One interesting use of xdg-open I have found is writing tutorials with embedded xdg-open hyperlinks to downloaded scripts which can run commands. So...
In theory, xdg-open will look at the MIME type of any file, then open the correct application, passing in the data file to be used. This is how file...
Just saw that halogen2 made the suggestion below, but since I'd already typed it, perhaps from a different angle, it will add to understand the tool?...