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Expert-007's avatar
Expert-007
New member | Level 2
2 years ago

Telling DB about text files with different file types

I maintain a large collection of notes as text files named *.notes (I use Emacs "outline mode" to edit them).  I can't find any way to tell Dropbox that they are text files and therefore it both preview them and open them in Dropbox Text Editor.  Help!


  • Expert-007 wrote:

    I maintain a large collection of notes as text files named *.notes ...  I can't find any way to tell Dropbox that they are text files and therefore it both preview them and open them in Dropbox Text Editor.


    There is no option to do that. You can see a list of the file types that preview as a text file in the following help article:

     

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Expert-007 wrote:

    I maintain a large collection of notes as text files named *.notes ...  I can't find any way to tell Dropbox that they are text files and therefore it both preview them and open them in Dropbox Text Editor.


    There is no option to do that. You can see a list of the file types that preview as a text file in the following help article:

     

    • mbperezpinilla's avatar
      mbperezpinilla
      Explorer | Level 4

       


      Rich wrote:

      Expert-007 wrote:

      I maintain a large collection of notes as text files named *.notes ...  I can't find any way to tell Dropbox that they are text files and therefore it both preview them and open them in Dropbox Text Editor.


      There is no option to do that. You can see a list of the file types that preview as a text file in the following help article:

       


      Why there is no option? A text file is... a text file regardless of its name.

      • Rich's avatar
        Rich
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

        mbperezpinilla wrote:

        A text file is... a text file regardless of its name.


        True, a text file is a text file regardless of its name, but not regardless of its file extension, at least according to the system handling the file. A file's extension is what most systems use to determine the file's type so they know how to open/handle the file, and Dropbox doesn't recognize .notes as a valid extension for a text file.

         

        Save the files using one of the extensions that Dropbox will preview as a text file, and Dropbox will be able to handle the files as a text file. If you want them to consider adding .notes as a recognized extension, you can request it here.

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