desktopEntry

README

desktop-entry

Generate and update .desktop (desktop entry) files for Go binaries automatically.

Install

To add it to your project

go get https://github.com/mrf345/desktop-entry@latest

How it works

With the default settings desktopEntry.Create() will check your ~/.local/share/applications for a .desktop file, that matches your apps name, if it can't find it, it'll create a new one. That will later on be updated it only when the binary path changes.

Example

package main

import (
	_ "embed"
	"fmt"
	"os"

	desktopEntry "github.com/mrf345/desktop-entry"
)

// assuming you have an existing icon.png file to embed
//go:embed icon.png
var icon []byte

func main() {
	// Create an instance and pass the required settings
	appName := "Desktop Entry"
	appVersion := "0.0.1"
	entry := desktopEntry.New(appName, appVersion, icon)

	// Some optional settings (check https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/mrf345/desktop-entry#DesktopEntry)
	entry.Comment = "package to help creating desktop entry file for Go"
	entry.Categories = "accessories;Development;"
	entry.Arch = "arm64"

	// Make sure to always run it at the beginning of your main function
	if err := entry.Create(); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
}

Documentation

Overview

Generate and update .desktop (desktop entry) files for Go binaries automatically.

Install

Add it to your project

go get https://github.com/mrf345/desktop-entry@latest

How it works

With the default settings shown in desktopEntry.DesktopEntry the method desktopEntry.DesktopEntry.Create will check your desktopEntry.DesktopEntry.AppsPath for a .desktop file, that matches your desktopEntry.DesktopEntry.Name, if it can't find it, it'll create a new one. That will later on be updated it only when the binary path changes. See test example.

Index

• type DesktopEntry
  • func New(name, version string, icon []byte) *DesktopEntry
  • func (de *DesktopEntry) Create() (err error)
• type MimeType

Examples

• DesktopEntry.Create

Types

type DesktopEntry

type DesktopEntry struct {
	// Application name (required)
	Name string
	// Application version (required)
	Version string
	// Application .png icon data (required)
	Icon []byte
	// Executable type (default: Application)
	Type string
	// Semicolon separated list of categories (default: ”)
	Categories string
	// Description of the app (default: ”)
	Comment string
	// Architecture (default: x86_64)
	Arch string
	// Desktop applications path (default: ~/.local/share/applications)
	AppsPath string
	// Desktop icons path (default: ~/.icons)
	IconsPath string
	// Default permission for created files and directories (default: 0776)
	Perm fs.FileMode
	// Supported operating systems (default: []string{"linux"})
	OSs []string
	// Update if executable path has changed (default: true)
	UpdateIfChanged bool
	// Rerun the app if desktop entry has changed (default: true)
	RerunIfChanged bool
	// Mime type to associate the desktop entry with
	MimeType MimeType
}

func New

func New(name, version string, icon []byte) *DesktopEntry

Create a new desktopEntry.DesktopEntry instance with the default options

func (*DesktopEntry) Create

func (de *DesktopEntry) Create() (err error)

Creates a new desktop entry or updates an existing one if the executable paths mismatch

Example

package main

import (
	_ "embed"
	"fmt"
	"os"

	desktopEntry "github.com/mrf345/desktop-entry"
)

// assuming you have an existing icon.png file to embed
//
//go:embed icon.png
var icon []byte

func main() {
	// Create an instance and pass the required settings
	appName := "Desktop Entry"
	appVersion := "0.0.1"
	entry := desktopEntry.New(appName, appVersion, icon)

	// Some optional settings
	entry.Comment = "package to help creating desktop entry file for Go"
	entry.Categories = "accessories;Development;"
	entry.Arch = "arm64"

	// Changing the apps and icons path to `/tmp` for the test (should ignore this)
	os.Args[0] = "/tmp"
	tempDir, _ := os.MkdirTemp("", "de_example")
	entry.AppsPath = tempDir
	entry.IconsPath = tempDir
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)

	// Make sure to always run it at the beginning of your main function
	if err := entry.Create(); err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
	}

}

type MimeType

type MimeType struct {
	Type        string
	Path        string
	Comment     string
	GenericIcon string
	Patterns    []string
}