source: general/genutils/desktop-file-utils.xml@ 3f4dc82

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
  %general-entities;

  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-download-http
           "https://www.freedesktop.org/software/desktop-file-utils/releases/desktop-file-utils-&desktop-file-utils-version;.tar.xz">
  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-download-ftp  " ">
  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-md5sum        "29739e005f5887cf41639b8450f3c23f">
  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-size          "84 KB">
  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-buildsize     "1.8 MB">
  <!ENTITY desktop-file-utils-time          "less than 0.1 SBU">
]>

<sect1 id="desktop-file-utils" xreflabel="desktop-file-utils-&desktop-file-utils-version;">
  <?dbhtml filename="desktop-file-utils.html"?>

  <sect1info>
    <date>$Date$</date>
  </sect1info>

  <title>desktop-file-utils-&desktop-file-utils-version;</title>

  <indexterm zone="desktop-file-utils">
    <primary sortas="a-desktop-file-utils">desktop-file-utils</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <sect2 role="package">
    <title>Introduction to Desktop File Utils</title>

    <para>
      The <application>Desktop File Utils</application> package contains
      command line utilities for working with <ulink
      url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/">
      Desktop entries</ulink>. These utilities are used by Desktop
      Environments and other applications to manipulate the MIME-types
      application databases and help adhere to the Desktop Entry
      Specification.
    </para>

    &lfs111_checked;

    <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Package Information</bridgehead>
    <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download (HTTP): <ulink url="&desktop-file-utils-download-http;"/>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download (FTP): <ulink url="&desktop-file-utils-download-ftp;"/>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download MD5 sum: &desktop-file-utils-md5sum;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download size: &desktop-file-utils-size;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Estimated disk space required: &desktop-file-utils-buildsize;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Estimated build time: &desktop-file-utils-time;
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Desktop File Utils Dependencies</bridgehead>

    <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Required</bridgehead>
    <para role="required">
      <xref linkend="glib2"/>
    </para>

    <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Optional</bridgehead>
    <para role="optional">
      <xref linkend="emacs"/>
    </para>

    <para condition="html" role="usernotes">User Notes:
      <ulink url="&blfs-wiki;/desktop-file-utils"/>
    </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="installation">
    <title>Installation of Desktop File Utils</title>

    <warning>
      <para>
        If you are upgrading from a previous version of desktop-file-utils that
        used the Autotools method of installing and configuring the package,
        you must remove the desktop-file-edit symlink by using the following
        commands.
      </para>
    </warning>
    <!-- Works around a bug in meson's symlink creation exposed by this package -->

<screen role="root"><userinput>rm -fv /usr/bin/desktop-file-edit</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      Install <application>Desktop File Utils</application> by
      running the following commands:
    </para>

<screen><userinput>mkdir build &amp;&amp;
cd    build &amp;&amp;

meson --prefix=/usr --buildtype=release .. &amp;&amp;
ninja</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      This package does not come with a test suite.
    </para>

    <para>
      Now, as the <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> user:
    </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>ninja install</userinput></screen>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="commands">
    <title>Command Explanations</title>

    <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
      href="../../xincludes/meson-buildtype-release.xml"/>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="configuration">
    <title>Configuring Desktop File Utils</title>

    <sect3>
      <title>Configuration Information</title>

      <para>
        The <ulink
        url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html">XDG
        Base Directory</ulink> specification defines the standard locations for
        applications to place data and configuration files. These files can be
        used, for instance, to define the menu structure and menu items in a
        desktop environment.
      </para>

      <para>
        The default location for configuration files to be installed
        is <filename class="directory">/etc/xdg</filename>, and the default
        locations for data files are <filename
        class="directory">/usr/local/share</filename> and <filename
        class="directory">/usr/share</filename>. These locations can be
        extended with the environment variables <envar>XDG_CONFIG_DIRS</envar>
        and <envar>XDG_DATA_DIRS</envar>, respectively. The
        <application>GNOME</application>, <application>KDE</application> and
        <application>XFCE</application> environments respect these
        settings.
      </para>

      <para>
        When a package installs a <filename>.desktop</filename> file
        to a location in one of the base data directories, the database
        that maps MIME-types to available applications can be updated. For
        instance, the cache file at
        <filename>/usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache</filename> can
        be rebuilt by executing the following command as the <systemitem
        class="username">root</systemitem> user:
      </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>install -vdm755 /usr/share/applications &amp;&amp;
update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications</userinput></screen>

    </sect3>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="content">
    <title>Contents</title>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>Installed Programs</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed Libraries</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed Directories</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>
          desktop-file-edit, desktop-file-install,
          desktop-file-validate and
          update-desktop-database
        </seg>
        <seg>
          None
        </seg>
        <seg>
          None
        </seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <variablelist>
      <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
      <?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
      <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

      <varlistentry id="desktop-file-edit">
        <term><command>desktop-file-edit</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is used to modify an existing desktop file entry
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="desktop-file-utils desktop-file-edit">
            <primary sortas="b-desktop-file-edit">desktop-file-edit</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="desktop-file-install">
        <term><command>desktop-file-install</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is used to install a new desktop file entry. It is
            also used to rebuild or modify the MIME-types application
            database
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="desktop-file-utils desktop-file-install">
            <primary sortas="b-desktop-file-install">desktop-file-install</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="desktop-file-validate">
        <term><command>desktop-file-validate</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is used to verify the integrity of a desktop file
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="desktop-file-utils desktop-file-validate">
            <primary sortas="b-desktop-file-validate">desktop-file-validate</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="update-desktop-database">
        <term><command>update-desktop-database</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is used to update the MIME-types application database
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="desktop-file-utils update-desktop-database">
            <primary sortas="b-update-desktop-database">update-desktop-database</primary>
          </indexterm>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>

  </sect2>

</sect1>