Public SourceMage Discussion List

[Dufflebunk <dufflebunk AT dufflebunk.homeip.net>]

It is impossible to auto detect switches and stuff like that. In fact, I
think it's a bad idea to add all executables as menu entries... what
good is haveing a menu entry for sed?

I think it would also be a bad idea to add more fields to DETAILS, like
MENU. DETAILS has more than enough fields. It would be a better idea to
use another file, .desktop looks good since it's already standard and
should have all the info needed for the other window managers. That
said, I don't write spells or use much in the way of menues, so my
opinion in this matter shouldn't hold much weight.



On Wed, 2003-09-10 at 18:11, Mads Laursen wrote:
> On 10/09/03 23.23, Karsten Behrmann wrote:
> > As you might know, I have written a script which (should) generate menus
> > from all installed spells.
> 
> A good idea.
> 
> > I would like to start a discussion about the functions and fundamentals
> > of this script.
> > So this is the status quo:
> > - All grimoires->sections->spells are made into folders, then for all
> >   installed spells we look through the install log, and all files will
> >   be tested on:
> >   + executable bit set
> >   + not a directory
> >   + `file $thisfile` says the file is executable
> >   when all these tests are successful, then the file will be made into a
> >   menu entry.
> > - Additionally, for each entry, it is saved whether it should be started
> >   in an xterm. The initial state for this is determined by testing if
> >   `ldd $thisfile` says libX11 is linked in
> 
> Good idea, but you need to consider such applications as mozilla,
> which are started by shellscripts. Also, are you adding any options to
> the xterm commandline (besides '-e executable')? E.g. -title, -name,
> -class, or others - having specific classes for the xterms would ease
> customization.
> 
> > - The menu is saved centrally in an internal format, can be edited, and
> >   menus generated from it.
> > 
> > The "heuristics" used for making an initial menu are horrible,
> > but we don't have anything better right now. A suggestion is we add
> > .desktop file(s) to each spell, from which everything is generated.
> 
> How about the MENU_(ITEM|EXEC|DESC) fields in spells (I don't think
> they are everywhere, but e.g. emacs has one), could they be useful?
> Perhaps there should also be a way to _avoid_ having a menuentry (say
> for something like ssh or gpg password entry programs and the gods
> knows how many executables that only works from a commandline. 
> 
> > Also, nearly no WMs are supported yet (only blackbox & openbox, xfce4,
> > IceWM) I will need volunteers here that tell me what format menus for
> > the other WMs have
> 
> I'm on IceWM, so no real help there.
> 
> /dossen