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https://github.com/4u6u57/wsl-open

Open files with xdg-open on Bash for Windows in Windows applications. Read only mirror from GitLab, see link :point_right:
https://github.com/4u6u57/wsl-open

linux windows-subsystem wsl xdg-open

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Open files with xdg-open on Bash for Windows in Windows applications. Read only mirror from GitLab, see link :point_right:

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# wsl-open (:open_file_folder: :arrow_right: :computer:)



[![pipeline

status](https://gitlab.com/4U6U57/wsl-open/badges/master/pipeline.svg)](https://gitlab.com/4U6U57/wsl-open/commits/master)

[![npm

version](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/wsl-open.svg)](http://npmjs.com/package/wsl-open)



Utility for opening files within the [Windows Subsystem for Linux][wsl] command

line in Windows GUI applications.



## Usage



Just run **wsl-open** with the file/directory/URL that you want to open.



```bash

wsl-open { FILE | DIRECTORY | URL }



```



- `FILE` paths can be relative or absolute

- `DIRECTORY` paths are the same, with a possible limitation*

- `URL`s must include the protocol (`http://`, `https://`, `ftp://`, etc) or

  begin with `www`, which is consistent with how `xdg-open` handles URLs



> *If using a WSL build without the `wslpath` (prior to Build 1803 - released

> April 2018), only Windows directories can be opened



### Examples



```bash

# Opens in your Windows default image viewer

wsl-open image.png



# Relative and absolute paths work

wsl-open ../Downloads/resume.pdf

wsl-open /home/other/README.txt



# Directories under Windows

wsl-open /mnt/c/Users/4u6u5/Music



# Opens your Windows default browser

wsl-open http://google.com

```



### Set file associations



The real benefit of **wsl-open** is setting it as the default program in the

Windows Subsystem for a particular filetype. This allow you to use Linux's

standard `xdg-open` utility to open files, and wsl-open will handle the rest!

This keeps your scripts platform agnostic.



```bash

# Set association for file type

wsl-open -a image.png



# Now, you can open up any PNG with xdg-open, and wsl-open will handle it

xdg-open another_image.png



# Unassociate wsl-open with a file type

wsl-open -d image.png



# Associate wsl-open with links (set wsl-open as your shell's BROWSER)

wsl-open -w



# Now URL's work as well!

xdg-open https://gitlab.com/4U6U57/wsl-open



# And this allows other programs that depend on xdg-open to use it as well!

npm repo wsl-open # Same as the previous command

```



> **Protip**: I like to furthur generalize my scripts by setting `alias

> open='xdg-open'` on my Linux machines, which make them behave more like macOS



### Full specification



For full details on how the script operates, feel free to check out the

[manpage][manpage] or [design specification][design]



## Installation



### npm



The easiest way to get it is to use the [Node Package Manager][npm] and install

it globally.



```bash

# Get npm if you don't have it already

sudo apt-get install -yqq npm



# Install

sudo npm install -g wsl-open

```



### Standalone



**wsl-open** is actually just a single, self contained bash script, so the bare

minimum installation is simply downloading the script (either by cloning the

repo or via `curl`) and then adding it to your path. Here is an example:



```bash

# Make a bin folder in your home directory

mkdir ~/bin



# Add the bin folder to your PATH in your bashrc

echo '[[ -e ~/bin ]] && export PATH=$PATH:~/bin' >> ~/.bashrc



# Download the script to a file named 'wsl-open'

curl -o ~/bin/wsl-open https://raw.githubusercontent.com/4U6U57/wsl-open/master/wsl-open.sh

```



[wsl]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/commandline/wsl/about

[npm]: https://npmjs.com

[manpage]: MANUAL.md

[design]: DESIGN.md