PCManFM hangs when changing LXmenu-applications

[Christian Michaelis]

************************ BUG REPORT ***************************
PCmanFM 1.2.4
Malfunction: Change of the applications shown in lxmenu doesn't work.

On March/20/2017 I installed Lubuntu 16.4.1 (32bit) on my Samsung N130 Netbook from a Live-DVD made out of a downloaded .iso-file (checked with md5sum). User directories reside in a separate Data-Partition mounted at /home. Today I updated all the software.
But in PCmanFM still seems to be a following bug:

The Function
 (Menu) GoTo --> Applications
brings up a menu of the folders shown in LXmenu. Opening a folder (e.g. "Preferences") brings up a list of links to selectable LX-menu-Applications (e.g. "Network Connections").
Both the folders and the applications are right-clickable. You should be able to "show" | "hide", "rename" or "delete" the item.
I tried it. There came up a window:

 File operation finished up with error.
 ...
 Failed to create file $HOME/'.local/share/applications/nm-connection-editor.desktop.6JCHXY':
        No such file or directory

Indeed a $HOME/.local/share/applications directory in Lubuntu 16.4.1 no more exists.
All item-links are referenced to /usr/share/applications/*.desktop .

These are the 2 configuration files (of 03/22/2017) in $HOME/.config/lubuntu/pcmanfm/*.conf:

desktop-items-0.conf -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [*]
 wallpaper_mode=center
 wallpaper_common=1
 wallpapers_configured=1
 wallpaper0=/usr/share/lubuntu/wallpapers/lubuntu-default-wallpaper.png
 wallpaper=/usr/share/lubuntu/wallpapers/lubuntu-default-wallpaper.png
 desktop_bg=#2e4060
 desktop_fg=#ffffff
 desktop_shadow=#000000
 desktop_font=Ubuntu 11
 show_wm_menu=0
 sort=mtime;ascending;
 show_documents=0
 show_trash=1
 show_mounts=1

pcmanfm.conf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [config]
 bm_open_method=0

 [volume]
 mount_on_startup=1
 mount_removable=1
 autorun=1

 [ui]
 always_show_tabs=0
 max_tab_chars=32
 win_width=916
 win_height=512
 splitter_pos=150
 media_in_new_tab=0
 desktop_folder_new_win=0
 change_tab_on_drop=1
 close_on_unmount=1
 focus_previous=0
 side_pane_mode=places
 view_mode=list
 show_hidden=1
 sort=name;ascending;
 columns=name:200;size:69;mtime:107;
 toolbar=newtab;navigation;home;
 show_statusbar=1
 pathbar_mode_buttons=0

***************************** END *****************************

[ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі (wxl)]

Thanks for the bug report. Sadly, I cannot reproduce this as the steps
to reproduce are not entirely clear. Of the options you mentioned, only
hide/unhide and delete are options for applications. Trying to perform
either operation on the Network Connections application succeeds without
any problems. Which operation were you trying to perform on which
specific object? Also, did the error appear in a dialog or somewhere
else?

 status incomplete

[Christian Michaelis (lububu)]

Dear Walter,

thanks for your fast answer.
Meanwhile I made experiments and created a new directory "applications"
in $HOME/.local/share. Now the previous error message

     "Failed to create file
$HOME/'.local/share/applications/<app>.desktop.6JCHXY':
     No such file or directory."

came up no more. (I think, to reproduce this message, You have to remove
the directory $HOME/.local/share/applications). I hided some
applications and checked the effect. But the LXmenu appeared unchanged,
even after reboot.
Today after reading your e-mail, I tried again. Surprisingly the program
now has hidden all the items I had clicked. If the directory exists, the
program obviously fills it with the changed items. Now it works! But
maybe it needs some time or multiple reboots for self-healing.

Conclusion:

--- The bug seems to be a very little problem. To secure working out of
the box, the installer PCManFM should merely provide the empty dir
$HOME/.local/share/applications/ .
(If I remember well, it was present in Lubuntu Trusty LTS I upgraded from).

--- If the only allowed actions in the right-click-menu of the
applications are "hide", "unhide" and "delete", then the other options
("open with", "cut", "copy" (and presumably "paste") should be disabled
and greyed.

--- Accordingly, if any changes of the top-level menu (categories like
Preferences, Accessories, Education, Office, etc.) are not allowed, then
their extensive right-click-menu should be disabled.

As I have discovered, for renaming or grouping a menu item, I have to
edit the
/usr/share/applications/<item>.desktop file. Save it, and the change
happens instantly. But I am a unexperienced user and I don't like
editing configuration files. It would be nice, if I could do that in a
saver way via software. I have tried the program "menuedit", but it
didn't work.

LXmenu is a very good launching tool, both extensible and space-saving.
It is much better than icons on a desktop or on a dash out of the way.
Just therefor LXmenu should be customizable and Lubuntu should have the
needed tools ready on board. Besides "hide", "unhide" and "delete" we
should be able to "add" and eventually to "rename" and "move" to another
category.

A modified PCManFM could be one way to do that job. It could become a
kind of "swiss army knife" for Lubuntu. On the other side, then a
Lubuntu user couldn't change to another, possibly better filemanager.

But this may be a problem more for developing, not for bugfixing.
Thank You for your work!

Christian

Am 26.03.2017 um 08:17 schrieb Walter Lapchynski:

> Thanks for the bug report. Sadly, I cannot reproduce this as the steps
> to reproduce are not entirely clear. Of the options you mentioned, only
> hide/unhide and delete are options for applications. Trying to perform
> either operation on the Network Connections application succeeds without
> any problems. Which operation were you trying to perform on which
> specific object? Also, did the error appear in a dialog or somewhere
> else?
>
> status incomplete
>
>
> ** Changed in: lubuntu-tweaks
> Status: New => Incomplete
>

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for Lubuntu-Tweaks because there has been no activity for 60 days.]