Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[radky]

Recommended OS
Puppy Linux with gtkdialog4 (0.7.21 or greater)

Purpose and Base Features
PupMenu is a comprehensive menu-item editor and program launcher based on standard .desktop files of the Linux file system (usr/share/applications/*.desktop and usr/local/share/applications/*.desktop). The graphical interface employs a traditional menu hierarchy, and the program categories are familiar to most users of Puppy Linux. Applications are launched quickly from the user interface and the corresponding .desktop files can be edited easily, or simply viewed for more information.

The current program database is dynamically scanned by PupMenu and the menu is automatically updated with applications that are viewable by name and content in a conventional dual-pane interface (full-view), or by name only in the optional single-pane interfaces (mid-view, mini-view and control panel). All views are readily available through the toggle button in the upper-right corner of the user interface.

Selecting menu items with the mouse or keyboard in the full-view interface enables serial viewing of all .desktop files in the information window, and the corresponding icons are displayed in the graphic viewer.

A convenient search option (application finder) facilitates prompt access to all applications, particularly the obscure or infrequently used items. The standard search mode parses the names of menu items (.desktop files) alphabetically. The optional enhanced search mode parses all character matches in the names of menu items and evaluates information inside the menu files, which provides both specific and nonspecific (fuzzy) matches. You can select the search mode in Preferences, or use the toggle button of the main user interface.

The search option also features a quick-launch function which emulates Run-dialog programs such as gExec and GRun. Simply enter (part of) the executable name of an application in the search box of PupMenu, and press the Enter key to launch. As you type characters in the search field, the PupMenu application and information windows change dynamically to match the current search parameters. At any time, you can press the Enter key to launch the menu item which is currently first in the list of applications. The keyboard quick-launch option is appropriate for those who are familiar with the names of applications currently installed, but a standard launch button is also available for those who prefer the simplicity of mouse navigation. For both launch modes, the full-view, mid-view and control-panel interfaces provide a checkbox which quickly toggles the 'close after launch' option, or you can set this feature in Preferences when using the mini-view graphical interface.

PupMenu provides convenient options for creating, editing and deleting menu files. The PupMenuEdit module facilitates changing individual elements of existing menu files, and the companion PupMenuMaker is an equally intuitive utility for the creation of new menu items.

Frequently used applications are conveniently retrieved from the launch history (blue-folder icon) and are quickly relaunched by a single mouse-click of the program name, or by selecting the launch button if navigation is by the keyboard. The launch history is self-sustaining and PupMenu automatically removes duplicate and orphan menu items from the list of available applications.

Access to the Linux directory structure is facilitated by the bookmarks option which opens the selected directory in supported file managers (Rox, Thunar, PCManFM or SpaceFM).

Common functions that one may use routinely are available in the lower panel tray, including the following (if installed): favorite-apps launcher (PupApps), control panel (PupControl), file manager, file finder, drive mounter, command-line launcher, task manager, terminal emulator, Wine menu for Windows applications, and shutdown manager (PupShutdown). The Preferences module provides the following basic options for changing the standard menu and enhancing the PupMenu interface:

▪ Select optional closing of the main PupMenu interface when launching applications.
▪ Show/Hide the border relief (peripheral margins) of small buttons above the utility tray.
▪ Show/Hide the multi-function utility tray.
▪ Show/Hide the icon viewer in the PupMenu full-view interface.
▪ Select optional auto-updating of the recent launch history.
▪ Select legacy or enhanced menu categories for PupMenuEdit and PupMenuMaker.
▪ Select standard or enhanced search options.
▪ Select optional viewing of hidden menu items in PupMenu (override the 'NoDisplay=true' parameter which hides applications in the conventional Puppy menu).
▪ Adjust the font size of the PupMenu interface to match user preference.
▪ Manage menu items in the My-Apps category (quick-access repository for favorite applications).
▪ View or edit standard default-apps in /usr/local/bin.
▪ View or edit standard mime-types in /root/Choices/MIME-types.

After removing or restoring menu items, the user should select the Update button which automatically refreshes the menu in desktop environments that support the fixmenus command, though the occasional derivative may require a manual 'Refresh Menu' or 'Restart-X' to update the standard menu.

The .desktop files which represent items removed (hidden) from the menu are updated each time PupMenu opens and are stored temporarily in the usr/local/PupMenu/dtfiles folder. The .desktop files which represent favorite programs selected for the My-Apps category are stored locally in the usr/local/PupMenu/myapps folder, and are managed conveniently in the PupMenu Preferences module.

Program access is by Puppy Menu->Utility->PupMenu, or by the default Ctrl+Shift+M keyboard shortcut, which is configured for IceWm, JWM, Openbox, Fluxbox, LXDE and LXPanel.

