Wed Sep 15 16:19:31 ICT 2010

Add an entry in the Applications menu of Gnome/Ubuntu

After installing a new software in Ubuntu, you may want to create an entry in Gnome menu.

  • Create a xx.desktop file in /usr/local/applications (the best solution is to copy an existing file; other .desktop files are available in /usr/share/applications).
  • Edit this .desktop file to suit your need.
    Note that Matlab will need to have Terminal=true
  • Any modification to a .desktop file are available immediately, there is no need to reload Gnome.
  • The Categories field is used by Gnome to determine the exact sub-menu entry where your application will be listed.
    One application can be listed in several sub-menues. The file /etc/xdg/menus/applications.menu can be used to find clues how to select the categories.
Sample of matlab.desktop file:
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Matlab
Comment=The language of technical computing
Exec=/usr/local/MATHWORKS_R2009A/bin/matlab
Icon=/usr/local/MATHWORKS_R2009A/ml.png
Type=Application
Terminal=true
Categories=Education;Science;Math;Development;Physics;Utility;Development;Science;

Posted by Olivier | Permanent link | File under: administration, ubuntu