View an attached FreeMind file

Androcles
When I try to view an attached FreeMind file (xxx.mm) by pressing the "View File ->" button on the right column, Zotero produces the file as an html page in the browser, instead of opening the file with the FreeMind program. This does not happen with a MindjetManager file (xxx.mmap); in this case, Zotero opens the file with the file's own program, MindjetManager (and the same happens with OpenOffice files, etc.).
I am working with Windows Vista, Firefox 2.0.0.13, FreeMind 0.9.0 Beta 16.

How can I have Zotero open the FF file directly with the FF program?
Many thanks for your help
  • Androcles
    P.S. more precisely, the page Zotero produces in the browser is an HTML code view of the FreeMind file.
  • sybille
    Hi,
    Firefox should be following the associations established by your OS when choosing which application to use to open files. I don't know how to check for file associations in Windows Vista, but it sounds like Windows is thinking that the MM file is an XML file or text file, and rendering it in that way. Which is not incorrect - Freemind does use a form of XML.

    I can tell you that I had to change the default file association for the MM extension in Linux in order to get the MM files associated with Freemind. Once I did that, Firefox opens my Freemind files with Freemind.

    In order to view your Freemind files in Firefox, you'd need some kind of plugin for Firefox that would render the XML as something other than text. I don't think there is such a plugin.

    However, it is possible to export your Freemind file in a format that Firefox or another Firefox plugin can read. This is something you'd need to do in Freemind, and there are several options. Freemind can export files as:
    HTML (which Firefox can read natively, of course)
    XHTML (with or without javascript, also can be read by Firefox)
    HTML with java applet (needs java plugin for Firefox)
    HTML with SWF (needs a flash player plugin for Firefox like Adobe's)
    PDF (needs a PDF reader plugin for Firefox)
    etc.

    So it's just a matter of choosing which format suits your needs the best, exporting that format from Freemind and then saving the resulting file in Zotero.

    It would be great if someday there would be some integration of Freemind and Zotero, both in terms of rendering the Freemind files in Firefox and in terms of how Zotero data can be exported to Freemind. But that's something for the future. Here's a link to an earlier discussion about Freemind and Zotero, if you haven't seen it: http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/1286/
  • dstillman
    ".mm" needs to be added to the _externalTextExtensions array in mime.js. This will force Zotero to launch the file through the OS even though it's an XML file. Ticket created, thanks.
  • Androcles
    Hi Sybille, Dan,
    many thanks for your answers. I see I'll have to wait for the enhancement as described in the ticket (it matches precisely what I want to work with). It is true that it is not a high priority enhancement (and there are workarounds), but I think it will make Zotero still more useful and nimble.
    I completely agree that integrating Freemind and Zotero would be great (especially, I suppose, for research work).
    Many thanks,again.
  • breckenr
    I strongly support this.
  • dstillman
    breckenr: There are other threads on FreeMind integration that may be what you're looking for, but this issue was fixed months ago. Is it not working for you?
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