1XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1)         xdg-desktop-icon Manual        XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1)
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NAME

6       xdg-desktop-icon - command line tool for (un)installing icons to the
7       desktop
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SYNOPSIS

10       xdg-desktop-icon install [--novendor] FILE
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12       xdg-desktop-icon uninstall FILE
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14       xdg-desktop-icon {--help | --manual | --version}
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DESCRIPTION

17       The xdg-desktop-icon program can be used to install an application
18       launcher or other file on the desktop of the current user.
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20       An application launcher is represented by a *.desktop file. Desktop
21       files are defined by the freedesktop.org Desktop Entry Specification.
22       The most important aspects of *.desktop files are summarized below.
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COMMANDS

25       install
26           Installs FILE to the desktop of the current user.  FILE can be a
27           *.desktop file or any other type of file.
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29       uninstall
30           Removes FILE from the desktop of the current user.
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OPTIONS

33       --novendor
34           Normally, xdg-desktop-icon checks to ensure that a *.desktop file
35           to be installed has a vendor prefix. This option can be used to
36           disable that check.
37
38           A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and is
39           terminated with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are
40           encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations
41           name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The
42           purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts.
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44       --help
45           Show command synopsis.
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47       --manual
48           Show this manual page.
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50       --version
51           Show the xdg-utils version information.
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DESKTOP FILES

54       An application launcher can be added to the desktop by installing a
55       *.desktop file. A *.desktop file consists of a [Desktop Entry] header
56       followed by several Key=Value lines.
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58       A *.desktop file can provide a name and description for an application
59       in several different languages. This is done by adding a language code
60       as used by LC_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the Key. This way one
61       can specify different values for the same Key depending on the
62       currently selected language.
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64       The following keys are often used:
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66       Type=Application
67           This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.desktop file
68           describes an application launcher.
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70       Name=Application Name
71           The name of the application. For example Mozilla
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73       GenericName=Generic Name
74           A generic description of the application. For example Web Browser
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76       Comment=Comment
77           Optional field to specify a tooltip for the application. For
78           example Visit websites on the Internet
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80       Icon=Icon File
81           The icon to use for the application. This can either be an absolute
82           path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided
83           an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme.
84           The xdg-icon-resource command can be used to install image files
85           into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an
86           absolute path is that with an icon-name the application icon can be
87           provided in several different sizes as well as in several
88           differently themed styles.
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90       Exec=Command Line
91           The command line to start the application. If the application can
92           open files the %f placeholder should be specified. When a file is
93           dropped on the application launcher the %f is replaced with the
94           file path of the dropped file. If multiple files can be specified
95           on the command line the %F placeholder should be used instead of
96           %f. If the application is able to open URLs in addition to local
97           files then %u or %U can be used instead of %f or %F.
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99       For a complete overview of the *.desktop file format please visit
100       http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec
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ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

103       xdg-desktop-icon honours the following environment variables:
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105       XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
106           Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value
107           makes xdg-desktop-icon do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting
108           a higher value increases the verbosity.
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EXIT CODES

111       An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code
112       indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:
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114       1
115           Error in command line syntax.
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117       2
118           One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.
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120       3
121           A required tool could not be found.
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123       4
124           The action failed.
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126       5
127           No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.
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SEE ALSO

130       xdg-icon-resource(1)
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EXAMPLES

133       The company ShinyThings Inc. has developed an application named
134       "WebMirror" and would like to add a launcher for for on the desktop.
135       The company will use "shinythings" as its vendor id. In order to add
136       the application to the desktop there needs to be a .desktop file for
137       the application:
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139           shinythings-webmirror.desktop:
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141             [Desktop Entry]
142             Encoding=UTF-8
143             Type=Application
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145             Exec=webmirror
146             Icon=shinythings-webmirror
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148             Name=WebMirror
149             Name[nl]=WebSpiegel
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151       Now the xdg-desktop-icon tool can be used to add the webmirror.desktop
152       file to the desktop:
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154           xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop
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156       To add a README file to the desktop as well, the following command can
157       be used:
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159           xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-README
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AUTHORS

163       Kevin Krammer
164           Author.
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166       Jeremy White
167           Author.
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170       Copyright © 2006
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174xdg-utils 1.0                     01/31/2020               XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1)
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