Application Standard Links

You can also access applications directly from your desktop. To access an application from the desktop, either create a desktop file or a standard link file that can link to the original application program. With a desktop file, you can choose your own icon and specify a ToolTip comment. You can also use a desktop file to start a shell-based application running in its own terminal window. A standard link, on the other hand, is a simple reference to the original program file. Using a link starts the program up directly with no arguments. To create a standard link file, either select and drag the application in the main menu to the desktop, or locate the application on your file system, usually in the /bin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin directories, and then click and drag the application icon to your desktop. In the pop-up menu, select Link. The link has the same icon as the original application. Whenever you then double-click that icon, the application will start. You can also use this method to run a application program you have created yourself, locating it in your own directory and creating a link for it on your desktop.

Application Desktop Links

To create a new desktop file for an application, right-click anywhere on the empty desktop, select Create New from the pop-up menu, and then choose Link To Application. Enter the name for the program and a desktop file for it appears on the desktop with that name. A Properties dialog box then opens with four panels: General, Permissions, Execute, and Application. The General panel displays the name of the link. To select an icon image for the desktop file, click the icon. The Select Icon window is displayed, listing icons from which you can choose. To specify the application the desktop file runs, go to the Execute panel and either enter the application's program name in the Execute box or click Browse to select it. If this is a shell program, you can elect to run it from within a terminal window. To run a shell-based program such as Vi, click the Run In Terminal check box and specify any terminal options. Certain KDE programs can minimize to a small icon, which can be displayed in the panel while they are running. This is referred to as embedding on the panel. Enter the name of the program in the Execute box.

On the Permissions panel, be sure to set execute permissions so that the program can be run. You can set permissions for yourself, for your group, or for any user on the system. The Meta Info panel will list the type of file system used. In the Application panel, you can specify the type of documents to be associated with this application. The bottom of the panel shows two lists. The left list is for MIME types you want associated with this program, and the right list is the listing of available MIME types from which to choose. To add a MIME type, select an entry in the right list and click the left arrow button. Use the right arrow button to remove a MIME type. On the panel, you also specify the description and comment. For the description, enter the application name. This is the name used for the link, if you use the file manager to display it. The comment is the Help note that appears when you pass your mouse over the icon.

Desktop files needn't reside on the desktop. You can place them in any directory and access them through the file manager. You can later make changes to a desktop file by right-clicking its icon and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu. This again displays the dialog box for this file. You can change its icon and even the application it runs.