Creating Shortcut Icons on the desktop

[ThatWikiGuy]

its the .desktop files i forget to back-up

[Leven2e]

I would like to create a shortcut by modifying the browser's desktop file with the aim of starting a game-add on ("Cards") straight away from the desktop,without the need of starting up Bon Echo first and clicking on the Tools>Cards.Is there any other way?
I tried some ways,but failed so far.
What should I put after this line?:
Exec=/mozopt/bin/firefox

If you could help or think you have an idea please let me know!
Thanks,
Levi

[ThatWikiGuy]

when you click on cards does to open a tab to somthing like chrome://cards?

[Leven2e]

hey,thanx for ur suggestions,I think I have tried that (or very similar),as soon as my gets off of the 1T,I will try anyway!
Edit: no,nothing happened.

[ThatWikiGuy]

could just install the
cards program in the games topic on this forum

[Leven2e]

why should I? It's not about the game,it's about how to create a shortcut-in this case for a Firefox add-on

[oldbloke]

You need to create a .desktop file in share/applications

The easiest way to do an internet shortcut is to edit the web browser file

Simply add the url to the end of the Exec entry and change the Name entry

So for Google mine reads, 'Exec=/mozopt/bin/firefox http://www.google.co.uk' & 'Name=Google' (not sure if you need the http), you could change the icon too.

Don't forget to save it back with a different filename 


This will actually work to pass parameters to any app. I have made one to launch Midnight Commander using the xTerm file. Changed the Exec line to 'Exec=/usr/bin/xterm -geometry 130x37 mc' and the Name entry to 'Name=Midnight Commander'

Garry,
Thanks for this info.
I have a OneT+, currently running the great new 3MX distro from WickNix. This method does not appear to work with 3MX
I want to create desktop icons for the GameBoy Colour games which run on the emulator included within 3MX so that our Grandchildren can use the games easily, without having to bother "Grandad" every time they want to play a different game 
I have edited a .desktop file so that the EXEC line reads /usr/games/sdlgnuboy --scale=2 /SD/SD_1/Roms/Aladdin.gbc (for example)
but the icon does not appear anywhere that I can see, even after reboot.
Would you have any suggestions.
TIA
Martin

[wicknix]

oldbloke, you are on the right track, but are missing just a wee bit for it to work. The /share/applications directory holds the .desktop files, but to use them on 3MX copy them to /root/Desktop to be able to see them.

You also may want to add --samplerate=11000 to gain a little better performance by chopping sound quality in half.

Cheers.

[oldbloke]

Matt,
Thank you, that works great.
Next question......how do I get them to appear in the menu, under Games? 
I don't pretend to understand this stuff, but am fumbling my way around. 

Can anyone explain the strange characters against the "Name=" entry of some .desktop files?
Or, alternatively post a basic .desktop file for me to use. I'm not confident about what to leave in and what to take out of the ones I am copying across!

TIA
Martin

[edit] Oh! and what form should the .png files for the game icons be i.e. colour depth, size etc. can I produce them on an XP machine?  [/edit]

[ThatWikiGuy]

Matt,
Thank you, that works great.
Next question......how do I get them to appear in the menu, under Games? 
I don't pretend to understand this stuff, but am fumbling my way around. 

Can anyone explain the strange characters against the "Name=" entry of some .desktop files?
Or, alternatively post a basic .desktop file for me to use. I'm not confident about what to leave in and what to take out of the ones I am copying across!

TIA
Martin

[edit] Oh! and what form should the .png files for the game icons be i.e. colour depth, size etc. can I produce them on an XP machine?  [/edit]

png's can be any type (i think) size? best to have square shape any size on elonex it resizes, best to include transparency

[oldbloke]

png's can be any type (i think) size? best to have square shape any size on elonex it resizes, best to include transparency

Thanks for that.
Grabbed some images from Google, tweaked 'em in paint and they look good 
The Grandchildren will be over the moon. (well, to be honest so am I 'cos I found Space Invaders for the Gameboy Colour  )
Desktop could get a little overcrowded with games though, so it would be good if I knew how to get them in the Menu system.......hint, hint!

Martin

[wicknix]

It's fairly easy to add them to the menu, so long as you aren't afraid of a text editor.

First i'd suggest making a backup of jwmrc just in case you should botch the syntax up, which could leave your menu unusable. In xterm type this: cp /etc/jwm/jwmrc /etc/jwm/jwmrc.bk

Now open /etc/jwm/jwmrc in an editor of your choice. I'd suggest creating a new menu entry called "Gameboy" if you have alot of games so you dont overload the "Games" folder. So to do this scroll down just past the "Games" entry (it should make sense once you are looking at the file as to what i'm talking about). Now after the xgalaga entry you'll see </Menu> That signifies the end of the "Games" folder. Now hit enter to start youself just under that </Menu> tag.

Add the following:
<Menu icon="folder.png" label="Gameboy">
      <Program icon="whatever-icon-you-want.png" label="Name-of-game">/usr/games/sdlgnuboy --scale=2 --samplerate=11000 /SD/SD_1/roms/name-of-rom.gbc</Program>
      <Program= blah blah blah blah</Program>    (keep doing this until your done adding games)
</Menu>  (closes the gameboy folder)

Save the file and reboot. If you didn't mess up the syntax any it should work

If by chance you messed up copy the backup jwmrc back to restore the original. cp /etc/jwm/jwmrc.bk /etc/jwm/jwmrc

Also .png can be any shape/size/color. The desktop icons are auto sized to 48x48 on the desktop.

As for a the basics needed in a .desktop file, here ya go:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Name of app
Exec=/path/to/executable
Icon=some-icon.png
Type=Application

Thats it, dont need more than that.

Cheers.

[oldbloke]

Matt,
That is a very full answer, just right for an old fart like me 

It works a treat. Good job I backed up jwmrc as you advised, 'cos I must have screwed something at the first attempt; ended up with no Menu 
All good now.

Thanks a bunch for the info, and a really big THANK YOU for 3MX, it has made the LLL come alive.

Martin

[ThatWikiGuy]

Matt,
That is a very full answer, just right for an old fart like me 

It works a treat. Good job I backed up jwmrc as you advised, 'cos I must have screwed something at the first attempt; ended up with no Menu 
All good now.

Thanks a bunch for the info, and a really big THANK YOU for 3MX, it has made the LLL come alive.

Martin

Ow, man, 3MX sounds so cool, i wish i could get my laptop fixed, i there a small linux distrib that simular to 3MX, or would wicknix be willing to make a x86 3MX? (which open the standard install file for linux)

[utd_grant]

Ow, man, 3MX sounds so cool, i wish i could get my laptop fixed, i there a small linux distrib that simular to 3MX, or would wicknix be willing to make a x86 3MX? (which open the standard install file for linux)

Any of the small x86 Linux distros are very similar to 3MX, and will run on low-spec x86-based laptops. There's Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux and Xubuntu for starters.

I run Xubuntu on my old Dell 800MHz laptop, and it's very responsive. The great advantage of Xubuntu for me is having the Synaptic package manager combined with Ubuntu's huge repositories. If you can't find the software you want in there, you won't find it anywhere ! As with Ubuntu, you can download a Live CD which you can boot directly without having to install anything on your hard drive.