How do I diagnose “There was an error launching the application”?





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I created a my-app.desktop file for a program I wrote. When I double-click it, I get the error message "There was an error launching the application". How can I get more detailed information about what the problem is?



I saw a reference to a "details" section of the dialog box, but there is nothing like that present in the one I see. If I were on my Mac, I'd open the Console app to see if any errors were logged, but I haven't learned of anything similar on Ubuntu.



(Note that unlike other similarly-titled questions, I am not asking what's wrong with this particular .desktop file; I want to know how to find out in general.)










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

    – Jacob Vlijm
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:51











  • @Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:56






  • 1





    @terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:25






  • 2





    @terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:38






  • 2





    A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

    – Barafu Albino
    Sep 24 '16 at 14:06


















23















I created a my-app.desktop file for a program I wrote. When I double-click it, I get the error message "There was an error launching the application". How can I get more detailed information about what the problem is?



I saw a reference to a "details" section of the dialog box, but there is nothing like that present in the one I see. If I were on my Mac, I'd open the Console app to see if any errors were logged, but I haven't learned of anything similar on Ubuntu.



(Note that unlike other similarly-titled questions, I am not asking what's wrong with this particular .desktop file; I want to know how to find out in general.)










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

    – Jacob Vlijm
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:51











  • @Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:56






  • 1





    @terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:25






  • 2





    @terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:38






  • 2





    A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

    – Barafu Albino
    Sep 24 '16 at 14:06














23












23








23


2






I created a my-app.desktop file for a program I wrote. When I double-click it, I get the error message "There was an error launching the application". How can I get more detailed information about what the problem is?



I saw a reference to a "details" section of the dialog box, but there is nothing like that present in the one I see. If I were on my Mac, I'd open the Console app to see if any errors were logged, but I haven't learned of anything similar on Ubuntu.



(Note that unlike other similarly-titled questions, I am not asking what's wrong with this particular .desktop file; I want to know how to find out in general.)










share|improve this question














I created a my-app.desktop file for a program I wrote. When I double-click it, I get the error message "There was an error launching the application". How can I get more detailed information about what the problem is?



I saw a reference to a "details" section of the dialog box, but there is nothing like that present in the one I see. If I were on my Mac, I'd open the Console app to see if any errors were logged, but I haven't learned of anything similar on Ubuntu.



(Note that unlike other similarly-titled questions, I am not asking what's wrong with this particular .desktop file; I want to know how to find out in general.)







launcher .desktop






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Mar 20 '14 at 17:48









Kevin ReidKevin Reid

5952515




5952515








  • 1





    I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

    – Jacob Vlijm
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:51











  • @Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:56






  • 1





    @terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:25






  • 2





    @terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:38






  • 2





    A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

    – Barafu Albino
    Sep 24 '16 at 14:06














  • 1





    I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

    – Jacob Vlijm
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:51











  • @Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 17:56






  • 1





    @terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:25






  • 2





    @terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

    – Kevin Reid
    Mar 20 '14 at 18:38






  • 2





    A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

    – Barafu Albino
    Sep 24 '16 at 14:06








1




1





I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

– Jacob Vlijm
Mar 20 '14 at 17:51





I would just run the Exec line from the terminal and see what the output tells you, but are you sure the desktop file is ok? maybe you should check and run it from the terminal as well.

– Jacob Vlijm
Mar 20 '14 at 17:51













@Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 17:56





@Jacob If there is a way to "run it from the terminal" that puts something useful on stderr, that would constitute an answer to this question.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 17:56




1




1





@terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 18:25





@terdon I tried that, and it turned out that (as the next problem) the environment was different in a way that mattered. I want to know how to get more information out of the normal launch process so that I'm not guessing at what's different.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 18:25




2




2





@terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 18:38





@terdon Empirically, running it in the terminal is different — I tried and it was different (in particular a different PATH). I want to know how to get exactly the same environment as a normal launch but with more diagnostic info.