Download
http://www.smokey01.com/radky/PupMenu-3.1.pet

Full-view


Mid-view


Mini-view


Control Panel


Menu Editor


Menu Maker


PupMates
http://www.smokey01.com/radky/PupMates.html

[radky]

Version 3.1. See main post.
- Added support for the comprehensive menu hierarchy (Puppy-specific categories and subcategories) introduced in the Woof specifications of 30 Nov 2012. (Set this option in Preferences)
- Added toggle checkbox to the main interface for the 'close after launch' option.
- Added toggle button to the main interface for standard/enhanced searching.
- Improved the quick-launch feature of the application search option to better emulate Run-dialog programs such as gExec and GRun. (See PupMenu Help)
- Simplified code (touch --no-create) for the show/hide options of PupMenuEdit. (thank you Geoffrey)
- Multiple enhancements of the graphical user interface.
- Added new primary icon for PupMenu (improved rendering when the icon is downsized).

Version 3.0. See main post.
- Major update since v.2.8.1
- Code modifications with significantly improved performance and faster application search.
- Added quick-launch function which emulates Run-dialog programs such as gexec and grun (enter the executable name of an application in the search box of PupMenu, and press the Enter key to launch).
- Extended the enhanced search option – which now evaluates the Category entry of .desktop files, in addition to the Name and Comment fields.
- Enhanced user access to the menu creation and editing modules.
- Added PupMenuEdit (new application) which is accessible from all interfaces. This integrated, full-featured menu manager, editor and graphic viewer facilitates management of *.desktop files. The default text editor is still available.
- Renamed the menumaker module to PupMenuMaker and added an icon viewer.
- Updated the Categories drop-down list of PupMenuMaker in accordance with current Woof specifications.
- Enhanced content in the information window of the full-view interface of PupMenu.
- Added optional CPL-view (control panel).
- Added Refresh buttons to all interfaces.
- Added information viewer to the mini-view and control panel interfaces.
- Added optional utility tray to the mini-view interface. The tray is now available for all four interfaces (full, mid, mini and CPL).
- Added optional real-time icon viewer to the full-view interface.
- Note: The graphic viewers require standard files extensions (png, xpm, svg) for the icon entry of the .desktop file. However, the occasional derivative (Saluki) may not include the requisite icon extensions in all .desktop files.
- Added auto-sorting of the the launch history after opening applications from the history list (blue folder icon). As in prior versions, the list also auto-sorts when launching applications from the main PupMenu interface.
- Added PeeBee's Wine Menu which appears automatically in the tray of PupMenu if Wine is installed. Tested in Lighthouse64 and with Green Dome's popular Wine Pet which is updated frequently.
- Converted the combobox format of the Preferences module to the more intuitive 'Tree' format.
- Bugfix in PupMenuMaker: Inconsistent auto-update of the Puppy XDG menu when creating new .desktop files.
- Bugfix in recursive search code: Replaced 'grep -r' with 'grep -R'. The -r option of grep (v2.12 or greater) no longer follows symlinks, except command-line.

Version 2.8.1. See main post.
- Bugfix: delay (key lag) in search box function after exiting the Configuration module.

Version 2.8. See main post.
- Please note: this release requires gtkdialog4 (Puppy5 derivatives or updated Puppy4 derivatives).
- Added optional third view of the main user interface (conveniently small while retaining essential features of an application finder/launcher).
- The main PupMenu interface supports quick access to mini-view, mid-view and full-view modes (select the icon in upper right corner of main GUI).
- The Preferences interface opens in the current/active tab when refreshing the menu.
- Added support to Preferences for combobox multi-column text.
- Added new options to the MenuMaker module (menu-item viewer, comprehensive drop-down list of menu categories, and 'Msg' checkbox to show/hide confirmation messages).
- Added support for SpaceFM file manager.
- Bugfix: error loading mime-types in Preferences.
- Bugfix: inconsistent update of the XDG menu when removing/hiding menu items in derivatives without fixmenus.

Version 2.7. See main post.
- Enabled quick-access to menu creation from the main PupMenu interface. Access to menu creation is still available in the Preferences GUI.
- Added option to show/hide tray utilities in the reduced-view GUI (this option is still available in the full-view GUI).
- Improved access to options in Preferences.
- Enhanced MenuMaker module.

