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 desktop
SYNOPSIS¶
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¶
install
uninstall
OPTIONS¶
--novendor
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
--manual
--version
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:
Type=Application
Name=Application Name
GenericName=Generic Name
Comment=Comment
Icon=Icon File
Exec=Command Line
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_LEVEL
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
2
3
4
5
SEE ALSO¶
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
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
AUTHORS¶
Kevin Krammer
Jeremy White
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright © 2006
04/06/2021 | xdg-utils 1.0 |