ArcGIS Earth taking over KML/KMZ file associations

[ChrisAdams5]

Why is ArcGIS Earth forcing itself to be the default KML & KMZ document software, when I have explicitly asked Windows to open such files with different software?   After installing ArcGIS Earth (v1.6.1), it unexpectedly took over all files with kml and .kmz extensions on my Windows 10 machine, making itself the default software/editor associated with those files. It never asked for permission to change my file associations, and I didn't see any relevant options in the installer or settings dialog. I have since used the operating system settings to reset it to my preferred KML software, and within a few hours ArcGIS Earth always grabs the setting back. I tried to reset it several times, and always the same result... ArcGIS Earth forces itself to be the default KML/KMZ software.  Very frustrating.  Is anyone else seeing this?  Has anyone found a way to turn off this behavior?  

[XuewenZhang]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your feedback.

The setting option is in the <Admin Settings> part of the config.xml file which stored in your installation directory > bin folder.

You can change the isDefaultKmlViewer parameter in config.xml as False if you don't want to set ArcGIS Earth as the default KML viewer.

You also can get other configurable application parameters from Administrator configuration—ArcGIS Earth | ArcGIS 

Thanks,

Xuewen

[ChrisAdams5]

Hi Xuewen, Thanks for the quick reply. 

So I have to dig through and edit an XML config file?!  And it's in an Admin protected folder that I may or may not have write access to?  That seems sorta crazy to me... does ESRI expect normal users to be able to do that?   Why should I have to edit config files to restore "normal" app activity, when Windows has built-in tools to easily manage these kinds of settings??  Why doesn't ArcGIS Earth respect OS settings for file associations like every other application out there?  Hopefully this can be fixed in future versions. 

[Mandy_Li]

Hi Chris,

ArcGIS Earth enables administrator to use a configuration file and apply admin settings to all users in an organization. But it also supports non-admin users to pre-define the application behaviors through this config file.

If you install ArcGIS Earth as an administrator (all-users install), then the configuration file is by default in the C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Earth\bin folder. If you install ArcGIS Earth as a user (per-user install), then the configuration file is by default in the C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\ArcGIS\Earth\bin folder.

So in either way, you are able to find the config file and edit application parameters as needed. 

Hope this helps, 

Mandy

[ChrisAdams5]

Hi Xiaoxu, thank you for the additional information. 

Unfortunately both of those folders require Administrator privileges to edit files on my machine, as I suspect is the case with most managed installs.  

And my other questions still stand.  Why does ArcGIS Earth not just respect the operating system settings for file associations? An administrator could set those just as easily.  Why is the default behavior to steal back file associations that the user has explicitly set to other software?  

A seemingly reasonable setup would be for the config file to default to "false", so that most normal users would see the file association behavior they expect, and Administrators could override that if they choose to.  I could also see the ArcGIS Earth installer taking over file associations for KML and KMZ (preferably with an opt-in or opt-out checkbox), and have it change the setting once, but then respect the user's settings if they use the operating system to change the file associations to other software of their choice. As it is, ArcGIS Earth is behaving more like malware that keeps changing my Windows settings without my permission. Is there any way this could be changed? 

[ChrisAdams5]

Hi, Xiaoxu & Xuewen, 

I managed to get my config.xml file edited a couple weeks ago, and it seemed to help at first. Unfortunately what I'm seeing now is that even with <isDefaultKmlViewer value="False"/> in the config file, ArcGIS Earth still takes back the file associations every few days. This even happens when I have not run ArcGIS Earth during that time.  What can we do to fix this persistent override of the settings? 

Also, I'm still hoping for an answer to my other question... why does ArcGIS default to taking over file associations (instead of asking for permission during install), and then not allow changing it via the normal operating system tools? 

Thanks, -Chris

[Mandy_Li]

Hi Chris,

The application behaviour described in the first paragraph sounds like a bug to me, I will double check and to confirm.

The intension of the isDefaultKmlViewer parameter is to offer users the option to associate KML/KMZ files at install time, and was introduced on ArcGIS Earth 1.5. Allowing users to be able to would strength the configuration workflow as you mentioned. Will revisit and evalute relavant docs in our backlog for sure. Thank you for your feedback and input on this.

Thanks,

Xiaou

[XuewenZhang]

Hi Chris,

ArcGIS Earth V1.9 is already live and includes some enhancements for KML/KMZ file association. Could you help to check if your issue can be addressed in V1.9? Thanks

You can get ArcGIS Earth V1.9 from ArcGIS Earth | ArcGIS  

Thanks,

Xuewen

[ChrisAdams5]

Hi Xuewen, thanks for your message, I appreciate your letting me know about the new version of ArcGIS Earth.  

I installed it yesterday, and unfortunately the installer once again changed my file associations for both KML and KMZ files, without my permission.  This is not good app behavior. The installer should at least ask for my permission, or better yet let me select which file associations to change or not change.  

That said, some things have improved.  First, I was able to change my file associations back to my preferred KML software using the normal tools in Windows 10, and I did not have to edit some config file to do it.  Also, after changing the associations back, they seem to remain set as I want them, even after restarting the app a few times. Hopefully it stays that way.  

Hoping you can make future installers follow best practices, and ask permission to change file associations. 

Thanks, -Chris