.

It will take awhile, and apparently returns things to default conditions (I don't recall doing this since Leopard maybe). You'd have to choose desired apps for files again, if you disagree with the default. But it should clear suspected corruption from the database.

Thorzdad · Dec 8, 2017, 01:13 PM

Wow. Haven't used Onyx in ages. Totally forgot about it. I'll give it a shot.

Thorzdad · Dec 8, 2017, 06:17 PM

I forget...Does Onyx work on the entire system or just the user account its opened in?

reader50 · Dec 8, 2017, 06:23 PM

Some functions (like login page options) are system-wide. Most options are specific to the current user. I don't recall it modifying anything specific to another user.

Best bet - it will only affect your user's LaunchServices DB. But if it affects her's also - well, you wanted an excuse for a quick trip to town anyway.

Thorzdad · Dec 8, 2017, 07:09 PM

Onyx did the job. There were a couple of odd file associations afterward, but easy to correct. Thanks.

Thorzdad · Dec 9, 2017, 06:45 PM

So, I was doing some work today, and I was occasionally checking to make sure everything was still Preview, and they were until they weren't. For some unknown reason, at some point in the day, the file associations for jpeg, gif, and png images changed to Fireworks again. I changed them back and everything seems to be fine now, but I have no earthly clue what I might have done to make the change (if, in fact, it really is something I'm doing.)

I've experimented with making sure everything is associated with Preview, then logging out of my account and logging back in, but everything was still associated with Preview.

One thing I noticed was when I change just one file format (like jpeg) from FIreworks to Preview, the other affected file formats (gif, png) change back to Preview, too.

Another thing I saw happen...I recently updated Firefox to v57. There's a bug in it where, when you simply drag an image from the browser to your desktop, the file extension is stripped off. So, "image.jpg" becomes simply "image". It appears as a blank file on the desktop that the OS has no clue what to do with. BUT, all of the other images have now changed from Preview to Fireworks. For whatever reason, dragging that file to the desktop triggered the change. But, I rarely, if ever, drag an image off a website. I do a "Save as..." and that doesn't seem to cause any problems (and the file extension remains intact.)

I'm beginning to think that, somehow, this new version of Firefox is somehow responsible, but I can't figure out the mechanism.

reader50 · Dec 9, 2017, 08:21 PM

If you never use Fireworks, zip up the application. That will make it vanish from the system, while actually keeping it around.

Thorzdad · 01:11 PM

So, I zipped-up Fireworks and things settled down. But, I decided to test things, so I draggged a jpeg from FIrefox to the desktop and the OS identified it as...a Graphic Converter file (yeah, I forgot that was still on my Mac.) I trashed GC, and reset all images to Preview, then I tried a second test. This time, the OS identified the jpeg as a Photoshop file. Obviously, I'm not going to delete Photoshop. So, I reset all the images, again, to be Preview files, and have made a mental note not to ever drag an image from Firefox again.

Now, though, all the images still carry the Pshop jpeg/gif/png icons instead of the Preview icon.

A quick run of Onyx reset the icons to Preview.

This new version of Firefox seems to somehow be the culprit.

andi*pandi · Dec 11, 2017, 09:05 AM

Have you tried the new new firefox?

I downgraded my firefox so I could keep using firebug (new developer tool is buggy).

Thorzdad · Dec 11, 2017, 09:22 AM

This all started after I updated to the new Firefox.

andi*pandi · Dec 11, 2017, 12:54 PM

I'm trying to recall if 57 is that new Quantum version they are touting, or if you'd have to install that separately. Ah, no, 57 is quantum.

You can downgrade yourself to 52 like I did.

Thorzdad · 05:17 PM

I might downgrade back to v56. It seemed to work just fine.

I just noticed something else about this new Firefox. When you click on an image and do "Save As.." you get the standard window to navigate to wherever you want to save the file. At the bottom of the window is a Format drop-down. Most of the time, it's set properly to Preview. A few minutes ago, I noticed it was set to simply "Document." There is only another option of "All Files." You cannot change the Format to Preview (or anything else) in the dropdown. Saving the image as "Document" causes the image, and all the other images, to be Photoshop files.

Annnnd, downgraded.