A
ab5cvjl
I did the following.
I found a wmf file on my system, actually lots of them, in Visual Basic
6. I guessed that I could safely experiment with them.
I copied and renamed one as foo.wmf in my temp directory. I copied and
renamed it there foo.jpg.
I went into Irfanview and disassociated wmf from IV.
I tried to open foo.wmf from a Windows directory window, aka folder
window, and it asked me for a program with which to open it. That was
good.
But, then I tried to open foo.jpg from a directory window, and
Irfanview started and displayed a dialog box saying that the file was
actually a wmf file and asking me if I wanted to rename it. I had only
two choices, yes or no. Regardless of which I chose, Irfanview opened
the file. If the file had been corrupted, I might have been looking at
reinstalling Windows.
First problem, when Irfanview realizes that the file is not what the
extension says it is, the program should give you a third choice to
cancel to stop the process. The way it is now, once it tells you it is
a misnamed file, you can't do anything. You may be hosed. This looks
like a simple partial fix.
The more I think about it, the more I think this is the way it should
be. If a file is not what it says it is, do you really want to open
it? Probably not. The problem today is wmf files. Who knows what it
might be tomorrow?
Second problem, the misnamed jpg. The file gets rendered in the Open
box and in thumbnails. You could get hosed without even knowing it.
It seems like another partial solution here would be never to display a
thumbnail for a file where the extension does not match the file type.
Again, I think it ought to work that way.
That doesn't solve the problem of viewing a wmf file without realizing
it. That could happen if you save images from usenet or the web in a
directory for later viewing. Although, if you do that, you could check
the directory extensions before viewing the file.
You need to be able to tell Irfanview not to display a particular file
type, wmf. I haven't found a way to do that.
It looks to me like there is no way to avoid changing the program and
waiting for a Microsoft fix. The same problem could arise with another
file type tomorrow. Users need some sort or workaround until patch
day. Also, many people use Win 98, and who knows if Microsoft will fix
Win 98. For that matter, who knows if Microsoft will actually fix it
for XP?
It looks like, as it is now, you shouldn't use Irfanview with unknown
images, those you didn't take yourself or come from usenet binary
groups.
I found a wmf file on my system, actually lots of them, in Visual Basic
6. I guessed that I could safely experiment with them.
I copied and renamed one as foo.wmf in my temp directory. I copied and
renamed it there foo.jpg.
I went into Irfanview and disassociated wmf from IV.
I tried to open foo.wmf from a Windows directory window, aka folder
window, and it asked me for a program with which to open it. That was
good.
But, then I tried to open foo.jpg from a directory window, and
Irfanview started and displayed a dialog box saying that the file was
actually a wmf file and asking me if I wanted to rename it. I had only
two choices, yes or no. Regardless of which I chose, Irfanview opened
the file. If the file had been corrupted, I might have been looking at
reinstalling Windows.
First problem, when Irfanview realizes that the file is not what the
extension says it is, the program should give you a third choice to
cancel to stop the process. The way it is now, once it tells you it is
a misnamed file, you can't do anything. You may be hosed. This looks
like a simple partial fix.
The more I think about it, the more I think this is the way it should
be. If a file is not what it says it is, do you really want to open
it? Probably not. The problem today is wmf files. Who knows what it
might be tomorrow?
Second problem, the misnamed jpg. The file gets rendered in the Open
box and in thumbnails. You could get hosed without even knowing it.
It seems like another partial solution here would be never to display a
thumbnail for a file where the extension does not match the file type.
Again, I think it ought to work that way.
That doesn't solve the problem of viewing a wmf file without realizing
it. That could happen if you save images from usenet or the web in a
directory for later viewing. Although, if you do that, you could check
the directory extensions before viewing the file.
You need to be able to tell Irfanview not to display a particular file
type, wmf. I haven't found a way to do that.
It looks to me like there is no way to avoid changing the program and
waiting for a Microsoft fix. The same problem could arise with another
file type tomorrow. Users need some sort or workaround until patch
day. Also, many people use Win 98, and who knows if Microsoft will fix
Win 98. For that matter, who knows if Microsoft will actually fix it
for XP?
It looks like, as it is now, you shouldn't use Irfanview with unknown
images, those you didn't take yourself or come from usenet binary
groups.