1XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1) xdg-desktop-menu Manual XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1)
2
6 xdg-desktop-menu - command line tool for (un)installing desktop menu
7 items
8
10 xdg-desktop-menu install [--noupdate] [--novendor] [--mode mode]
11 directory-file(s) desktop-file(s)
12 xdg-desktop-menu uninstall [--noupdate] [--mode mode] directory-file(s)
14 desktop-file(s)
15 xdg-desktop-menu forceupdate [--mode mode]
17 xdg-desktop-menu {--help | --manual | --version}
19
21 The xdg-desktop-menu program can be used to install new menu entries to
22 the desktop's application menu.
23 The application menu works according to the XDG Desktop Menu
25 Specification at
26 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/menu-spec
27
29 install
30 Install one or more applications in a submenu of the desktop menu
31 system.
32 desktop-file: A desktop file represents a single menu entry in the
34 menu. Desktop files are defined by the freedesktop.org Desktop
35 Entry Specification. The most important aspects of *.desktop files
36 are summarized below.
37 Menu entries can be added to the menu system in two different ways.
39 They can either be added to a predefined submenu in the menu system
40 based on one or more category keywords, or they can be added to a
41 new submenu.
42 To add a menu entry to a predefined submenu the desktop file that
44 represents the menu entry must have a Categories= entry that lists
45 one or more keywords. The menu item will be included in an
46 appropriate submenu based on the included keywords.
47 To add menu items to a new submenu the desktop-files must be
49 preceded by a directory-file that describes the submenu. If
50 multiple desktop-files are specified, all entries will be added to
51 the same menu. If entries are installed to a menu that has been
52 created with a previous call to xdg-desktop-menu the entries will
53 be installed in addition to any already existing entries.
54 directory-file: The *.directory file indicated by directory-file
56 represents a submenu. The directory file provides the name and icon
57 for a submenu. The name of the directory file is used to identify
58 the submenu.
59 If multiple directory files are provided each file will represent a
61 submenu within the menu that precedes it, creating a nested menu
62 hierarchy (sub-sub-menus). The menu entries themselves will be
63 added to the last submenu.
64 Directory files follow the syntax defined by the freedesktop.org
66 Desktop Entry Specification.
67 uninstall
69 Remove applications or submenus from the desktop menu system
70 previously installed with xdg-desktop-menu install.
71 A submenu and the associated directory file is only removed when
73 the submenu no longer contains any menu entries.
74 forceupdate
76 Force an update of the menu system.
77 This command is only useful if the last call to xdg-desktop-menu
79 included the --noupdate option.
80
82 --noupdate
83 Postpone updating the menu system. If multiple updates to the menu
84 system are made in sequence this flag can be used to indicate that
85 additional changes will follow and that it is not necessary to
86 update the menu system right away.
87 --novendor
89 Normally, xdg-desktop-menu checks to ensure that any *.directory
90 and *.desktop files to be installed has a vendor prefix. This
91 option can be used to disable that check.
92 A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and is
94 terminated with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are
95 encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations
96 name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The
97 purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts.
98 --mode mode
100 mode can be user or system. In user mode the file is (un)installed
101 for the current user only. In system mode the file is (un)installed
102 for all users on the system. Usually only root is allowed to
103 install in system mode.
104 The default is to use system mode when called by root and to use
106 user mode when called by a non-root user.
107 --help
109 Show command synopsis.
110 --manual
112 Show this manual page.
113 --version
115 Show the xdg-utils version information.
116
118 An application item in the application menu is represented by a
119 *.desktop file. A *.desktop file consists of a [Desktop Entry] header
120 followed by several Key=Value lines.
121 A *.desktop file can provide a name and description for an application
123 in several different languages. This is done by adding a language code
124 as used by LC_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the Key. This way one
125 can specify different values for the same Key depending on the
126 currently selected language.
127 The following keys are often used:
129 Type=Application
131 This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.desktop file
132 describes an application launcher.
133 Name=Application Name
135 The name of the application. For example Mozilla
136 GenericName=Generic Name
138 A generic description of the application. For example Web Browser
139 Comment=Comment
141 Optional field to specify a tooltip for the application. For
142 example Visit websites on the Internet
143 Icon=Icon File
145 The icon to use for the application. This can either be an absolute
146 path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided
147 an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme.
148 The xdg-icon-resource command can be used to install image files
149 into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an
150 absolute path is that with an icon-name the application icon can be
151 provided in several different sizes as well as in several
152 differently themed styles.
153 Exec=Command Line
155 The command line to start the application. If the application can
156 open files the %f placeholder should be specified. When a file is
157 dropped on the application launcher the %f is replaced with the
158 file path of the dropped file. If multiple files can be specified
159 on the command line the %F placeholder should be used instead of
160 %f. If the application is able to open URLs in addition to local
161 files then %u or %U can be used instead of %f or %F.
162 Categories=Categories
164 A list of categories separated by semi-colons. A category is a
165 keyword that describes and classifies the application. By default
166 applications are organized in the application menu based on
167 category. When menu entries are explicitly assigned to a new
168 submenu it is not necessary to list any categories.
