For example, on KWrite, if I click “Open” a file picker opens for me to search and select a file to open.
There are two fields, “Name” and “Filter”.
And the only option of “Filer” is “All Files”? Should that field how me a few text file types, as this is a program to deal with text?
Same thing when saving a file, any doesn’t it shoe me the text files I supports for me to chose under which one to save the text I have on it?
I apply this to all other KDE Plasma programas.
Image programsa should show image file types.
Multimedia, like video player and editing should show multimedia/video formats.
How do you determine what a relevant Text file type is?
If your answer is by its filename extension (aka. name dot txt and similar) there is your “Why isn’t like this already” answer.
Filename extensions for the file type are traditionally not a Unix/Linux thing. The file type is determinant by the file header, the first few bytes of a file.
Text files do not have a file header, even worse if you start your Text file with “Pk” you can technically have a ZIP archive (maybe not the best example but on a lazy check totally possible). Check if “executable” is not set? ZIP archives do not need to be executable and I have several executable text files aka bash and python scripts with file names without extensions (to save additional typing ) .
Your filter had to check the contents of every file and if there are no non-printable characters (in any possible Language) found it could be a text file, or maybe not.
) .