gtkmenuplus - create a GDK+ menu from a menu_configuration_file
version 1,00, 2013-03-01
gtkmenuplus is a fork of myGtkMenu (found at https://sites.google.com/site/jvinla/home).
Creates a GDK+ menu from a menu_configuration_file.
gtkmenuplus menu_configuration_file [parameter1 [parameter2 ...
See below for details of menu_configuration_file and parameters
To debug a menu_configuration_file for gtkmenuplus, run
gtkmenuplus menu_configuration_file
in a terminal window. When in doubt, enter the complete pathname of the files:
/pathto/gtkmenuplus /pathto/menu_configuration_fileIn a terminal window gtkmenuplus will produce status and error messages, including reports of errors or problems with the configuration file.
If a fatal error is found in a configuration file, the rest of the file will be scanned for errors but the menu won't be displayed. So it's always a good idea to run a new or changed menu_configuration_file from the command line to see if all's well..
Fatal errors (usually memory allocation failures) will stop configuration file processing dead.
Also possible:
gtkmenuplus
Without arguments, gtkmenuplus will attempt to run the menu_configuration_file test_menu.txt if one is found in the same directory as gtkmenuplus.
If you want most of the items in test_menu.txt to actually work. you may want to edit these lines (they declare variables) so they're right for your system:
editor=gedit filebrowser=nautilus
Note most top level items in test_menu.txt have tooltips if you hover over them.
gtkmenuplus -h
gtkmenuplus --help
gtkmenuplus -v
gtkmenuplus --version
gtkmenuplus -
If gtkmenuplus is followed by a hyphen, it will expect its menu_configuration_file to come in via stdin, so in a bash script you might see:
{ while read line do # process a line of $infoForMenu, get $sEntryDesc, $sCmd echo "item=$sEntryDesc" echo "cmd=$sCmd" echo done <<< "$infoForMenu" # here document } | gtkmenuplus -
See code in the manPagesMenu example in the gtkmenuplus archive. See manpageMenu.sh in the manpageMenu example in the gtkmenuplus archive.
You can also take advantage of absolute paths being valid lines in a configuration file by generating a configuration file on the fly with something like:
{ echo 'configure=abspathparts 0' ; find ~ -name *.conf 2> /dev/null | grep -v '.netbeans' | sed -e "s|^$HOME|~|" | sort ; } | gtkmenuplus -
If gtkmenuplus is accepting its menu configuration file from stdin, any relative path references will be taken as relative to $HOME.
gtkmenuplus 'config file line [ ; config file line [ ; config file line ...]'
A few interesting menus can be generated with just a few configuration file lines, probably using a include=path_to_directory line. In such cases you can submit semicolon-separated lines to gtkmenuplus like this:
gtkmenuplus 'include=/etc/*.conf * ; cmd=gksudo gedit; icon=preferences-system' gtkmenuplus 'include=~/bin/*.sh ; cmd=gedit; icon=NULL'
Enclose the semicolon-separated lines in single quotes.
Run a menu_configuration_file:
If you begin a menu configuration file with a shebang line invoking gtkmenuplus, e.g.
#!/usr/bin/gtkmenuplus (assuming gtkmenuplus is in /usr/bin/) #!/usr/bin/env gtkmenuplus (assuming gtkmenuplus is on your PATH, and that there is an env in your distro's /usr/bin/)
and make the menu configuration file executable, you can invoke gtkmenuplus with that file just by providing the menu configuration file's name, or, if it's not on your PATH, its full path and name.
Typically, one would launch gtkmenuplus (or an executable menu configuration file) from
-- an icon (In GNOME: a launcher) on a panel; or
-- an (In GNOME: a launcher) icon on the desktop; or
-- a shortcut key
You are not limited to one menu. Make several launchers or assign several shortcut keys and operate them with different menu configuration files.
You can invoke gtkmenuplus with additional parameters. If you do, their values can be referred to in _any_ line of your menu configuration file as $1 for the first parameter beyond the path_to_menu_configuration_file, $2 for the second, and so on. $0 refers to the path_to_menu_configuration_file.
Parameter references are likely to be especially useful on if= and elseif= lines. See the page for the gtkMenuplus menu configuration file.
If $ occurs in a line not followed by an integer or a variable name (see the page for the gtkMenuplus menu configuration file), it's treated as literal text, not a parameter or variable reference.
If you provide a parameter but never reference it in the menu configuration file, there'll be a warning if you've launched from a console window.
gtkmenuplus requires a menu_configuration_file to generate a manual.
A number of demo menu configuration files for, and small applications using gtkmenuplus are included in the examples directory of this distribution.
gtkmenuplus(5)
myGtkMenu
https://sites.google.com/site/jvinla/home
No known bugs.
Thanks to John Vorthman for providing myGtkMenu code.
Idea of importing .desktop files borrowed from popdown, http://www.manatlan.com/page/popdown
gtkmenuplus is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
gtkmenuplus comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
See the file COPYING distributed with gtkmenuplus for the complete license.
from:
https://sites.google.com/site/entropyreduction/
Alan Campbell