Creating a custom launcher in Unity
I previously showed two (2) methods on how to create new launcher items in unity. But is it possible to create a sub list or menu in each of these applications?
Yes, it is possible, and it is actually a simple solution.
The key to make this to work is the X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts
. This allows Unity to look for groups within the .desktop
filename and automatically create the new contextual list or menu. X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts
requires at least one (1) name. If you need more than one (1), you need to separate them using the semicolon (;) character. Example:
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Name1;
Or
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Name1;Name2;Name3
Let's use the terminal example. I want to create a list of terminals I connect to for maintenance. I am going to have 2 servers, and I would like to be able to have the list when I right-click on the icon.
[Desktop Entry] Name=Terminal Comment= Exec=gnome-terminal Icon=utilities-terminal Type=Application Terminal=false StartupNotify=false X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Server1;Server2 [Server1 Shortcut Group] Name=SSH server1.remote Exec=gnome-terminal --class=remoteserver -x ssh server1.remote TargetEnvironment=Unity [Server2 Shortcut Group] Name=SSH server2.remote Exec=gnome-terminal --class=remoteserver -x ssh server2.remote TargetEnvironment=Unity
This will show something like this:
