Desktop File Standard

Example Application .desktop file

For applications that are simply executables, the format is as follows (lines beginning with a ';' are ignored as comments):

    [Desktop Entry]
    ; the line above is mandatory at the beginning of the file
    ;
    ; Exec specifies the name of the executable that should be in /opt/Qtopia/bin
    ; Command-line arguments to the executable are not supported and should not be used.
    Exec=executablename
    ;
    ; This should always be Application for links to applications.
    Type=Application
    ;
    ; Specifies the icon to be found in /opt/Qtopia/pics. Endings are auto-detected.
    ; The icons should be at least 32x32 and should smooth-scale well
    ; from 14x14 to at least 48x48
    Icon=Iconfile
    ;
    ; The mimetype entry specifies a comma separated list of mimetypes this application can handle.
    MimeType="audio/mp3"
    ;
    ; the next lines specify the name of the application as it should appear in the launcher
    ; and start menu
    ; Name[]="My fancy application"

For applications that are realized by a service request, the format is similar, except the Type is a service (must take one QString parameter), File is an arbitrary parameter, and Role must be "Application":

    [Desktop Entry]
    Type=Service/MyService::myMessage(QString)
    File=MyParameter
    Role=Application
    Icon=Iconfile
    Name[]="My fancy application"

By using Services to realize applications, a single application can present an interface depending on information loaded from the parameter. For example, a Java engine could load a .jar file or a weblet could load a webpage.