XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
Hello! I've seen the idea of a XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP environment variable
tossed around a few times on this mailing list, but I don't see it in
any spec.
Historically, most desktop file parsing libraries were tightly tied to a
desktop and were able to assume which XDG desktop they were in (e.g.
libgmenu assumes 'GNOME').
However in Unity, it uses most of the same libraries but still wants the
ability to respect OnlyShowIn=Unity. So there's a need for those
libraries to detect which desktop is running. The easiest/quickest way
is to use an environment variable like XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP.
I have some ideas on how such a variable might work:
== Reading ==
If XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is not set in the environment at all or if set to
the empty string, its value is undefined. This is for backwards
compatibility, so that parsing libraries can use whatever default
environment they want (as is the case now).
If set to a non-empty string, use that as the XDG desktop name ('GNOME',
'Unity', 'KDE', etc). Do not try to validate the value, as this makes
it difficult to add new desktops in the future.
It might be useful for debugging purposes to have a value that tells
libraries to ignore OnlyShowIn and NotShowIn and just show everything.
Maybe '*'? Not clear this is worth it.
== Writing ==
It seems easiest to have the DM set XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP. How about
adding a new DesktopName field in the XSession desktop file, like so:
DesktopName=LXDE
If this field is not found in the XSession desktop file, the DM should
either not define the variable at all or set it to the empty string.
If this field is found in the XSession desktop file, the DM should set
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP to its value, again without any attempt at validation.
Thoughts?
-mt
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Re: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
On Thu, 2011-07-14 at 11:36 -0400, Michael Terry wrote: Hello! I've seen the idea of a XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP environment variable tossed around a few times on this mailing list, but I don't see it in any spec. Historically, most desktop file parsing libraries were tightly tied to a desktop and were able to assume which XDG desktop they were in (e.g. libgmenu assumes 'GNOME'). However in Unity, it uses most of the same libraries but still wants the ability to respect OnlyShowIn=Unity. So there's a need for those libraries to detect which desktop is running. The easiest/quickest way is to use an environment variable like XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP. I have some ideas on how such a variable might work: What's the use for this when you could add a set_desktop_name() function in the front-end that uses that library? Is it of any use apart from libgnome-menus? ___ xdg mailing list xdg@lists.freedesktop.org http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xdg
Re: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
On 07/14/2011 11:42 AM, Bastien Nocera wrote: What's the use for this when you could add a set_desktop_name() function in the front-end that uses that library? Is it of any use apart from libgnome-menus? Well, say there's an app FooBar that uses libgnome-menus. How does FooBar know which desktop it's in? -mt ___ xdg mailing list xdg@lists.freedesktop.org http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xdg
Re: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
On Thu, 2011-07-14 at 11:46 -0400, Michael Terry wrote: On 07/14/2011 11:42 AM, Bastien Nocera wrote: What's the use for this when you could add a set_desktop_name() function in the front-end that uses that library? Is it of any use apart from libgnome-menus? Well, say there's an app FooBar that uses libgnome-menus. How does FooBar know which desktop it's in? Application FooBar being? ___ xdg mailing list xdg@lists.freedesktop.org http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xdg
Re: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
On 07/14/2011 11:53 AM, Bastien Nocera wrote: Application FooBar being? Off the top of my head, gnome-session-properties, gnome-control-center, and alacarte are all cross-desktop apps that would have an interest in knowing the desktop name to control desktop file parsing. And those are just in GNOME. Other desktops may have similar apps that want to know. And some apps that aren't written yet may want to know. If libgnome-menu were to add such a set_desktop_name() function, it would only kick the problem up one layer. If that next layer happened to be the shell, then great, because shells *are* the desktop. But otherwise it's not much help. -mt ___ xdg mailing list xdg@lists.freedesktop.org http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xdg
Re: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
In Xfce XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is already used in a number of places as
an override for the default XFCE for {Only,Not}ShowIn. An example can
be found here [1]. The main purpose in our cases are mostly to make
the various parts of Xfce easier to use in other environments.
I think no library should ever assume it runs on a specific desktop,
but only provide the functions for an application to set this (in our
case garcon_set_environment).
Nick
[1]
http://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/tree/plugins/applicationsmenu/applicationsmenu.c#n216
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