table of contents
XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1) | xdg-desktop-icon Manual | XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1) |
NAME¶
xdg-desktop-icon - command line tool for (un)installing icons to the desktopSYNOPSIS¶
xdg-desktop-icon install [--novendor]
FILE
xdg-desktop-icon uninstall FILE
xdg-desktop-icon {--help | --manual |
--version}
DESCRIPTION¶
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.COMMANDS¶
installInstalls FILE to the desktop of the current user.
FILE can be a *.desktop file or any other type of file.
uninstall
Removes FILE from the desktop of the current
user.
OPTIONS¶
--novendorNormally, 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.
--help
Show command synopsis.
--manual
Show this manual page.
--version
Show the xdg-utils version information.
DESKTOP FILES¶
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: Value=1.0This 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.
For a complete overview of the *.desktop file format please visit
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES¶
xdg-desktop-icon honours the following environment variables: XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVELSetting 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.
EXIT CODES¶
An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned: 1Error 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-icon-resource(1)EXAMPLES¶
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
xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop
xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-README
AUTHORS¶
Kevin KrammerAuthor.
Jeremy White
Author.
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright © 200605/25/2018 | xdg-utils 1.0 |