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xdg−desktop−icon − command line tool for (un)installing icons to the desktop |
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xdg−desktop−icon install [−−novendor] FILE |
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xdg−desktop−icon uninstall FILE |
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xdg−desktop−icon {−−help −−manual −−version} |
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The xdg−desktop−icon program can be used to install an application launcher or other file on the desktop of the current user. An application launcher is represented by a *.desktop file. Desktop files are defined by the freedesktop.org Desktop Entry Specification. The most important aspects of *.desktop files are summarized below. |
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install |
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Installs FILE to the desktop of the current user. FILE can be a *.desktop file or any other type of file. |
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uninstall |
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Removes FILE from the desktop of the current user. |
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−−novendor |
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Normally, xdg−desktop−icon checks to ensure that a *.desktop file 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. |
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−−help |
Show command synopsis. |
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−−manual |
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Show this manualpage. |
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−−version |
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Show the xdg−utils version information. |
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An application launcher can be added to the desktop by installing 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: |
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Value=1.0 |
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This is a mandatory field to indicate that the *.desktop file follows the 1.0 version of the specification. |
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Type=Application |
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This is a mandatory field that indicates that the *.desktop file describes an application launcher. |
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Name=Application Name |
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The name of the application. For example Mozilla |
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GenericName=Generic Name |
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A generic description of the application. For example Web Browser |
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Comment=Comment |
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Optional field to specify a tooltip for the application. For example Visit websites on the Internet |
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Icon=Icon File |
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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. |
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Exec=Command Line |
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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. |
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For a complete oveview of the *.desktop file format please visit http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Standards/desktop−entry−spec |
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xdg−desktop−icon honours the following environment variables: |
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XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL |
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Setting this environment variable to a non−zero numerical value makes xdg−desktop−icon do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting a higher value increases the verbosity. |
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An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non−zero exit code indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned: |
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1 |
Error in command line syntax. |
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2 |
One of the files passed on the command line did not exist. |
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3 |
A required tool could not be found. |
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4 |
The action failed. |
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5 |
No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line. |
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xdg−icon−resource(1) |
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The company ShinyThings Inc. has developed an application named "WebMirror" and would like to add a launcher for for on the desktop. The company will use "shinythings" as its vendor id. In order to add the application to the desktop there needs to be a .desktop file for the application: shinythings−webmirror.desktop: [Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF−8 Type=Application Exec=webmirror Icon=shinythings−webmirror Name=WebMirror Name[nl]=WebSpiegel Now the xdg−desktop−icon tool can be used to add the webmirror.desktop file to the desktop: xdg−desktop−icon install ./shinythings−webmirror.desktop To add a README file to the desktop as well, the following command can be used: xdg−desktop−icon install ./shinythings−README |
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Kevin Krammer, Jeremy White. |