microsoft / microsoft/terminal

Add functionality to settings `Open JSON file` entry to open the settings.json parent folder in Explorer

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Area-SettingsUI good first issue Help Wanted In-PR Issue-Task Product-Terminal
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Description

# Description of the new feature/enhancement

*(this is a follow up to this issue #1460)*

I have Windows Terminal latest stable, v1.12.10334.0 , on win11.

Currently, in the dropdown menu | 'Settings', there's an `Open JSON file` entry, clicking which opens the settings.json file only if the user has associated the .json file type with an installed editor, otherwise it shows the "Do you want to open this file?" windows dialog .

screen capture:

![](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/723651/152614540-bc2294dc-597e-4f37-a8a9-c0a9589e5197.gif)

If you close the dialog, in order to manage to open the settings.json file manually, you'll have to look in the project [wiki FAQ](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions-(FAQ)#where-can-i-find-the-settings-file) to find its location/path - there's no related info shown inside the app.

So, my suggestion is add functionality to "Open JSON file" settings entry to open the settings.json parent folder in Explorer.

# Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

In details, my suggestion is, when clicking the `Open JSON file` entry, instead of attempting to open settings.json with the associated editor, to display a menu with two entries:
- `Open settings.json with associated editor`
- `Open parent folder of settings.json in Explorer` (in order to be able to open it manually).

 
Or, alternatively/more simply, keep the current behavior (=attempt to open the file with the associated editor when leftclicking the "Open JSON file" entry), but when *rightclicking* it, to open its parent folder in file explorer (and update the entry `tooltip` respectively).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start at the Windows Terminal Settings dropdown and its `Open JSON file` entry; inspect how it currently opens settings.json and how the parent folder could be opened in Explorer. Done means the entry supports opening the file's parent folder while preserving or clearly exposing the existing associated-editor behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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