[SOLVED] XFCE customize menu help: applications and directory menu

Question

I've been trying to make some progress with customizing XFCE menus. There are two menus I'm trying to create, listed below.
Yes, i have read http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu
No, I'm not saying I understood all of it.
1. I want to have a custom Applications menu that lists all installed applications, without categorization. Preferably alphabetical. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with adding a lot of <include> directives.
Here's what I've tinkered with so far, which produces categories of apps.
<!DOCTYPE Menu PUBLIC "-//freedesktop//DTD Menu 1.0//EN"
"http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/menu-spec/1.0/menu.dtd">
<Menu>
<Name>Xfce</Name>
<DefaultAppDirs/>
<DefaultDirectoryDirs/>
<DefaultMergeDirs/>
<Include>
<Filename>xfce4-run.desktop</Filename>
</Include>
<Layout>
<Merge type="all"/>
<Separator/>
<Menuname>Settings</Menuname>
<Filename>xfce4-run.desktop</Filename>
</Layout>
<Menu>
<Name>Settings</Name>
<Directory>xfce-settings.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Settings</Category>
</Include>
<Layout>
<Filename>xfce-settings-manager.desktop</Filename>
<Separator/>
<Merge type="all"/>
</Layout>
<Menu>
<Name>Screensavers</Name>
<Directory>xfce-screensavers.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Screensaver</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Accessories</Name>
<Directory>xfce-accessories.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Or>
<Category>Accessibility</Category>
<Category>Core</Category>
<Category>Legacy</Category>
<Category>Utility</Category>
</Or>
</Include>
<Exclude>
<Or>
<Filename>exo-file-manager.desktop</Filename>
<Filename>exo-terminal-emulator.desktop</Filename>
<Filename>xfce4-about.desktop</Filename>
<Filename>xfce4-run.desktop</Filename>
</Or>
</Exclude>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Development</Name>
<Directory>xfce-development.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Development</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Education</Name>
<Directory>xfce-education.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Education</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Games</Name>
<Directory>xfce-games.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Game</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Graphics</Name>
<Directory>xfce-graphics.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Graphics</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Multimedia</Name>
<Directory>xfce-multimedia.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Audio</Category>
<Category>Video</Category>
<Category>AudioVideo</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Network</Name>
<Directory>xfce-network.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Network</Category>
</Include>
<Exclude>
<Or>
<Filename>exo-mail-reader.desktop</Filename>
<Filename>exo-web-browser.desktop</Filename>
</Or>
</Exclude>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Office</Name>
<Directory>xfce-office.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Category>Office</Category>
</Include>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>System</Name>
<Directory>xfce-system.directory</Directory>
<Include>
<Or>
<Category>Emulator</Category>
<Category>System</Category>
</Or>
</Include>
<Exclude>
<Or>
<Filename>xfce4-session-logout.desktop</Filename>
</Or>
</Exclude>
</Menu>
<Menu>
<Name>Other</Name>
<Directory>xfce-other.directory</Directory>
<OnlyUnallocated/>
<Include>
<All/>
</Include>
</Menu>
</Menu>
2. I want to make a different Directory menu, possibly by implicating a custom Applications menu. If I could locate the .menu file for the Directory menu panel item, I would like to make minor adjustments to the menu, and invoke it through the Applications menu panel item.
I should state that what I'm trying to accomplish is
a) to remove the submenu-like options with the Directory menu (open Folder, open in Terminal) to have one-click to open the folder directory
b) to add a label next to the panel icon (aesthetics), which would be accomplished through using the Applications menu panel item.
Edit: clarity
Last edited by heyitstallchris (2014-07-31 02:02:36)

Answer 1

Firstly, I'll tackle menu 1.
No need to create an include line for every .desktop file. Do the following:
$ mkdir ~/.config/menus
$ cd ~/.config/menus
$ touch custom-apps.menu
Edit the file we have just created and populate it with the following:
<!DOCTYPE Menu PUBLIC "-//freedesktop//DTD Menu 1.0//EN"
"http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/menu-spec/1.0/menu.dtd">
<Menu>
<Name>Applications</Name>
<DefaultAppDirs/>
<DefaultDirectoryDirs/>
<DefaultMergeDirs/>
<Include>
<Category>X-Xfce-Toplevel</Category>
<Category>Settings</Category>
<Category>Accessibility</Category>
<Category>Core</Category>
<Category>Legacy</Category>
<Category>Utility</Category>
<Category>Development</Category>
<Category>Education</Category>
<Category>Game</Category>
<Category>Graphics</Category>
<Category>Audio</Category>
<Category>Video</Category>
<Category>AudioVideo</Category>
<Category>Network</Category>
<Category>Office</Category>
<Category>System</Category>
</Include>
<Layout>
<Merge type="all"/>
</Layout>
</Menu>
Now just create an application menu panel item and point it to the custom menu file we just created.
This will display every application installed on your system, and any custom .desktop entries you may create (as long as they are set in one of the categories in the menu file). Add or remove categories as you need.
If you want to have the "Run Program" and other "Action" items that are in the default Xfce menu, add a category line for "X-Xfce-Toplevel"
Alternatively, you can forego all the <Category></Category> lines and simply use <All/>
[EDIT] and since this is using garcon (Xfce's menu library), the apps will be in alphabetical order [/EDIT]
Cheers.
Last edited by Padfoot (2014-07-17 09:42:16)