alacarte crashes on start

**andrewdied** · 07-Oct-2012, 14:24

When I launch alacarte through the menu system the cursor briefly changes, but I don't get the app. When I try it from the command line I get this:

Code:

~> alacarte
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/alacarte", line 36, in <module>
    main()
  File "/usr/bin/alacarte", line 32, in main
    app = MainWindow(datadir, version)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/Alacarte/MainWindow.py", line 44, in __init__
    self.editor = MenuEditor()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/Alacarte/MenuEditor.py", line 51, in __init__
    self.applications = Menu(os.environ['XDG_MENU_PREFIX'] + 'applications.menu')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/UserDict.py", line 23, in __getitem__
    raise KeyError(key)
KeyError: 'XDG_MENU_PREFIX

Any idea what I can look at to fix it?

**malcolmlewis** · 07-Oct-2012, 14:55

Originally Posted by andrewdied

When I launch alacarte through the menu system the cursor briefly
changes, but I don't get the app. When I try it from the command line I
get this:

Code:
--------------------
~> alacarte
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/alacarte", line 36, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/alacarte", line 32, in main
app = MainWindow(datadir, version)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/Alacarte/MainWindow.py", line
44, in __init__ self.editor = MenuEditor()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/Alacarte/MenuEditor.py", line
51, in __init__ self.applications = Menu(os.environ['XDG_MENU_PREFIX']
+ 'applications.menu') File "/usr/lib/python2.7/UserDict.py", line 23,
in __getitem__ raise KeyError(key)
KeyError: 'XDG_MENU_PREFIX
--------------------

Any idea what I can look at to fix it?

Hi
Is your alacarte up to date? Should be Version: 0.13.4-2.4.1. Is
python-xdg installed?

Code:

zypper if alacarte

Also which xdg items are installed?

Code:

zypper se -i xdg

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64) Kernel 3.4.6-2.10-desktop
up 4 days 3:43, 4 users, load average: 0.08, 0.18, 1.26
CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU

**andrewdied** · 12-Oct-2012, 16:13

Originally Posted by malcolmlewis

Is your alacarte up to date? Should be Version: 0.13.4-2.4.1. Is
python-xdg installed?

Code:

zypper if alacarte

Also which xdg items are installed?

Code:

zypper se -i xdg

Yup, alacarte-0.13.4-2.4.1.i586 is installed, and verified with rpm -qa | grep alacarte. Here's what I get from zypper search -i xdg:

Code:

S | Name              | Summary                                               | Type   
--+-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+--------
i | python-xdg        | Python library to use freedesktop.org specifications  | package
i | xdg-menu          | XDG Menus for WindowMaker and other Window Managers   | package
i | xdg-user-dirs     | Utilities to handle user data directories             | package
i | xdg-user-dirs-gtk | xdg-user-dir support for Gnome and Gtk+ applications  | package
i | xdg-utils         | Utilities to uniformly interface desktop environments | package

**malcolmlewis** · 12-Oct-2012, 16:56

Originally Posted by andrewdied

malcolmlewis;2494075 Wrote:
>
> Is your alacarte up to date? Should be Version: 0.13.4-2.4.1. Is
> python-xdg installed?
> >
Code:
--------------------
> >
> zypper if alacarte
>
--------------------
> >
> Also which xdg items are installed?
> >
Code:
--------------------
> >
> zypper se -i xdg
>
--------------------
> >
>
Yup, alacarte-0.13.4-2.4.1.i586 is installed, and verified with rpm -qa
| grep alacarte. Here's what I get from zypper search -i xdg:

Code:
--------------------

S | Name |
Summary | Type
--+-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+--------
i | python-xdg | Python library to use freedesktop.org
specifications | package i | xdg-menu | XDG Menus for
WindowMaker and other Window Managers | package i | xdg-user-dirs
| Utilities to handle user data directories | package i |
xdg-user-dirs-gtk | xdg-user-dir support for Gnome and Gtk+
applications | package i | xdg-utils | Utilities to uniformly
interface desktop environments | package --------------------

Hi
Strange indeed, can you check your environment;

Code:

env |grep XDG

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64) Kernel 3.4.6-2.10-desktop
up 8:17, 3 users, load average: 0.09, 0.05, 0.05
CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU

**andrewdied** · 12-Oct-2012, 20:48

env | grep XDG

XDG_VTNR=7
XDG_SESSION_ID=1
XDG_SESSION_COOKIE=aaf45848b77796875f161bed0000071b-1350082059.512919-429699370
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/andrew

**malcolmlewis** · 12-Oct-2012, 20:55

Originally Posted by andrewdied

env | grep XDG

XDG_VTNR=7
XDG_SESSION_ID=1
XDG_SESSION_COOKIE=aaf45848b77796875f161bed0000071b-1350082059.512919-429699370
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/andrew

Hi
OK, can you open a terminal and run;

Code:

export XDG_MENU_PREFIX="gnome-"
alacarte

**andrewdied** · 12-Oct-2012, 21:36

That works like a champ! I'm not sure why it's not in my environment already, unless it's because I launched KDE and xfce once or twice before. I successfully added keepassx, so it looks fully functional. Thanks for the help.

**malcolmlewis** · 12-Oct-2012, 22:06

Originally Posted by andrewdied

That works like a champ! I'm not sure why it's not in my environment
already, unless it's because I launched KDE and xfce once or twice
before. I successfully added keepassx, so it looks fully functional.
Thanks for the help.

Hi
That would be why... look in the File Locations section
http://developer.gnome.org/menu-spec/

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64) Kernel 3.4.11-2.16-desktop
up 0:18, 3 users, load average: 0.00, 0.03, 0.05
CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU

**andrewdied** · 13-Oct-2012, 07:10

Originally Posted by malcolmlewis

Hi
That would be why... look in the File Locations section
Desktop Menu Specification

Interesting. Making desktop/window manager specific menus makes sense, though I'd have thought there'd be a function to determine your window manager and set XDG_MENU_PREFIX appropriately since there is SUSE choice in WMs. Or default it to the higher (system default?) value, and let the WM override. No matter.

Thanks for all the help. It's been a few years since I used SUSE, and both the distribution itself and the forum users have been excellent in the few hiccups I've had. I'm getting used to new things like zypper, but it's all really been working great. Thanks for the help.