DataMind Oda can hand a file to your own computer: open it in the app your computer uses for its type, open it in an app you pick, or reveal it in your file manager. Use these actions when you want to continue with a file in your own tools.
Where the controls appear
In a file's preview in the side panel, where the open control sits in the preview header; Preview files in Oda covers the preview itself.
On a file Oda cannot preview, the same control carries the text Open, or Show file location when revealing is the default action.
For the chat's folder instead of one file, Open In... in the chat header opens the workspace folder in an app; Open files and folders in other apps covers it.
From a chat step or a file name in Oda's message, the file opens in the side panel; Opening files from chat covers those entry points.
Note
These actions need a desktop Oda can reach on the computer that runs it. When you reach Oda from another computer, they are not offered.
Open a file in its usual app
Open the file's preview in the side panel, or use the open control where the file appears, such as a delivery card.
Choose Open. The file starts in the app your computer uses for its file type.
Pointing at the control names the app it will use, for example Open in Cursor.
Open follows your computer's file associations, including for HTML, SVG and any other type your computer has an app for.
Oda never changes your computer's default app.
If Oda cannot identify an app for the file type, there is no app to open: the reveal row reads Show file location (default) and the main button reveals the file instead.
Oda checks that it can reach the file before starting anything; a file it cannot verify fails without starting an app.
While the app is starting, the control is not available, and choosing it again changes nothing.
Pick the app for a file
Choose the arrow beside the open control. It is labelled More ways to open.
Pick an app from the list. The file opens in it.
The list shows the apps your computer offers for that file's type, each with its name and icon; an entry the system hides, or one with no name, is left out.
Your computer's default app is marked on its row, for example Cursor (default).
Show file location sits in a footer row below the apps.
A pick applies to that one action: it does not change what Open uses next time, and it never changes your computer's default app.
Oda checks the app again just before it opens, so an app you removed stops being offered.
On macOS, when the same app is installed more than once, the list shows one entry for it: the copy your system uses by default, or the highest version. The other copies still open the file.
When only one action fits the file, the control is a single button with no list.
While Oda reads your computer's apps for the file, the control shows a grey placeholder icon.
Show a file in your file manager
Choose Show file location in the file's open menu, or the reveal action on a file card.
Your file manager opens with the file selected.
The row reads Show file location on every platform, rather than naming Finder or File Explorer.
On Windows, File Explorer opens a visible window with the file selected.
On macOS, Finder opens with the file selected.
On Linux, the file's folder opens.
A folder has no reveal row: to open a folder in an app, use Open In... in the chat header.
When an action fails
Oda checks each file before handing it over, so an action that cannot run fails without starting anything, and you can try again. File addresses explains how Oda names the locations it can reach.
Message
What it means
What to do
Could not open. Try again.
The app did not start.
Try again, or pick another app from More ways to open.
Could not show the file location. Try again.
Oda could not ask your file manager to show the file.
Try again.
Could not load applications
Oda could not read the apps for that file.
Open the menu again to have Oda read the list once more; Show file location keeps working.
In Windows Subsystem for Linux, Oda translates the file's path to its Windows form before handing it to the Windows desktop; when nothing can be translated, the action stops and the failure names wslpath returned no Windows path.
An app that is no longer registered for the file's type is refused: Application is not registered for this file. Pick another app.
On a system where Oda cannot hand files to the desktop at all, the app list comes back empty and nothing is started; the failure reads native path opener is unsupported on <platform> or native file manager is unsupported on <platform>, with the system's name filled in.
Questions, answered
What is the difference between Open and Open In...?
Open starts the file you are looking at in the app your computer uses for its type. Open In... sits in the chat header and opens the chat's whole workspace folder in the app Oda remembered, or one you pick; it never opens a single file. Open files and folders in other apps covers the folder button.
How does Oda decide which app opens my file?
Open follows your computer's file associations: the app your computer has registered for that file's type, including HTML and SVG. To use a different app for one time, pick it from More ways to open; Oda does not change which app your computer uses.
Why does the same app appear once when I have two copies of it?
On macOS, when the same app is installed in more than one place, the list shows a single entry for it: the copy your system uses by default, or the highest version. The other copies still open the file; only the list is deduplicated.
What does Show file location (default) mean?
It means Oda could not identify an app for that file's type, so revealing the file became the default action: the row is marked Show file location (default), and the main button reveals the file instead of opening it.
Why is there no Open button on my file?
The file open and reveal controls appear only when Oda runs on your computer with a desktop it can reach. When you reach Oda from another computer, they stay hidden; you can still preview the file in the side panel.
Can I open a file as text?
Yes, where it is offered: the action hands the file to a text editor instead of the app for its type. On macOS, the file opens in your text editor directly; on Windows, in the app your computer registers for that file's type, or Notepad when nothing is registered; on Linux, in the app your desktop associates with the file. Open configuration file in Settings is one example; Developer settings covers it.
Why does the menu show a grey placeholder before the apps appear?
Oda reads your computer's apps for the file when the menu opens. While that read is running, the control shows a grey placeholder and waits.
Why does the file menu say Could not load applications?
Oda could not read the apps for that file this time; the row stays disabled and Show file location keeps working. Open the menu again to have Oda read the list once more.
Why did my open fail with Could not open. Try again.?
The app did not start. Try it again, or pick another app from More ways to open; Oda checks the app against your computer's current associations each time, so an app you removed stops being offered. Show file location keeps working.
Are the apps Oda opens given my passwords?
No. Oda starts an app with a cleaned-up environment; credentials held by Oda are not passed to it.
Why did nothing open when I picked a file in Windows Subsystem for Linux?
Oda hands the file to the Windows desktop through a translated path. When the file's path cannot be translated to a Windows path, the action stops before anything opens, and the failure names wslpath returned no Windows path.
Does opening a file move or copy it?
No. Oda starts the app on the computer that holds the file and hands it the file's location; the file stays where it is, and nothing is copied into the chat.