Open Files from Command Line on OS X
I'm as much of a fan of application UIs as anyone else but I'm finding myself working more and more from the command line lately. Much of that is becoming obsessed with media manipulation but I'm forcing myself to use less UIs so that I can understand what's under the hood of my favorite utilities.
One common case for running any app is opening an existing file, like an HTML file in a browser or a document in Pages. To open a file on Mac OS X from the command line, type the following:
open portrait.png
The above does not specify an app to open the given file in -- the default app for that file type will be used. To open a file in a specific app, use the -a argument:
open -a /Applications/Firefox.app portrait.png
You can also open a URL directly from the command line:
open https://davidwalsh.name/
You'd expect opening a file from command line to be easy and I'm happy to confirm to you that it is.
![Convert XML to JSON with JavaScript]()
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've been working on a super top secret mobile application using Appcelerator Titanium. The experience has been great: using JavaScript to create easy to write, easy to test, native mobile apps has been fun. My...
![Animated 3D Flipping Menu with CSS]()
CSS animations aren't just for basic fades or sliding elements anymore -- CSS animations are capable of much more. I've showed you how you can create an exploding logo (applied with JavaScript, but all animation is CSS), an animated Photo Stack, a sweet...
![HTML5 Context Menus]()
One of the hidden gems within the HTML5 spec is context menus. The HTML5 context menu spec allows developers to create custom context menus for given blocks within simple menu and menuitem elements. The menu information lives right within the page so...
![Xbox Live Gamer API]()
My sharpshooter status aside, I've always been surprised upset that Microsoft has never provided an API for the vast amount of information about users, the games they play, and statistics within the games. Namely, I'd like to publicly shame every n00b I've baptized with my...
I was just wondering how to do this, thanks!
When you use
-a, you don’t need to write the path.…would do the same. :)
The
-ahandler is great when you want to open some program one doesn’t really know (eg remember) exactly where it is.Like:
// that one is in /System/Library/CoreServices