– Kevin Reid
Mar 20 '14 at 18:38




2




2





A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

– Barafu Albino
Sep 24 '16 at 14:06





A bit offtopic, but 9 times of 10 that problem airs it is special characters, like spaces, in Exec= path. Remember, you should have Exec= in quotes and Path= without quotes.

– Barafu Albino
Sep 24 '16 at 14:06










7 Answers
7






active

oldest

votes


















15














Here's a trick you can use. Create a wrapper script for your application that will launch it and capture the error output:



#!/usr/bin/env bash

## Launch 'yourapp' and capture its standard error output
/path/to/yourapp 2>~/myapp.log


Save that as ~/foo.sh and make it executable with chmod +x ~/foo.sh. Now, point your desktop launcher to it instead. Something like:



[Desktop Entry]
Version=2.0
Type=Application
Exec=/home/kevin/foo.sh
Terminal=true
Comment=My app!


That will redirect any error messages to ~/myapp.log and you can examine them at your leisure. You can use 2>>~/myapp.log if you want successive error messages to be appended to the file instead of overwriting it.





As an aside, the reason that the $PATH is different is because you are probably setting your $PATH in ~/.bahsrc which is not read by the graphical environment. It is also a bad idea since the $PATH will be set every time you open a new terminal and that is needless overhead. Use ~/.profile for this instead. For more details on which files are read when see here and for more on which file should be used for what, see here.






share|improve this answer


























  • Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

    – Jānis Elmeris
    Jan 29 '18 at 18:49





















11














Found an answer to this question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/836842



Try this :



desktop-file-validate my-app.desktop


It outputs errors in your .desktop file. For example mine returned :



error: first group is not "Desktrop Entry"


So once I corrected the typo to Desktop Entry, the script ran successfully.






share|improve this answer

































    6














    By running the following command in terminal:



    awk -F= '/Exec=/{system($2)}' your_desktop_file.desktop


    I am sure that you will find out if there is an error or not in your command assigned to the Exec field from inside of your .desktop file.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 5





      I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

      – Sayantan Koley
      Jul 10 '16 at 19:02











    • This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

      – mirh
      Dec 4 '18 at 23:13



















    3














    usually, the terminal(-output) gives you a lot of useful information, both on the application as well as the desktop file. An example:
    if I run my application from the terminal, typing the command in the terminal, the application starts.



    However, if there is something wrong, you can expect an output like:



    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 4044, in <module>
    MainWindow()
    File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 51, in __init__
    self.load_sectons()
    AttributeError: 'MainWindow' object has no attribute 'load_sectons'
    jacob@Jacobwerkkamer:~/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code$


    which gives you a lot of usefull information, even the line in your application that causes the error. (I messed it up on purpose)



    The same with the desktop file, just open a terminal in the directory of the .desktop file and drag it on to the terminal. If you for example remove the Exec= line from a .desktop file, the terminal will tell you it cannot find the command to execute.



    To test if the application gives an error, just run what you put after theExec= string.



    The terminal output is usually very specific and useful in bug reports, like here.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 2





      I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

      – Kevin Reid
      Mar 20 '14 at 18:41



















    0














    This might help other people - this is the official spec of the desktop launcher files



    The important section is : Recognized desktop entry keys - which shows you which values you need.






    share|improve this answer































      0














      When I really can't figure it out, I:



      cd ~/Desktop
      ln -s /my/binary/thatIwanttorun mybinary


      Then right click on the default icon that's created and point to a better graphic.






      share|improve this answer


























      • and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

        – Tom
        Feb 9 at 21:21



















      -1














      For me, the problem was a missing Icon= line (which seems like a stupid requirement for a working launcher). My full .desktop file now looks like:



      [Desktop Entry]
      Name=LiClipse
      Comment=Variant of Eclipse
      Exec=/home/tsbertalan/bin/liclipse
      Terminal=true
      Type=Application
      Icon=/home/tsbertalan/usr/liclipse/icon.xpm


      Which isn't particularly robust to changes in user, but whatever.






      share|improve this answer
























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        7 Answers
        7






        active

        oldest

        votes








        7 Answers
        7






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        15














        Here's a trick you can use. Create a wrapper script for your application that will launch it and capture the error output:



        #!/usr/bin/env bash

        ## Launch 'yourapp' and capture its standard error output
        /path/to/yourapp 2>~/myapp.log


        Save that as ~/foo.sh and make it executable with chmod +x ~/foo.sh. Now, point your desktop launcher to it instead. Something like:



        [Desktop Entry]
        Version=2.0
        Type=Application
        Exec=/home/kevin/foo.sh
        Terminal=true
        Comment=My app!


