This a specification of my previous question (What's a .desktop file?) where I wondered how to create a .desktop file in order to create an icon on the launcher for a Wine application.
I don't understand what do we have to do with the following code:
[Desktop Entry] Name=FooBar Comment=Foo & Bar Exec=sh -c "cd /home/USER/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/FOOBAR_FOLDER; wine foobar.exe" Icon=wine Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=Wine; StartupNotify=true
Replace USER and FOOBAR_FOLDER with appropriate values. So you'll be
able to locate your application in the Launcher by typing "FooBar".
This is the top answer given to a question similar to my previous one, which you can see here: How does one create a custom application launcher for Wine installed apps?, but I don't understand how shall I handle the code I just provided. I tried to copy and paste on the terminal, but it wouldn't work.
In other words, I need that same answer but more comprehensively explained and easier to understand since I don't get what to do with the code provided! Please note, I have few skills with computers. Thank you very much! 🙂
Best Answer
Desktop files contain a command to open an application. It is not much more than a textfile, with the extension ".desktop". Although you can store these files anywhere, and run it as a standalone link to an application (that is: if you make it executable), the default locations are:
(globally) or
(locally).
What you need to do is paste the text in your post into an empty textfile (open gedit), and change the line:
What do you need to change?
Explanation of the sections of the line:
This means: what comes after this will be executed if the desktop file is invoked. That is actually what would make the application start if you would run it in a terminal.
this is telling the shell to go into the directory where the application is located (the backslash in
/Program\ Files
is to escape the space in the name of theProgram Files
folder, telling the shell not to stop at the space).You should replace
USER
with your own username, replaceFOOBAR_FOLDER
with the name of the application folder. If you don't know, open your home directory, press ctrl+h to make the.wine
folder visible (if it isn't already), and browse into the directory~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files
to see the name of your application folder.This tells the shell to run
foobar.exe
with Wine. Replace foobar.exe with the actualapplication_name.exe
.Finally, your
Exec=
line should look something like (if RedNotebook is your application for example):Then, after you have changed the line
Name=Foobar
into a more appropriate name, save the file as (for example)rednotebook.desktop
If you want to use the file as a starter on your Desktop, save it there as
renotebook.desktop
and make it executable. If you want to run it from Dash, move it into~/.local/share/applications
. After log out and back in, it will be available in Dash. You can lock it to the launcher then.