169 When using categories it is recommended to include one of the
171 following categories: AudioVideo, Development, Education, Game,
172 Graphics, Network, Office, Settings, System, Utility.
173 See Appendix A of the XDG Desktop Menu Specification for
175 information about additional categories:
176 http://standards.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-1.0.html#category-registry
177 MimeType=Mimetypes
179 A list of mimetypes separated by semi-colons. This field is used to
180 indicate which file types the application is able to open.
181 For a complete overview of the *.desktop file format please visit
183 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec
184
186 The appearance of submenu in the application menu is provided by a
187 *.directory file. In particular it provides the title of the submenu
188 and a possible icon. A *.directory file consists of a [Desktop Entry]
189 header followed by several Key=Value lines.
190 A *.directory file can provide a title (name) for the submenu in
192 several different languages. This is done by adding a language code as
193 used by LC_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the Key. This way one can
194 specify different values for the same Key depending on the currently
195 selected language.
196 The following keys are relevant for submenus:
198 Type=Directory
200 This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.directory file
201 describes a submenu.
202 Name=Menu Name
204 The title of submenu. For example Mozilla
205 Comment=Comment
207 Optional field to specify a tooltip for the submenu.
208 Icon=Icon File
210 The icon to use for the submenu. This can either be an absolute
211 path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided
212 an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme.
213 The xdg-icon-resource command can be used to install image files
214 into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an
215 absolute path is that with an icon-name the submenu icon can be
216 provided in several different sizes as well as in several
217 differently themed styles.
218
220 xdg-desktop-menu honours the following environment variables:
221 XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
223 Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value
224 makes xdg-desktop-menu do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting
225 a higher value increases the verbosity.
226 XDG_UTILS_INSTALL_MODE
228 This environment variable can be used by the user or administrator
229 to override the installation mode. Valid values are user and
230 system.
231
233 An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code
234 indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:
235 1
237 Error in command line syntax.
238 2
240 One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.
241 3
243 A required tool could not be found.
244 4
246 The action failed.
247 5
249 No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.
250
252 xdg-desktop-icon(1), xdg-icon-resource(1), xdg-mime(1), Desktop entry
253 specification[1], Desktop menu specification[2]
254
256 The company ShinyThings Inc. has developed an application named
257 "WebMirror" and would like to add it to the application menu. The
258 company will use "shinythings" as its vendor id. In order to add the
259 application to the menu there needs to be a .desktop file with a
260 suitable Categories entry:
261 shinythings-webmirror.desktop:
263 [Desktop Entry]
265 Encoding=UTF-8
266 Type=Application
267 Exec=webmirror
269 Icon=webmirror
270 Name=WebMirror
272 Name[nl]=WebSpiegel
273 Categories=Network;WebDevelopment;
275 Now the xdg-desktop-menu tool can be used to add the
277 shinythings-webmirror.desktop file to the desktop application menu:
278 xdg-desktop-menu install ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop
280 Note that for the purpose of this example the menu items are available
282 in two languages, English and Dutch. The language code for Dutch is nl.
283 In the next example the company ShinyThings Inc. will add its own
285 submenu to the desktop application menu consisting of a "WebMirror"
286 menu item and a "WebMirror Admin Tool" menu item.
287 First the company needs to create two .desktop files that describe the
289 two menu items. Since the items are to be added to a new submenu it is
290 not necessary to include a Categories= line:
291 shinythings-webmirror.desktop:
293 [Desktop Entry]
295 Encoding=UTF-8
296 Type=Application
297 Exec=webmirror
299 Icon=shinythings-webmirror
300 Name=WebMirror
302 Name[nl]=WebSpiegel
303 shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop:
306 [Desktop Entry]
308 Encoding=UTF-8
309 Type=Application
310 Exec=webmirror-admintool
312 Icon=shinythings-webmirror-admintool
313 Name=WebMirror Admin Tool
315 Name[nl]=WebSpiegel Administratie Tool
316 In addition a .directory file needs to be created to provide a title
318 and icon for the sub-menu itself:
319 shinythings-webmirror.directory:
321 [Desktop Entry]
323 Encoding=UTF-8
324 Icon=shinythings-webmirror-menu
326 Name=WebMirror
328 Name[nl]=WebSpiegel
329 These file can now be installed with:
331 xdg-desktop-menu install ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
333 ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop ./shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop
334 The menu entries could also be installed one by one:
336 xdg-desktop-menu install --noupdate ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
338 ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop
339 xdg-desktop-menu install --noupdate ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
340 ./shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop
341 xdg-desktop-menu forceupdate
342 Although the result is the same it is slightly more efficient to
344 install all files at the same time.
345 The *.desktop and *.directory files reference icons with the names
347 webmirror, webmirror-admin and webmirror-menu which should also be
348 installed. In this example the icons are installed in two different
349 sizes, once with a size of 22x22 pixels and once with a size of 64x64
350 pixels:
351 xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-22.png shinythings-webmirror
353 xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-menu-22.png shinythings-webmirror-menu
354 xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-admin-22.png shinythings-webmirror-admin
355 xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-64.png shinythings-webmirror
356 xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-menu-64.png shinythings-webmirror-menu
357 xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-admin-64.png shinythings-webmirror-admin
358
361 Kevin Krammer
362 Author.
363 Jeremy White
365 Author.
366
368 Copyright © 2006
369
371 1. Desktop entry specification
372 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec/
373 2. Desktop menu specification
375 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/menu-spec/
376xdg-utils 1.0 07/25/2023 XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1)