XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1)         xdg-desktop-menu Manual        XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1)



NAME
       xdg-desktop-menu - command line tool for (un)installing desktop menu
       items

SYNOPSIS
       xdg-desktop-menu install [--noupdate] [--novendor] [--mode mode]
                        directory-file(s) desktop-file(s)

       xdg-desktop-menu uninstall [--noupdate] [--mode mode] directory-file(s)
                        desktop-file(s)

       xdg-desktop-menu forceupdate [--mode mode]

       xdg-desktop-menu {--help | --manual | --version}

DESCRIPTION
       The xdg-desktop-menu program can be used to install new menu entries to
       the desktop's application menu.

       The application menu works according to the XDG Desktop Menu
       Specification at
       http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/menu-spec

COMMANDS
       install
           Install one or more applications in a submenu of the desktop menu
           system.

           desktop-file: A desktop file represents a single menu entry in the
           menu. Desktop files are defined by the freedesktop.org Desktop
           Entry Specification. The most important aspects of *.desktop files
           are summarized below.

           Menu entries can be added to the menu system in two different ways.
           They can either be added to a predefined submenu in the menu system
           based on one or more category keywords, or they can be added to a
           new submenu.

           To add a menu entry to a predefined submenu the desktop file that
           represents the menu entry must have a Categories= entry that lists
           one or more keywords. The menu item will be included in an
           appropriate submenu based on the included keywords.

           To add menu items to a new submenu the desktop-files must be
           preceded by a directory-file that describes the submenu. If
           multiple desktop-files are specified, all entries will be added to
           the same menu. If entries are installed to a menu that has been
           created with a previous call to xdg-desktop-menu the entries will
           be installed in addition to any already existing entries.

           directory-file: The *.directory file indicated by directory-file
           represents a submenu. The directory file provides the name and icon
           for a submenu. The name of the directory file is used to identify
           the submenu.

           If multiple directory files are provided each file will represent a
           submenu within the menu that precedes it, creating a nested menu
           hierarchy (sub-sub-menus). The menu entries themselves will be
           added to the last submenu.

           Directory files follow the syntax defined by the freedesktop.org
           Desktop Entry Specification.

       uninstall
           Remove applications or submenus from the desktop menu system
           previously installed with xdg-desktop-menu install.

           A submenu and the associated directory file is only removed when
           the submenu no longer contains any menu entries.

       forceupdate
           Force an update of the menu system.

           This command is only useful if the last call to xdg-desktop-menu
           included the --noupdate option.

OPTIONS
       --noupdate
           Postpone updating the menu system. If multiple updates to the menu
           system are made in sequence this flag can be used to indicate that
           additional changes will follow and that it is not necessary to
           update the menu system right away.

       --novendor
           Normally, xdg-desktop-menu checks to ensure that any *.directory
           and *.desktop files to be installed has a vendor prefix. This
           option can be used to disable that check.

           A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and is
           terminated with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are
           encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations
           name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The
           purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts.

       --mode mode
           mode can be user or system. In user mode the file is (un)installed
           for the current user only. In system mode the file is (un)installed
           for all users on the system. Usually only root is allowed to
           install in system mode.

           The default is to use system mode when called by root and to use
           user mode when called by a non-root user.

       --help
           Show command synopsis.

       --manual
           Show this manual page.

       --version
           Show the xdg-utils version information.

DESKTOP FILES
       An application item in the application menu is represented by a
       *.desktop file. A *.desktop file consists of a [Desktop Entry] header
       followed by several Key=Value lines.

       A *.desktop file can provide a name and description for an application
       in several different languages. This is done by adding a language code
       as used by LC_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the Key. This way one
       can specify different values for the same Key depending on the
       currently selected language.

       The following keys are often used:

       Value=1.0
           This is a mandatory field to indicate that the *.desktop file
           follows the 1.0 version of the specification.

       Type=Application
           This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.desktop file
           describes an application launcher.

       Name=Application Name
           The name of the application. For example Mozilla

       GenericName=Generic Name
           A generic description of the application. For example Web Browser

       Comment=Comment
           Optional field to specify a tooltip for the application. For
           example Visit websites on the Internet

       Icon=Icon File
           The icon to use for the application. This can either be an absolute
           path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided
           an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme.
           The xdg-icon-resource command can be used to install image files
           into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an
           absolute path is that with an icon-name the application icon can be
           provided in several different sizes as well as in several
           differently themed styles.

       Exec=Command Line
           The command line to start the application. If the application can
           open files the %f placeholder should be specified. When a file is
           dropped on the application launcher the %f is replaced with the
           file path of the dropped file. If multiple files can be specified
           on the command line the %F placeholder should be used instead of
           %f. If the application is able to open URLs in addition to local
           files then %u or %U can be used instead of %f or %F.

       Categories=Categories
           A list of categories separated by semi-colons. A category is a
           keyword that describes and classifies the application. By default
           applications are organized in the application menu based on
           category. When menu entries are explicitly assigned to a new
           submenu it is not necessary to list any categories.

           When using categories it is recommended to include one of the
           following categories: AudioVideo, Development, Education, Game,
           Graphics, Network, Office, Settings, System, Utility.

