Desktop Entry Files

A desktop entry file is a data file that provides information about an item in a menu. The desktop entry file specifies the details for the item such as a name, a command to run, an icon, and so on. It also contains keywords which determine the location of the item in the menu hierarchy.

Desktop entry files must reside in the $XDG_DATA_DIRS/applications directory and must have a .desktop file extension. If $XDG_DATA_DIRS¹ is not set, then the default path is /usr/share is used. This also implies that user specific desktop entries may be located at $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications which is searched first. If $XDG_DATA_HOME is not set, then the default path ~/.local/share is used. Desktop entries are collected from all directories in the $XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable. Directories which appear first in $XDG_DATA_DIRS are given precedence when there are several .desktop files with the same name.

The following is a sample desktop entry file:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Calculator
Name[fr]=Calculatrice
...
Comment=Perform calculations
Comment[fr]=Effectue des calculs compliqués
...
Exec=gcalctool
Icon=accessories-calculator
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Categories=GNOME;GTK;Utility;Calculator

Table 2-2 describes the most important keys in desktop entry files. To get more information about desktop entry files, see the XDG Desktop Entry Specification.

Table 2-2 Desktop Entry Keys

Desktop Entry Key	Description
Categories	Specifies the keywords that describe the item. The keywords are separated with semicolons (;). To see a list of the standard category keywords, see the desktop menu specification at http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/menu-spec Menu Definition Files map desktop entries to menus by using matching rules against the Categories key.
Comment	Specifies a short description of the item. The comment is displayed as a tooltip when you point to the item in the menu.
Encoding	Specifies the encoding of the desktop entry file.
Exec	Specifies a command to execute when you choose the item from the menu.
Icon	Specifies the filename of an icon that represents the item. Does not specify the path to the filename, or the file extension.
MimeType	Specifies the MIME types that the application can handle.
Name	Specifies the name of the item. This name is displayed on the item in the menu.
NoDisplay	This options means “This application exists, but don't display it in the menus”.
Terminal	Specifies whether the command in the Exec key runs in a terminal window. If the value is true the command runs in a terminal window. If the command does not create a window in which to run, the value of this key must be true.
Type	Specifies the type of item. This value is one of the following: Application: An item that starts an application. Link: An item that links to a file, folder, or a remote resource (such as a FTP site, a web page, a Windows share...). FSDevice: An item that is a file system device. Directory: An item that is a Directory.

For more information on the keys in desktop entry files, see the desktop entry specification at the following URL:

http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/desktop-entry-spec

Panel launchers and desktop objects also use desktop entry files. The desktop entry files for launchers and desktop objects provide the same information as for items in a menu. For example, the desktop entry files provide the command to run when a user chooses the launcher or object.

$XDG_DATA_DIRS is the environment variable defined in the XDG base directory specification.

Desktop Entry Files

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