Hello.
Im using the current version of OpenSuse with KDE (and Dolphin).
Is there some official documentation somewhere about how to add context menu items to Dolphin.
I found eg PCLinuxOS Magazine - HTML
but presume there must god official version somewhere too?
Also more info on configuring the desktop (plasma/kickoff) eg creating/editing kickoff menu items?
Exmaple
I recently installed skype using
skype-4.1.0.20-suse.i586.rpm
and it got added to kickoff (as recently installed) but didnt start when I clicked it.
I found in zypper/yast that it installed the file /usr/bin/skype
I was able to start if from there.
How could I have found this just from the lick off menu item?
(clicking “edit” didnt show up the recently installed and skype was only there)
Showing up or not showing up in your selected desktop menu is the fault of the installation package or because it was intended to work with a desktop you do not use. YaST is the correct way to determine just what an application installed on your system. It is true that applications intended to be used in terminal will most often not get a menu entry. Take a look at the folder “/usr/share/applications” as root (if you want to look inside these files) to see lots of desktop files. Each file is just a text file, arranged internally in a certain manner and which can work for KDE or GNOME or only one or the other. If your application did not include a desktop file or the file it came with is defective, that might be the problem. You can copy and edit these files as they are just text files in a certain format.
As to context menus in Dolphin, just right click on a file type, select Open With, and pick what to use. It should remain as an option in that menu from then on if it successfully loaded. I even have a bash script you can use as a context selectable file editor that can edit root or user files without running Dolphin as root. Once you select my bash script with Open With, its there from then on to use. Have a look here:
Using Open With is also how you can get Firefox to provide you with a certain program to use with a certain type of file. Just download the file in question, start up Dolphin, navigate to the file, right click on the file and select Open With, select the application you want to use to open the file and now Firefox will present that same Open With application as an option to use with a downloaded file or media type.
If you want to permanently associate the file with a specific app, in Dolphin
Rt-click on the file, select Properties
On th “general” tab click on the wrench to the right of the file type name.
Modify the next screen as desired. For specifically what you requested,
If the desired app is already listed but not at the top, move it up
If the desired app is not listed, click the “Add” button.
But, I think your original question is more properly answered by checking the KDE menu Skype propert, not anything to do with Dolphin. To check and possibly modify,
Rt-click on the Application Launcher button, select “Application Launcher Menu settings”
From there you can verify any existing menu shortcuts point to the proper file or even create your own.
Yes, this ways closest to what I meant.
I right clicked on Application Launcher, but choose “Edit Applications” (I take it you meant this)
Unfortunately this doesnt correspond exactly to what one sees in the menu (it is close)
eg I was only able to find the skype entry in the “recently used/installed” section at the top of the menu, but entries here dont show up in the editable version
one gets after “Edit Applications”.
The “associate an application with this file type” approach only works with files which have an extension, and then only a specific extension.
I was looking to be able to say create a context menu item such as “open with kate”, which isnt tied to an extension (doesnt replace the current association) and works even with extensionless files.
This issue with skype was a specific question.
But I was also looking for a better understanding of how the plama desktop works…and how I could create/edit entries in the
(1) kickoff (application menu), (2) context menus entries in dolphin, (3) and the desktop.
My general understanding so far is that .desktop files are whats used for all three.
Some good references are
The first being very clear but restrictd in scope (to 2) , the latter wider in scope but less helpful.
I would have expected KDE to have documentation similar in style and helpfulness to (a) for all three cases, but it seems it doesnt.
Furthermore
> kde4-config --types
lists among other entries:
apps - Applications menu (.desktop files)
services - Services
So I would expect eg to be able to see where the application entries in kickoff are from