maemo.org - Talk - [Announce] OS2008 Personal Menu

Hello all,

Inspired by Command Navigator (http://upir.cz/maemo/cmdnav.php) I decided to try my hand at a customizable task navigator (sidebar) menu plugin. I had two goals to make it different from Command Navigator. Thus I present, Personal Menu

NOTE: This software has only been lightly tested and I cannot guarantee that it will be problem free. Use at your own discretion, as I am not responsible for any data loss or damage this software may cause.

First, I wanted it to be thumb-ready with icons to fit in with the rest of the Maemo environment (I find myself using the stylus less and less).

Second, I wanted an easy way to add installed applications without having to figure out the name, command, and icon of each one. The fourth screenshot show an application being added from the installed application list.

Once installed you can go into the control panel, select "Panels" from the "Personalization" section and disable one of the other plugins in favour of this one. The configuration for this plugin is located in the control panel in the "Personalization" sections too, and is called "Personal Menu".

If you have not configured Personal Menu when you first use it, it will be loaded with a link to the configuration dialog. If you want to put a link to this in the menu once you have configured it, the command is as follows:

Code:

dbus-send --print-reply --dest=com.nokia.controlpanel /com/nokia/controlpanel/rpc com.nokia.controlpanel.run_applet string:libpersonalmenusetup.so boolean:true

One problem I have noticed with the application is that it has a problem adding commands above a certain length (the above command will not add through the setup tool) but if you manually edit "~/.personal_menu.rc" it has no problems executing the long command.

Some things I am planning for the future:

Easier icon selection when adding an arbitrary command (although if you enter an invalid icon name it falls back to a default) - DONE
Allow commands to be run in the terminal or as root (ala Command Navigator) - DONE
Implement a multiple column menu like Command Navigator - DONE

Please let me know if you find any problems or have any suggestions for features. I am very open to suggestions. Also, let me know if you find it useful, a waste of space, or not different enough from other things out there.

I am in the process of getting the source code ready to be released (needs to be formatted, copyright headers, and a home) - DONE

UPDATE: Version 0.2 now includes many more features, such as:

Multiple columns (max of two right now)
Selectable icon size (64, 40, 26, or 0)
Selectable "minimum rows" to be displayed. Any items past this number will overflow into another column.
Fixed a bug where if you were adding from installed applications and hit "OK" when you were finished it would add a blank item
Added a "helper" application to launch the menu from a command (/usr/bin/personal-menu)
Now displays the app name instead of the executable name in the launch notification
Shows the application icon in the launch notification
Fixed the problem with adding arbitrary command

Still to be implemented:

Run command in xterm or as root - DONE
Translate pre-installed application desktop entries (does not look trivial from the discussions I have read) - DONE
Easier way to select icons for arbitrary commands - DONE

I have updated the screenshots and attached package in this post. I have applied for a garage page and am waiting for the registration to complete.

UPDATE: Release a new version to the garage page (https://garage.maemo.org/projects/personal-menu/)

This version includes the following fixes:

Changed the license and add appropriate copyright information
Translates pre-installed applications from Nokia when selecting them
Hopefully fixed a problem where three columns get drawn in the menu
Properly draw the menu no matter where the task navigator is (right, left, top or bottom)
Added an easier way to select icons for arbitrary command

Still missing are root and terminal functionality (DONE). As Jiri has mentioned, there is a problem with xterm which makes it so it does not launch with a command line option gracefully. I am looking at this. I would also like to find a way to enable root execution upon install, but I am not sure if this is easy or wise.

UPDATE: New version 0.4 available at the garage page. This version adds "Run in term" and "Run as root" options (see post 64 for details on the limitations here)

Also new are the ability to backup and restore the settings with the built-in application and alphabetical name sorting when selecting installed applications or icons.

UPDATE: Version 0.4-2 is out in my garage page. Selecting from installed applications should work all the time now (modest, email, mahjong and others didn't work before)