I made a little script to make the "Run with …" actions of the desktop icon only show the available installed toolkits and not all of them.


If you run this script as it is it will update the ~/.local/share/applications/gambas3.desktop file Actions

To only test it, comment out the last 2 xdg-desktop-menu lines and inspect /tmp/gambas3.desktop after running it

I have used this script in my bruces-patched fork makefile.am so it now does it automatically during make install.
make desktop icon show installed gui toolkits not all of them. (4b838ef8) · Commits · Bruce Steers / gambas · GitLab

Update.

I removed thew bash reliant code that conveted text to lower case and used tr command instead.
tr is a POSIX command so it makes the script more compatible than relying on bash being installed.

If you want to use a script as part of the Gambas3 packages for Debian/Ubuntu you can simply use bash.
I can make it run after Gambas3 is installed, so all checks and balances can be done and changes applied.

I posted you some links on mailing list to see what debian requires.

If you have a script, that you think complies to debian rules, I'm willing to add it to my recipe for running some package and installation tests in vm to see if it works. 
After that, it's a matter of me adapting the recipe for OSB in master branch, do a merge request and Debian Ubuntu will be done, at least if Benoit thinks it's a good idea 

No idea on how it works for the other distro's but it is possible there as well.

Cheers Willy.

I wonder if the use of xdg-desktop-menu or gbx3 breaks it's compliance?

All other commands are POSIX.

I re-added the #!shebang line i'd previously removed and added 'set -e' command.  that seemed to be all the vitals the page you pointed me to said was needed.

So i'm fairly sure it's all good (apart from the use of xdg-utils and gbx3)

BruceSteers said

Cheers Willy.

I wonder if the use of xdg-desktop-menu or gbx3 breaks it's compliance?

All other commands are POSIX.

I re-added the #!shebang line i'd previously removed and added 'set -e' command.  that seemed to be all the vitals the page you pointed me to said was needed.

So i'm fairly sure it's all good (apart from the use of xdg-utils and gbx3)

From “Post #12,793”, November 3rd 2025, 12:45 PM

xdg-utils is a dependency that will be installed when installing gambas3 (the complete IDE that is).
Only then the desktop entry for gambas3 is created.

Now, I suppose that once installed and at the moment the postinst script is run, the system will be aware of both xdg-utils and gbx3.
If not, it is probably easily solved by a full path reference to gbx3 (for example) in the script.

So, what script do you want me to use for testing and what distro you prefer debian13/12/11 OR/AND Ubuntu 24.04/22.04/20.04.
I will do one or two simultanious builds, all amd64 for testing, so make your pick.
I'll publish a working result if I get one, for you to test as well.
 

Okay well lets see if it works then  And thank you, i couldn't get my head around creating my own repository

make.gambas3desktop.tar.gz

I have commented out the line that uninstalls the icon first.
This means it will probably only do it's job if the icon does not already exist (I think xdg-desktop-menu does not reinstall over existing)

added code to remove the temp file from /tmp/ and check it does not exist before attempting writing it.

I guess before thinking of submitting a merge to Ben We should think about naming?
maybe make.gambas3desktop is not the best name?

something more like…
MakeDesktopIcon.sh

BTW in my branch the script lives in gambas-source/app/desktop/ folder and the app/Makefile.am has a line to run it from there.
app/desktop/ is where all the other .desktop related files reside so it made sense to put it there.

Re: distro, just do whatever you prefer m8
I'm fairly sure if it works on one of them it should work on them all as they are all deb based packagers.

BruceSteers said

I have commented out the line that uninstalls the icon first.
This means it will probably only do it's job if the icon does not already exist (I think xdg-desktop-menu does not reinstall over existing)

From “Post #12,797”, November 4th 2025, 4:09 AM

Hmm thinking about it you may have to un-comment that line so it works.

I'm thinking if the installer installs it's own icon and then the script is run after that then it probably won't overwrite it.

Unless you can stop the packager trying to install the static gambas3.desktop file and leave it to the script.

We got a winner



I packaged your bruces-patched for debian 12 and 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 (all amd64).Tested on Linux Mint 22 VM. Made sure no gambas was installed, so it's a virgin install and the desktop file is as should be (no more QT4 )
I will be testing some more later, first gonna create me some dinner…

 

gbWilly said

We got a winner

I packaged your bruces-patched for debian 12 and 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 (all amd64).Tested on Linux Mint 22 VM. Made sure no gambas was installed, so it's a virgin install and the desktop file is as should be (no more QT4 )
I will be testing some more later, first gonna create me some dinner…

 

From “Post #12,801”, November 4th 2025, 1:57 PM

Awesome stuff

I've tested the autotools method so far on debian/trixie ubuntu/noble fedora42 and manjaro.  all working as expected

did you have to add it to the postinst or did it just work from the makefile?

BruceSteers said

did you have to add it to the postinst or did it just work from the makefile?

From “Post #12,803”, November 4th 2025, 2:58 PM

I renamed your script to postinst, did some minor modification and language additions, added it to the recipe and packaged it for bookworm, trixie and noble.
Next I created a repository (see my mail to you) and installed from repo. Works as a charm and has nothing to do with the Gambas source.



I switch to using bash and added a comment with a short description, autor and copyright. I hope you can agree with the content and license, if not just let me know.
In this form it can be part of the recipe for debian/ubuntu package creation (also for previous Gambas versions).
I will be using it in my recipes as I very much like the solution being tailored to the sytem, good job 

Below the content of the Gambas3.deb package and it now has a script named postinst that will run at the end of the gambas3 install (post install )

 

You can open .deb packages with an archive manager as that is what they are. 