           See Appendix A of the XDG Desktop Menu Specification for
           information about additional categories:
           http://standards.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-1.0.html#category-registry

       MimeType=Mimetypes
           A list of mimetypes separated by semi-colons. This field is used to
           indicate which file types the application is able to open.

       For a complete overview of the *.desktop file format please visit
       http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec

DIRECTORY FILES
       The appearance of submenu in the application menu is provided by a
       *.directory file. In particular it provides the title of the submenu
       and a possible icon. A *.directory file consists of a [Desktop Entry]
       header followed by several Key=Value lines.

       A *.directory file can provide a title (name) for the submenu in
       several different languages. This is done by adding a language code as
       used by LC_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the Key. This way one can
       specify different values for the same Key depending on the currently
       selected language.

       The following keys are relevant for submenus:

       Value=1.0
           This is a mandatory field to indicate that the *.directory file
           follows the 1.0 version of the Desktop Entry specification.

       Type=Directory
           This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.directory file
           describes a submenu.

       Name=Menu Name
           The title of submenu. For example Mozilla

       Comment=Comment
           Optional field to specify a tooltip for the submenu.

       Icon=Icon File
           The icon to use for the submenu. This can either be an absolute
           path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided
           an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme.
           The xdg-icon-resource command can be used to install image files
           into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an
           absolute path is that with an icon-name the submenu icon can be
           provided in several different sizes as well as in several
           differently themed styles.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       xdg-desktop-menu honours the following environment variables:

       XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
           Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value
           makes xdg-desktop-menu do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting
           a higher value increases the verbosity.

       XDG_UTILS_INSTALL_MODE
           This environment variable can be used by the user or administrator
           to override the installation mode. Valid values are user and
           system.

EXIT CODES
       An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code
       indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:

       1
           Error in command line syntax.

       2
           One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.

       3
           A required tool could not be found.

       4
           The action failed.

       5
           No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.

SEE ALSO
       xdg-desktop-icon(1), xdg-icon-resource(1), xdg-mime(1)

EXAMPLES
       The company ShinyThings Inc. has developed an application named
       "WebMirror" and would like to add it to the application menu. The
       company will use "shinythings" as its vendor id. In order to add the
       application to the menu there needs to be a .desktop file with a
       suitable Categories entry:

           shinythings-webmirror.desktop:

             [Desktop Entry]
             Encoding=UTF-8
             Type=Application

             Exec=webmirror
             Icon=webmirror

             Name=WebMirror
             Name[nl]=WebSpiegel

             Categories=Network;WebDevelopment;

       Now the xdg-desktop-menu tool can be used to add the
       shinythings-webmirror.desktop file to the desktop application menu:

           xdg-desktop-menu install ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop

       Note that for the purpose of this example the menu items are available
       in two languages, English and Dutch. The language code for Dutch is nl.

       In the next example the company ShinyThings Inc. will add its own
       submenu to the desktop application menu consisting of a "WebMirror"
       menu item and a "WebMirror Admin Tool" menu item.

       First the company needs to create two .desktop files that describe the
       two menu items. Since the items are to be added to a new submenu it is
       not necessary to include a Categories= line:

           shinythings-webmirror.desktop:

             [Desktop Entry]
             Encoding=UTF-8
             Type=Application

             Exec=webmirror
             Icon=shinythings-webmirror

             Name=WebMirror
             Name[nl]=WebSpiegel


           shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop:

             [Desktop Entry]
             Encoding=UTF-8
             Type=Application

             Exec=webmirror-admintool
             Icon=shinythings-webmirror-admintool

             Name=WebMirror Admin Tool
             Name[nl]=WebSpiegel Administratie Tool

       In addition a .directory file needs to be created to provide a title
       and icon for the sub-menu itself:

           shinythings-webmirror.directory:

             [Desktop Entry]
             Encoding=UTF-8

             Icon=shinythings-webmirror-menu

             Name=WebMirror
             Name[nl]=WebSpiegel

       These file can now be installed with:

           xdg-desktop-menu install ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
                 ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop ./shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop

       The menu entries could also be installed one by one:

           xdg-desktop-menu install --noupdate ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
                 ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop
           xdg-desktop-menu install --noupdate ./shinythings-webmirror.directory \
                 ./shinythings-webmirror-admin.desktop
           xdg-desktop-menu forceupdate

       Although the result is the same it is slightly more efficient to
       install all files at the same time.

       The *.desktop and *.directory files reference icons with the names
       webmirror, webmirror-admin and webmirror-menu which should also be
       installed. In this example the icons are installed in two different
       sizes, once with a size of 22x22 pixels and once with a size of 64x64
       pixels:

           xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-22.png shinythings-webmirror
           xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-menu-22.png shinythings-webmirror-menu
           xdg-icon-resource install --size 22 ./wmicon-admin-22.png shinythings-webmirror-admin
           xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-64.png shinythings-webmirror
           xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-menu-64.png shinythings-webmirror-menu
           xdg-icon-resource install --size 64 ./wmicon-admin-64.png shinythings-webmirror-admin


AUTHORS
       Kevin Krammer
           Author.

       Jeremy White
           Author.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2006



xdg-utils 1.0                     02/20/2015               XDG-DESKTOP-MENU(1)
