vscode.env.openExternal opens a given file in Theia rather than in an external app about theia

[dhuebner]

@chroberino
Are you also missing the "Open in External App" file browser menu contribution after installing Open in External App extension?
I see the command in the palette, but not the menu entry...

[dhuebner]

Right now theia.env.openExternal() is called when the vscode.env.openExternal is triggered. This calls windowStateExt.openUri(uri) and its current implementation just redirects to the opener-service.ts without providing any further information except the URI. The only handler that matches is the EditorPreview so the file is opened in Theia. I also didn't found a registered handler that can call external applications. In electron case such a handler should probably call shell.openPath(fsPath) to redirect to the OS editors.

[dhuebner]

Maybe we could also offer Open With... -> System Editor in Theia?

[chroberino]

@chroberino Are you also missing the "Open in External App" file browser menu contribution after installing Open in External App extension? I see the command in the palette, but not the menu entry...

It's the same for me: I don't get this item in the context menu but only the entry in the command palette.
I have already created an issue for this: tjx666/open-in-external-app#63

[dhuebner]

@chroberino
Menu contribution works in vs-code, so might be a problem with Thiea. We should investigate what goes wrong there.

@JonasHelming
It is not related to the vscode.env.openExternal handling problem, but I did some experiments with the new OpenWithService and could contribute a new built-in "open handler" that redirects to the operation system.

[chroberino]

Menu contribution works in vs-code, so might be a problem with Thiea. We should investigate what goes wrong there.

I am far from being a deep-water-diver in Eclipse Theia. I am rather just learning to swim...

But I can quickly contribute to following snippet as an insight from the package.json file of the "Open in External App" extension:

   "contributes": {
       "commands": [
           {
               "command": "openInExternalApp.open",
               "title": "%cmd.open%"
           },
           {
               "command": "openInExternalApp.openMultiple",
               "title": "%cmd.openMultiple%"
           }
       ],
       "menus": {
           "explorer/context": [
               {
                   "when": "!explorerResourceIsFolder && isFileSystemResource",
                   "command": "openInExternalApp.open",
                   "alt": "openInExternalApp.openMultiple",
                   "group": "navigation@10"
               }
           ],
           "editor/title/context": [
               {
                   "when": "isFileSystemResource",
                   "command": "openInExternalApp.open",
                   "alt": "openInExternalApp.openMultiple",
                   "group": "navigation@10"
               }
           ]
       }
   }

https://github.com/tjx666/open-in-external-app/blob/main/package.json

Maybe this offers some obvious hints?
Maybe the when condition is not true in Theia?
Maybe the alt or group confuses Theia?

[dhuebner]

@chroberino
Okay, thanks! I will check why the contribution doesn't work.

[dhuebner]

@chroberino
Yes, it looks like Theia is missing context key handling for isFileSystemResource