rocksndiamonds does not create an application menu entry

[Roland Hieber]

Binary package hint: rocksndiamonds

The package rocksndiamonds does not install any menu entry in the Applications menu. I already tried to purge and install it, it downloads game data, and dpkg says "Processing triggers for menu...", but I do not see any entry in the Applications -> Games menu, not even when editing the menu with alacarte. However, I noticed that the package contains /usr/share/menu/rocksndiamonds, but it seems that it is not being processed.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 9.04
Release: 9.04

$ apt-cache policy rocksndiamonds
rocksndiamonds:
  Installiert: 3.2.6.0+dfsg-6
  Kandidat: 3.2.6.0+dfsg-6
  Versions-Tabelle:
 *** 3.2.6.0+dfsg-6 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/multiverse Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Bela Lubkin (filbo)]

/usr/share/menu/* are used by the Debian menu system, which is subscribed to
by almost all window managers available on Debian (and Ubuntu) _except_
Gnome. And maybe KDE, I haven't looked at it.

Gnome actually does. If you go into the menu editor GUI (I forget what it's
called), you will find a not-checked "Debian" submenu off the main menu. Turn
that on and you'll find Menu -> Debian -> Games -> rocksndiamonds (might be
on submenu "Action" depending on how many games you have installed).

BEWARE: Gnome uses the XDG menu specification. One of its quirks is that
it instructs the window manager to rearrange and coalesce menus with similar
names. Turning on the Debian menus can cause the rest of your Gnome menu
to be jumbled in surprising ways.

Gnome/XDG menus use "*.desktop" files; you can find a zillion examples on
your system. To make one, use "Add to toolbar", "Add a custom app"
(whatever it's called). An icon for r'n'd exists in:

   /usr/share/games/rocksndiamonds/graphics/gfx_classic/rocks_icon_32x32.pcx

However this has an ugly black background. To fix it, run:

   sudo convert /usr/share/games/rocksndiamonds/graphics/gfx_classic/rocks_icon_32x32.pcx -transparent black /usr/local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/rocksndiamonds.png

(that's all one long line no matter what the bug database and/or browser do to it)

Then when creating the .desktop file, browse to that directory and slurp up
the fixed icon.

THEN, once you have a filled-in .desktop file, you can copy it from
your own directory
(something similar to ~/.gnome2/panel2.d/default/launchers/gnome-terminal.desktop)
into the system-wide location /usr/share/applications. Then it'll show up
in the Gnome native menu.

----------

meanwhile, Ubuntu maintainer of r'n'd should add a .desktop file to the package;
still retain the Debian menu file, both menu systems are still in wide use.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Thanks for your report and thanks for your clear explanation Bela. Marking this report as triaged since there's enough information for a developer to work with.

Don't hesitate to submit any new bug.

[Arie Skliarouk (skliarie)]

Cough, cough.... (almost two years later)

[Arie Skliarouk (skliarie)]

Cough, cough.... (another year passed)

Here is my workaround script for new installations:
cd /usr/share/pixmaps
wget http://t11.mine.nu/lintoy/rocksndiamonds.png
cd /usr/share/applications
wget http://t11.mine.nu/lintoy/rocksndiamonds.desktop

[Arie Skliarouk (skliarie)]

The t11.mine.nu links are obsolete, here are updated ones:
http://t11.meshanet.com/lintoy/rocksndiamonds.png
http://t11.meshanet.com/lintoy/rocksndiamonds.desktop

[Julien Olivier (julo)]

Cough, cough... (two more years! Yeah!)