        That will redirect any error messages to ~/myapp.log and you can examine them at your leisure. You can use 2>>~/myapp.log if you want successive error messages to be appended to the file instead of overwriting it.





        As an aside, the reason that the $PATH is different is because you are probably setting your $PATH in ~/.bahsrc which is not read by the graphical environment. It is also a bad idea since the $PATH will be set every time you open a new terminal and that is needless overhead. Use ~/.profile for this instead. For more details on which files are read when see here and for more on which file should be used for what, see here.






        share|improve this answer


























        • Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

          – Jānis Elmeris
          Jan 29 '18 at 18:49


















        15














        Here's a trick you can use. Create a wrapper script for your application that will launch it and capture the error output:



        #!/usr/bin/env bash

        ## Launch 'yourapp' and capture its standard error output
        /path/to/yourapp 2>~/myapp.log


        Save that as ~/foo.sh and make it executable with chmod +x ~/foo.sh. Now, point your desktop launcher to it instead. Something like:



        [Desktop Entry]
        Version=2.0
        Type=Application
        Exec=/home/kevin/foo.sh
        Terminal=true
        Comment=My app!


        That will redirect any error messages to ~/myapp.log and you can examine them at your leisure. You can use 2>>~/myapp.log if you want successive error messages to be appended to the file instead of overwriting it.





        As an aside, the reason that the $PATH is different is because you are probably setting your $PATH in ~/.bahsrc which is not read by the graphical environment. It is also a bad idea since the $PATH will be set every time you open a new terminal and that is needless overhead. Use ~/.profile for this instead. For more details on which files are read when see here and for more on which file should be used for what, see here.






        share|improve this answer


























        • Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

          – Jānis Elmeris
          Jan 29 '18 at 18:49
















        15












        15








        15







        Here's a trick you can use. Create a wrapper script for your application that will launch it and capture the error output:



        #!/usr/bin/env bash

        ## Launch 'yourapp' and capture its standard error output
        /path/to/yourapp 2>~/myapp.log


        Save that as ~/foo.sh and make it executable with chmod +x ~/foo.sh. Now, point your desktop launcher to it instead. Something like:



        [Desktop Entry]
        Version=2.0
        Type=Application
        Exec=/home/kevin/foo.sh
        Terminal=true
        Comment=My app!


        That will redirect any error messages to ~/myapp.log and you can examine them at your leisure. You can use 2>>~/myapp.log if you want successive error messages to be appended to the file instead of overwriting it.





        As an aside, the reason that the $PATH is different is because you are probably setting your $PATH in ~/.bahsrc which is not read by the graphical environment. It is also a bad idea since the $PATH will be set every time you open a new terminal and that is needless overhead. Use ~/.profile for this instead. For more details on which files are read when see here and for more on which file should be used for what, see here.






        share|improve this answer















        Here's a trick you can use. Create a wrapper script for your application that will launch it and capture the error output:



        #!/usr/bin/env bash

        ## Launch 'yourapp' and capture its standard error output
        /path/to/yourapp 2>~/myapp.log


        Save that as ~/foo.sh and make it executable with chmod +x ~/foo.sh. Now, point your desktop launcher to it instead. Something like:



        [Desktop Entry]
        Version=2.0
        Type=Application
        Exec=/home/kevin/foo.sh
        Terminal=true
        Comment=My app!


        That will redirect any error messages to ~/myapp.log and you can examine them at your leisure. You can use 2>>~/myapp.log if you want successive error messages to be appended to the file instead of overwriting it.





