Coming over from windows again. I’ve got pretty much everything figured out. I even got a VM going with my CAD software so I don’t need to switch between Windows! I was super proud of myself on that one. The last thing I’m having trouble with…

I use pdfxchange for my PDF editor. It works great in wine but they don’t have a specific Linux release. (If there is a good PDF editor that is Linux native let me know, I need good Mark up and dimensioning tools that can scale off of the drawings). I’m trying to set it to open PDFs by default but can’t figure it out. Does someone have a good (easy) way to do it?

  • BlindFrog@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    TLDR, scroll down to the script. Make a .sh file, allow it to run as a program, set it as your default program to open whatever filetype

    Navigate to the appropriate/your favorite folder to store portable applications. Make the below script as a new file called WhateverYouWant.sh
    Fellow newbies, the .sh is important.
    Then set this .sh file’s permissions to allow executing this file as a Program; may differ by distro.

    Mint Cinnamon 21: right click your shell script file, Properties > Permissions > check on “Allow executing file as program”. Then find a PDF file (or whatever filetype), right click, Open With > ‘Other Application…’ > browse for this .sh file you just made.
    After selecting this .sh file, be sure to select “Set as default” before clicking OK.
    I could not tell you for the life of me why this didn’t work with a .desktop file on Mint 21.

    #!/bin/bash
    # Script to set a windows application (that runs through WINE) as the default to open PDF files:
    # PURPOSE: To convert Linux-style filename to Windows-style
    # to pass as an argument to wine when starting PDF XChange Viewer
    Filename="z:"${1//\//\\}
    # Assuming you use the default installation folder for PDF
    # XChange Viewer in Wine
    App='eval wine "C:\users\yourusername\Filepath\To\Your\PDFXEdit.exe" "'$Filename'"'
    $App
    # Adapted originally from:
    # http://sodeve.net/foxit-reader-on-ubuntu-linux-through-wine/
    # Archive.org'd at: \https://web.archive.org/web/20160918205551/http://sodeve.net/2007/12/foxit-reader-on-ubuntu-linux-through-wine/
    # Additional credit in 2024:
    # https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=153092
    # https://web.archive.org/web/20150213210206/http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=173574#p173574
    # https://web.archive.org/web/20150213210203/http://www.fsavard.com/flow/2009/03/pdf-annotation-under-linux-with-wine-and-pdf-xchange-viewer/

    You can also check the appropriate windows-formatted filepath with Winetricks, using its built in windows File Explorer, finding your .exe, and copying the path starting from "C:".

    I spent the past few hours down the wrong rabbit holes with .desktop and exec=wine ‘filepaths’ and just about died of asphyxiation from absolutely nothing happening. I’ve been wanting to do the same thing too for a while, but decided that right before bedtime was the perfect time to look it up.

  • communism@lemmy.ml
    0·
    3 months ago

    LibreOffice Draw can edit PDFs. For just a pdf reader, I use Zathura, though it may not be for you since it’s very keyboard-based so might be confusing to someone coming from Windows. I think Cinnamon must come with a default pdf reader right?

    • tyrant@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      Yeah I can read them fine but for work I need to be able to mark them up and modify them. It has to be powerful with Mark up tools and most importantly I need to be able to dimension things to scale.

      • communism@lemmy.ml
        0·
        3 months ago

        Like I said, LibreOffice Draw can edit PDFs. Try it out and see if it’s suitable for your needs

    • tyrant@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      It looks like I can create a custom command but can’t figure out what that would be. I’m Linux terminal illiterate for the most part.

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    For PDFEditor, the best option is OnlyOffice, not libreoffice. You can download an appimage on their website to test that out.

    Also, for CAD, consider giving QCAD a go (if it’s 2D cad/cam you’re after). If it’s 3D cad, consider the free version of OndSel, a more sane version of Freecad.

      • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        A lot. The UI blows. Which is why there is a commercial version of freecad that fixes exactly that. If there wasn’t an issue with the UI, they wouldn’t have a case for a commercial product. But they do, and they do rather well. There’s even a youtube video about the two apps, by a professional cad person who tries many new cad apps. When he eventually made a video on freecad, he couldn’t believe that people used it in that condition. In the comments, he was directed on Ondsel, and he tried it a few weeks later. He found it way more usable, even if it’s just freecad underneath. And I agree with his assessment.

  • BaalInvoker@lemmy.eco.br
    0·
    3 months ago

    If you click with right button over a PDF, select “open with…” doesn’t it show an option to select default app?

    I don’t know cinnamon very well, but I think this is possible