Version 2.6. See main post.
- Added Information window to the mini-view GUI for the display of descriptive menu-item names.
- Added option to show/hide the margin (border relief) of small GUI buttons (showing the margin facilitates button recognition when navigating the GUI in some GTK themes).
- Enabled support for the updated jwm_menu_create module of jwm-tools (the updated version of jwm-tools supports the "NoDisplay=true" entry of .desktop files).
- Enhanced user interface for the Preferences module.
- Bugfix: In some Puppy derivatives, selecting a program in the Applications window required double-clicking to view output in the Information window.

Version 2.5. See main post.
- Added checkbox option in Preferences to override the 'NoDisplay=true' parameter of menu items (i.e., hidden menu items are made visible in PupMenu, but remain hidden in the Puppy XDG menu).
- Added icon option in search box to quickly clear/reset the current application search.
- Disabled the nonfunctional pop-up search option of the gtkdialog tree widget.
- Enhanced integration with 32-bit and 64-bit Puppy derivatives.

Version 2.4. See main post.
- Added single-pane (mini-mode) view of the user interface.
- Added option to quickly toggle between dual-pane and single-pane views.

Version 2.3. See main post.
- Added option to show/hide tray applications.
- Added enhanced search option which complements the standard search function of the application finder.
- Added immediate feedback when the search option finds no item.
- Moved search icon to the left-inside margin of the entry box.
- Revised Preferences GUI.

Version 2.2. See main post.
- Bugfix: Mouse-click in white space of the Applications window displayed information of a previously selected item.
- Added filter to exclude non-functional menu files which lack the standard .desktop extension.
- Enhanced notification status of launch and edit buttons.

Version 2.1. See main post.
- Enhanced rendering speed for the applications, information and search windows.
- Added self-sustained launch history with quick access to recently launched programs, automatic addition and deletion
of history items, and auto-update after programs are uninstalled. (thanks Jasper)
- Added configurable bookmarks with one-click access to the rox, thunar or pcmanfm file managers. (thanks Jasper)
- Added source-file data to the information window (path to .desktop file).
- Added icon-notification to the launch and edit buttons (enabled/disabled status).

Version 2.0. See main post.
- Removed the combobox format of the main user interface.
- Added new dual-pane interface with application search option. (thanks jim1911 and seaside for testing)
- Added My-Apps favorites category. (thanks scsijon)
- Added option to send menu items to the ROX desktop. (thanks darkcity)
- Added MenuMaker² menu creation utility. (thanks Trio and Geoffrey)
- Added direct access to defaults-chooser. (thanks sc0ttman)

[radky]

PupMenu-1.0 is available for download.

[darkcity]

this looks good - pupmenu should be easy to configure

[radky]

[harii4]

Works with TXZ_pup and is nice alternative for an traditional menu.
Handy for window managers without an menu.

keep up the good work .

[scsijon]

Interesting radky!

A few thoughts!

?are items appearing in the lists fixed alphabetically, or could your user select what order they appear in, so they could put the most used at the top and the rest in use order?

?How extensible is it, along the line of a user dynamically adding through the preferances button, a few extra 'menu' boxes, say for 'favorites', 'my-apps', 'extra tools', 'development', and the like and using puppy's pick-and-drag process to fill them?

Also ?could it be hidden in a 'corner', unlike the toolbars that take over the whole of a side, whether they need to or not.

Also, maybe allow multiples, that could be programmed to show selected groups, or individual applications, so they could become task specific.

And yes it's new, I don't expect immediacy, just a few thoughts of what extensions may be worth considering.

regards
scsijon

[radky]

Hi harii4,

Thanks for taking PupMenu for a test drive in TXZ_pup. I had not tested in that derivative, so I am very pleased the application is working OK for you.

Hi scsijon,

[sc0ttman]

I realised I forgot to post some feedback about this:
I wouldn't change a thing, personally. Love it.
Working great on Akita, looks nice, works perfect.

In fact, PupApps, PupControl and PupMenu are all so comprehensive,
and I am wondering if I actually need all of them...
But I will include all 3 of those in Akita, along with PupSnap, too.

Good work!

If I had 1 request, which is not a small or easy one,
it would be to i18n these apps, and get some translations done.

I use 'wizardwizard' only cos it's well embedded, and now i18n'd.

[radky]

[darkcity]

thanks for this app ; -)

ive noticed a minor bug that display a random menu entry at the top of menus - sometimes blank, sometimes a copy at the current entry.

Would it be possible to add a button that add a menu entry to the pin board? - someone was requesting this in this thread-
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=616156#616156

Also, have you considered a more compact layout using 'category' as a drop down menu

Just ideas

edit: one last thing, can items be added to menu with pupmenu?

[radky]

Hi darkcity,

[darkcity]

[radky]

[darkcity]

great stuff, its these apps that fill the gaps that makes puppy a pleasure to use ; -)