 

Excellent  

You could also tailor yours a bit more to add some other actions (GambOS related)

So we change this line…

[ -e "$LIBS/gb.$LCASE.component" ] && AGUIS="$AGUIS$gui;"

To be this…
[ -e "$LIBS/gb.$LCASE.webview.component" ] && AGUIS="$AGUIS$gui;"

Then as Benoit stated it more accurately checks that webview exists as the toolkit can be present but missing webkit so the ide won't use that toolkit.

Updated version..

make.gambas3desktop.tar.gz

Well my fork of gambas now makes the icon dynamically on install and I also added an option in the preferences to update the desktop menu icon.


That'll do nicely for me

That is probably a way better solution as the packaging solution is not sinking in with Benoit somehow, no matter the amount of post I spend on explain the matter  

gbWilly said

That is probably a way better solution as the packaging solution is not sinking in with Benoit somehow, no matter the amount of post I spend on explain the matter  

From “Post #12,836”, November 6th 2025, 2:59 PM

Yep he can be hard to convince sometimes.
I think his view is if they are all there then none are missing.

that's why i like compiling my own fork/branch. If I want it and Ben does not then that's fine, I can still have it

I've just updated my function to load the existing file (if exists) and use DesktopFile.class to ensure any additional user added Actions are preserved
app/src/gambas3/.src/Options/FOption.class · e7dc14a4f695e9b464338fc33cfe14d142d16478 · Bruce Steers / gambas · GitLab

BruceSteers said

Yep he can be hard to convince sometimes.
I think his view is if they are all there then none are missing.

that's why i like compiling my own fork/branch. If I want it and Ben does not then that's fine, I can still have it

I've just updated my function to load the existing file (if exists) and use DesktopFile.class to ensure any additional user added Actions are preserved
app/src/gambas3/.src/Options/FOption.class · e7dc14a4f695e9b464338fc33cfe14d142d16478 · Bruce Steers / gambas · GitLab

From “Post #12,840”, November 6th 2025, 4:21 PM

Yes, I had a look at it (saw mailing list first) and I like the implementation  
That would solve it for all circumstances and the package solution wouldn't be needed.

Hope Benoit likes your solution  

Here is the updated function from the IDE as a gbs gambas script file

The advantages of the gbs script are as follows..
It uses DesktopFile.class and DesktopActions.class to make the file.

it checks for an existing icon and pre-loads it before adding missing toolkit Actions or removing superfluous ones. thus preserving any existing other Actions you may have set.

It works outside of the IDE like the other script. Just run it to update your desktop menu icon toolkits.

I'm not so sure it's any good to use during an install like the other script because gambas scripting (gbs3) might not be installed.

makegambas3desktop.gbs.tar.gz

There is also this option I came up with after one of my replies to Benoit.

regarding having a GUI selector.

here is a script that asks what GUI to load for a program…

gb-gui.tar.gz

It's very basic and probably needs refining but it works.  it's a bash/gbs hybrid

example usage.
gb-gui gambas3
gb-gui /path/to/myprog.gambas

If there was a way to make gambas do this it would be awesome.
for example
env GB_GUI=ASK gambas3

That would solve everything because the gambas3 icon could then just have the one Action to pop up a requester to ask what toolkit to load.

BruceSteers said

Here is the updated function from the IDE as a gbs gambas script file

The advantages of the gbs script are as follows..
It uses DesktopFile.class and DesktopActions.class to make the file.

it checks for an existing icon and pre-loads it before adding missing toolkit Actions or removing superfluous ones. thus preserving any existing other Actions you may have set.

It works outside of the IDE like the other script. Just run it to update your desktop menu icon toolkits.

I'm not so sure it's any good to use during an install like the other script because gambas scripting (gbs3) might not be installed.

From “Post #12,843”, November 6th 2025, 5:25 PM

Gambas script running from the installer might be problematic, unless gbs3 is installed. Safer to use bash scripts.
But in theory it should be possible, a matter of trying I guess.

Indeed

I guess there's this solution.

The function is now a small program (8.8kb compressed)
I made it detect if being run from a GUI environment or terminal and use either Message() or Print respectively.

the script can just unpack the archive to /tmp and use gbx3 to run the project dir , gbx3 WILL be installed

With the attached archive in the app/desktop folder the script can be just this…


EDIT: Archive updated as it worked on everything except OpenSuse with wayland.

GambasDesktop.tar.gz

Here is my final solution to this..

MakeDesktopMenu.tar.gz

How it works…
In the attached archive is a bash script and a gambas module source.

The bash script is this…

So instead of using a compressed archive of the project it now creates a project on the fly by copying the source module and making a .project file.
that is much faster.

The source module is this…

Now if an existing icon is found and it is writable it will modify it instead of using xdg to re-install
also i use one Shell Wait command instead of multiple Exec Wait commands.

during install there is no lag now, the info text appears instantly.

the attached archive script can be run standalone but it no longer uses Message for results just Print.

tested working okay on debian / ubuntu / fedora / manjaro and opensuse

sorry , THIS is my final solution.

I have now removed the need for the separate GambasDesktop.module file by importing it into the bash script to be written by an echo redirect.

So now it's all self contained in one script

make.gambas3desktop.tar.gz