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Launchers

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

John 14:6 (NHEB)

A launcher makes items quickly accessible. They launch applications, documents, webpages and more. Also known as shortcuts; launchers provide faster, easier access to the the things they point to. And launchers may be almost anywhere – on the Desktop, in the menu, in the panel, in folders…

A (sample) Multimedia Menu


Anatomy of a Launcher:

[Desktop Entry] the type of file a launcher is; a desktop entry file.
Name=Name of the launcher and / or thing it points to
Comment=Description shown when the cursor hovers over it (tooltip)
Exec=Command to open the application, start the process, etc.
Terminal=Does this thing run in a Terminal; true or false?
Type=Kind of launcher; usually an Application (sometimes a directory, etc.)
Icon=Name of (and maybe the path to) the icon or other image file
Categories=Where it'll show (under what sub-menu) in the menu

Note: all non-English references were removed for space considerations


12 Apostles Quiz & Memory Game


Launcher for the 12 Apostles Quiz & Memory Game, included in C4C Ubuntu.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=12 Apostles
Comment=12 Apostels Quiz & Memory Game
Icon=/usr/share/christian/icons/The12.png
Exec=ruffle /usr/share/christian/12-apostles/The_Twelve_Apostles.swf
Actions=Categories=christian-local;
The Twelve Apostles Quiz and Memory Games is copyright © 2006-2012 by MMBOX PRODUCTION and used by Computers4Christians with expressed written permission.
MusicBrainz Picard


Launcher for MusicBrainz Picard, a music tagger and organizer. MusicBrainz Picard is available in Gnome Software as a .deb or Flatpak (or snap).

[[Desktop Entry]
Name=MusicBrainz Picard
Comment=Tag your music with the next generation MusicBrainz tagger
Exec=picard %F
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=Picard
Icon=org.musicbrainz.Picard
Categories=AudioVideo;Audio;AudioVideoEditing;
MimeType=application/ogg;application/x-flac;audio/aac;audio/ac3;audio/aiff;audio/ape;audio/dsf;audio/flac;audio/midi;audio/mp4;audio/mpeg;audio/mpeg4;audio/mpg;audio/ogg;audio/vorbis;audio/x-aac;audio/x-aiff;audio/x-ape;audio/x-flac;audio/x-flac+ogg;audio/x-m4a;audio/x-midi;audio/x-mp3;audio/x-mpc;audio/x-mpeg;audio/x-ms-wma;audio/x-ms-wmv;audio/x-musepack;audio/x-oggflac;audio/x-speex;audio/x-speex+ogg;audio/x-tak;audio/x-tta;audio/x-vorbis;audio/x-vorbis+ogg;audio/x-wav;audio/x-wavpack;audio/x-wma;video/x-ms-asf;video/x-theora;video/x-wmv;
Actions=new-window;

[Desktop Action new-window]
Name=New Window
Exec=picard --stand-alone-instance %F
MusicBrainz is operated by the MetaBrainz Foundation, a California based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation
Spotify™


Launcher for Spotify, a music streaming service with vast media library. Spotify is available in Gnome Software as a Flatpak (or snap)

[Desktop Entry]Type=Application
Name=Spotify
GenericName=Music Player
Icon=com.spotify.Client
Exec=/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=spotify --file-forwarding com.spotify.Client @@u %U @@
Terminal=false
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/spotify;
Categories=Audio;Music;Player;AudioVideo;
StartupWMClass=spotify
X-GNOME-UsesNotifications=true
X-Flatpak-Tags=proprietary;
X-Flatpak=com.spotify.Clienty
Spotify is a registered trademark of Spotify AB
Zoom™


Launcher for Zoom™, (audio and) video conferencing software. Zoom is available in Gnome Software as a Flatpak (or snap).

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Zoom
Comment=Zoom Video Conference
GenericName=Zoom Client for Linux
Exec=/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=zoom --file-forwarding us.zoom.Zoom @@u %U @@
Icon=us.zoom.Zoom
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Categories=Network;InstantMessaging;VideoConference;Telephony;
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/zoommtg;x-scheme-handler/zoomus;x-scheme-handler/tel;x-scheme-handler/callto;x-scheme-handler/zoomphonecall;application/x-zoom
X-KDE-Protocols=zoommtg;zoomus;tel;callto;zoomphonecall;
StartupWMClass=zoom
X-Flatpak-Tags=proprietary;
X-Flatpak=us.zoom.Zoom
Zoom is a registered trademark of Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

EDIT A LAUNCHER

Galculator


We’re going to explore two different ways to edit a launcher. We use Catfish File Search to find calculator images on the system, Ristretto Image View to preview them – and for this first example, settle on elementary-xfce’s accessories-calculator.

Search for a calculator icon


Method 1: Go to Menu > Accessories > Galculator, right-click and select Edit Application…

Edit Application...


Rename Galculator, Calculator. Click the icon and navigate to /usr/share/icons/elementary-xfce/apps/64/accessories-calculator.png and [Save]

Rename Galculator to Calculator and click the Icon


We then check out the result in the menu:

The renamed Calculator


Method 2: (again) use Catfish File Search to search for calculator images and Ristretto Image Viewer to preview them

Open with "Ristretto Image Viewer"


Still in Catfish, right-click the calculator image you settled on and chose Copy Location from the drop-down

Copy Location


Then open the File Manager (Thunar) as root
Open a Terminal [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[T] and type:
pkexec thunar
Press the [Enter] key

Open Thunar as root


Type in your password/passphrase, click the [Authenticate] button

Authenticate


Navigate to /usr/share/applications/ and click the magnifying glass icon to search for Galculator

Search /usr/share/applications


Right-click galculator.desktop and Open With > Mousepad

Open With > Mousepad


Change the “G” to a “C” in the Name key to make it say Calculator

Changing the name key


Select the word galculator in the Icon key, paste (the path to the image you copied) and save

Changing the icon key


“Calculator” in the Menu

"Calculator" in Menu

Galculator is an open source (basic and scientific) calculator licensed under GPL-2.0