GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 144284
need section in menu item names for difference between GenericName and Name
Last modified: 2020-12-04 18:19:39 UTC
The menu item section, see: desktop-integration.html#menu-item-names describes naming conventions for launchers. This section needs an adjustment for the difference between a GenericName and a Name wto the .desktop file. For a .desktop file there should exist a Generic name as well as a regular name. Where the generic name provides only a description of functionality without the proper name. This description is intended for use when there are no other applications with the same generic name (i.e. when there is only one IRC Client, xchat assumes the name IRC Client, when there are multiple IRC Clients each uses the "[Proper Name] [Description of Funcionality]" format.) Example: In the application X-Chat there should exist both > Name=X-Chat IRC Client > GenericName=IRC Client This is just a bug to remind myself to get to work.
I've updated the section with an explaination, example, explanation, and example of how it works at the end of the Menu Item sub-section in the Desktop section. commited to CVS
Which specification is the above based on? Last time I checked Desktop Entry spec says to use just the 'specific name of the application, for example "Mozilla"' for Name - without the generic name. http://freedesktop.org/Standards/desktop-entry-spec/0.9.4/ar01s04.html
Yes, that's why the freedesktop spec needs to change. The GNOME HIG spec is based on the desire for clearer, more understandable menu entries. Having only the application proper name appear when two of the same applications are installed would be a mistake. This would cause a person who has only one web browser with the "Web Browser" menu entry to possibly be changed to "Mozilla" and "Epiphany" entries after installing a second web browser. Since neither "Mozilla" or "Epiphany" names have any relation to the functionality of the application it would just be plain confusing. Allowing the names to be "Mozilla Web Browser" and "Epiphany Web Browser" gives the user some clue as to the nature of the application. In terms of the .desktop entry, for the english language we can auto-generate the "Mozilla Web Browser" name from the Name + GenericName, however other languages don't give us that freedom. Since we can't be expected to generate such names on the fly we need to change the spec. Mail has been sent to the f.d.o. xdg list: http://freedesktop.org/pipermail/xdg/2004-June/004102.html requesting this change be made in that spec as well.