Unity violates freedesktop.org desktop entry spec

[Christoph Wickert]

It seems Unity has extra key in desktop files that are not part of the freedesktop.org desktop entry spec but are not prefixed with "X-" either. Example:

[Add Shortcut Group]
_Name=_Add download...
Exec=steadyflow add %s
TargetEnvironment=Unity

This is a violation of the freedesktop.org specs and prevents the files from being validated/installed with desktop-file-utils:

desktop-file-install --delete-original --dir=/builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications /builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64//usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop
/builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop: error: file contains group "Add Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"

This is fundamentally broken as it breaks compatibility with almost any desktop except Unity. Things will get worse when a growing number of Ubuntu developers start using the new keys.

I don't recall this being discussed on the xdg mailing list and https://blueprints.launchpad.net/unity doesn't list any blueprints for unity. Is there documentation available on this? ow do you plan to fix this?

[Orion (orion-redhat-bugs)]

Description of problem:

It appears that a number of media players are adding the following entries to their .desktop files:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Play;Pause;Stop;Previous;Next;

[Play Shortcut Group]
Name=Play
Exec=clementine --play
TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Pause Shortcut Group]
Name=Pause
Exec=clementine --pause
TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Stop Shortcut Group]
Name=Stop
Exec=clementine --stop
TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Previous Shortcut Group]
Name=Previous
Exec=clementine --previous
TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Next Shortcut Group]
Name=Next
Exec=clementine --next
TargetEnvironment=Unity

Which result in the following errors:

/data/sw/tmp/clementine.desktop: error: file contains group "Play Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
/data/sw/tmp/clementine.desktop: error: file contains group "Pause Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
/data/sw/tmp/clementine.desktop: error: file contains group "Stop Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
/data/sw/tmp/clementine.desktop: error: file contains group "Previous Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
/data/sw/tmp/clementine.desktop: error: file contains group "Next Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"

Now, I have no idea if this is an accepted standard or not.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
desktop-file-utils-0.16-1.fc14.i686

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

found this discussion
http://www.mailrepository.com/xdg.lists.freedesktop.org/msg/3415762/

On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 5:48 PM, Christoph Wickert
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Public bug reported:
>
> It seems Unity has extra key in desktop files that are not part of the
> freedesktop.org desktop entry spec but are not prefixed with "X-"
> either. Example:
>
> [Add Shortcut Group]
> _Name=_Add download...
> Exec=steadyflow add %s
> TargetEnvironment=Unity
>
> This is a violation of the freedesktop.org specs and prevents the files
> from being validated/installed with desktop-file-utils:
>
> desktop-file-install --delete-original --dir=/builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications /builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64//usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop
> /builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop: error: file contains group "Add Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
>
> This is fundamentally broken as it breaks compatibility with almost any
> desktop except Unity. Things will get worse when a growing number of
> Ubuntu developers start using the new keys.
>
> I don't recall this being discussed on the xdg mailing list and
> https://blueprints.launchpad.net/unity doesn't list any blueprints for
> unity. Is there documentation available on this? ow do you plan to fix
> this?
>
> ** Affects: unity
>     Importance: Undecided
>         Status: New
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to unity.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/789867
>
> Title:
>  Unity violates freedesktop.org desktop entry spec
>
> Status in Unity:
>  New
>
> Bug description:
>  It seems Unity has extra key in desktop files that are not part of the
>  freedesktop.org desktop entry spec but are not prefixed with "X-"
>  either. Example:
>
>  [Add Shortcut Group]
>  _Name=_Add download...
>  Exec=steadyflow add %s
>  TargetEnvironment=Unity
>
>  This is a violation of the freedesktop.org specs and prevents the
>  files from being validated/installed with desktop-file-utils:
>
>  desktop-file-install --delete-original --dir=/builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications /builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64//usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop
>  /builddir/build/BUILDROOT/steadyflow-0.1.7-1.fc16.x86_64/usr/share/applications/steadyflow.desktop: error: file contains group "Add Shortcut Group", but groups extending the format should start with "X-"
>
>  This is fundamentally broken as it breaks compatibility with almost
>  any desktop except Unity. Things will get worse when a growing number
>  of Ubuntu developers start using the new keys.
>
>  I don't recall this being discussed on the xdg mailing list and
>  https://blueprints.launchpad.net/unity doesn't list any blueprints for
>  unity. Is there documentation available on this? ow do you plan to fix
>  this?
>

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

better http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2011-February/011812.html

[Christoph Wickert (cwickert)]

This discussion was about Unity as registered OnlyShowIn and after some discussion, Unity was added to the spec, see http://standards.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/latest/apb.html
However there was absolutely no discussion about new groups or keys.

[Christoph (christoph-redhat-bugs)]

Kind of an upstream bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/789867

Neither GNOME nor Unity developers seem to care about xdg standards any longer. Sad but true.

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[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

I believe this can be considered fixed.

Actions (a slightly different API than used in versions of Ubuntu before 12.04) is now part of the .desktop spec
http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/ar01s08.htm