Opening files from chat

When Oda works with a file, the chat names it, and you can open it from there. This page covers opening a file from a chat step, and what happens when a file is handed to your computer: its usual app, a text editor, your file manager, or an app you choose.

Open a file from a chat step

Find the file's path on the step, for example on a Read, Edit or Write step.
Click the path. The file opens in a preview in the side panel, beside the chat.

A read's link opens the file at the line Oda was looking at, so you land where Oda was reading. Reading files and images covers what a read step shows.
An edit or a write opens the file with the change, so you can check what Oda changed.
Clicking the path does not expand the step; click the step itself to expand it.
Where the step cannot open the file, the path stays plain text.
Preview files in Oda covers the side panel and its viewers.

Hand a file to your computer

The controls for this sit on a file's preview in the side panel, and on files a turn delivered or changed. Open files and folders in other apps covers using them; this section covers what happens when you do.

Open starts the file in the app your computer uses for that type. An HTML file or an SVG image opens in your browser when your computer has one set for it, and other files open in their usual app.
Opening as text uses your computer's text editing action instead of the file's usual app. On macOS the file opens in your default text editor; on Windows it opens through the type's registered handler, or the built-in text editor when the type has none, so you are never left at an app chooser.
Show file location selects the file in your file manager so you can find it. On Windows the file manager window opens in front so you see the selection; on Linux the folder that holds the file opens.
Inside Windows subsystem for Linux, the file's path is translated to a Windows path before anything opens on the Windows side. If the translation fails, the hand-off stops before anything opens.

How Oda chooses the app

The list shows the applications your computer has registered for that file's type, with the name and icon your computer gives each one, and marks the one your computer would use by default.
Apps your computer marks as hidden, and entries with no name, do not appear.
On macOS, several copies of the same app appear as a single entry: the system default copy, or the newest one. Every installed copy stays openable from the list.
Picking an app opens the file in it this once. It does not change what your computer uses by default, and it does not change what Open uses next time.
Every time Oda opens a file, it checks the app against the file again, so an app that no longer handles the file fails instead of opening the wrong thing.

When a file will not open

Oda refuses a hand-off it cannot make, and says why:

Application is not registered for this file: the app is no longer registered for this file's type, usually because it was removed or changed. Pick another app from the list, or show the file's location instead.
wslpath returned no Windows path: the file is inside Windows subsystem for Linux and Oda could not work out a Windows path for it, so nothing was handed to Windows. Open the file from the Windows side instead.
native path opener is unsupported on <platform>: this computer offers Oda no way to open files through its desktop; the app list comes back empty and nothing is launched. You can still work with the file inside Oda.
native file manager is unsupported on <platform>: no file manager could be reached on this computer, so the file cannot be shown there. Use Oda's own preview instead.

Questions, answered

Can I open a file in an app of my choice?

Yes. The More ways to open list on the file shows the apps your computer has registered for this file's type, and picking one opens the file in it this once. Your pick does not change what your computer uses by default. Open files and folders in other apps covers using the list.

Why did my file open in a browser?

An HTML file or an SVG image opens in your browser when your computer has one set for it; other files open in their usual app. To use a different app for one time, pick it from the More ways to open list.

What does `native file manager is unsupported on <platform>` mean?

No file manager could be reached on this computer to show the file, so revealing it is refused. Use Oda's own preview in the side panel instead.

What does `Application is not registered for this file` mean?

The app is no longer registered for this file's type, usually because it was removed or changed. Oda checks the app against the file each time it opens, so a stale entry fails instead of opening something wrong. Pick another app from the list, or show the file's location instead.

Why did the file manager open in front of other windows?

On Windows this is on purpose: Show file location opens your file manager in front so you actually see the file selected, instead of a window opened behind everything. The file is only selected there; it is not opened.

Where does a file open when I click its path on a step?

In a preview in the side panel, beside the chat: a read's path lands at the line Oda was looking at, and an edit or write opens with the change. Clicking the path does not expand the step.

What does `wslpath returned no Windows path` mean?

The file is inside Windows subsystem for Linux and Oda could not work out a Windows path for it. Nothing was handed to Windows; open the file from the Windows side instead.

What does `native path opener is unsupported on <platform>` mean?

This computer offers Oda no way to open files through its desktop, so the app list comes back empty and nothing is launched. You can still work with the file inside Oda, for example in the side panel preview.