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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    RFC: new "Label" keyword for desktop files...
From:       iglio () fub ! it (Pietro Iglio)
Date:       1999-07-26 9:01:34
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Application .desktop files (but what I'm going to say may apply to other
types of desktop files as well) have a "Name" key that is used both as
the system application identifier and as the application name in the K-menu.

This approach has some drawbacks:

- if the user changes the application name in the K-menu 
  (eg. Klyx 1.0 -> KLyx), the system application identifier is changed too;
  this might break external references -- an application identifier should 
  NEVER be changed until an application is uninstalled;

- application identifiers could have a more compact format to avoid
  typing errors when a configuration file (menurc) is manually edited
  (eg. "Stardivision StarOffice 5.01" -> "SOFFICE_501");

My proposal is to separate them using Name for the application identifier
and Label for the application name that is shown in the k-menu.
Name should not be translated any more, of course.
So, a .desktop file with the following entries:

Type=Application
Name=Trashcan
Name[it]=Cestino
Name[ru]=xxxyyyzzz

should become:

Type=Application
Name=Trashcan
Label=Trashcan
Label[it]=Cestino
Label[ru]=xxxyyyzzz

Of course it is possible to write a simple perl script to update existing
desktop files. For backward compability, we could assume Label=Name if
there is no Label entry.

Opinions?

Preston: could you forward this proposal to the gnome people?

-- Pietro Iglio

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