        As an aside, the reason that the $PATH is different is because you are probably setting your $PATH in ~/.bahsrc which is not read by the graphical environment. It is also a bad idea since the $PATH will be set every time you open a new terminal and that is needless overhead. Use ~/.profile for this instead. For more details on which files are read when see here and for more on which file should be used for what, see here.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18









        Community

        1




        1










        answered Mar 20 '14 at 19:01









        terdonterdon

        67.5k13139223




        67.5k13139223













        • Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

          – Jānis Elmeris
          Jan 29 '18 at 18:49





















        • Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

          – Jānis Elmeris
          Jan 29 '18 at 18:49



















        Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

        – Jānis Elmeris
        Jan 29 '18 at 18:49







        Didn't found the problem this way, but the wrapper was working, so I just kept the wrapper as the executable.

        – Jānis Elmeris
        Jan 29 '18 at 18:49















        11














        Found an answer to this question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/836842



        Try this :



        desktop-file-validate my-app.desktop


        It outputs errors in your .desktop file. For example mine returned :



        error: first group is not "Desktrop Entry"


        So once I corrected the typo to Desktop Entry, the script ran successfully.






        share|improve this answer






























          11














          Found an answer to this question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/836842



          Try this :



          desktop-file-validate my-app.desktop


          It outputs errors in your .desktop file. For example mine returned :



          error: first group is not "Desktrop Entry"


          So once I corrected the typo to Desktop Entry, the script ran successfully.






          share|improve this answer




























            11












            11








            11







            Found an answer to this question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/836842



            Try this :



            desktop-file-validate my-app.desktop


            It outputs errors in your .desktop file. For example mine returned :



            error: first group is not "Desktrop Entry"


            So once I corrected the typo to Desktop Entry, the script ran successfully.






            share|improve this answer















            Found an answer to this question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/836842



            Try this :



            desktop-file-validate my-app.desktop


            It outputs errors in your .desktop file. For example mine returned :



            error: first group is not "Desktrop Entry"


            So once I corrected the typo to Desktop Entry, the script ran successfully.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Sep 13 '17 at 23:40

























            answered Sep 13 '17 at 16:02









            JimmyJimmy

            21125




            21125























                6














                By running the following command in terminal:



                awk -F= '/Exec=/{system($2)}' your_desktop_file.desktop


                I am sure that you will find out if there is an error or not in your command assigned to the Exec field from inside of your .desktop file.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 5





                  I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                  – Sayantan Koley
                  Jul 10 '16 at 19:02











                • This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                  – mirh
                  Dec 4 '18 at 23:13
















                6














                By running the following command in terminal:



                awk -F= '/Exec=/{system($2)}' your_desktop_file.desktop


                I am sure that you will find out if there is an error or not in your command assigned to the Exec field from inside of your .desktop file.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 5





                  I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                  – Sayantan Koley
                  Jul 10 '16 at 19:02











                • This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                  – mirh
                  Dec 4 '18 at 23:13














                6












                6








                6







                By running the following command in terminal:



                awk -F= '/Exec=/{system($2)}' your_desktop_file.desktop


                I am sure that you will find out if there is an error or not in your command assigned to the Exec field from inside of your .desktop file.






                share|improve this answer













                By running the following command in terminal:



                awk -F= '/Exec=/{system($2)}' your_desktop_file.desktop


                I am sure that you will find out if there is an error or not in your command assigned to the Exec field from inside of your .desktop file.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Mar 20 '14 at 19:56









                Radu RădeanuRadu Rădeanu

                120k35253328




                120k35253328








                • 5





                  I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                  – Sayantan Koley
                  Jul 10 '16 at 19:02











                • This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                  – mirh
                  Dec 4 '18 at 23:13














                • 5





                  I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                  – Sayantan Koley
                  Jul 10 '16 at 19:02











                • This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                  – mirh
                  Dec 4 '18 at 23:13








                5




                5





                I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                – Sayantan Koley
                Jul 10 '16 at 19:02





                I've a similar problem. i execute your command and my.desktop file work perfectly. But when i double click it ,it shows There was an error launching the application

                – Sayantan Koley
                Jul 10 '16 at 19:02













                This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                – mirh
                Dec 4 '18 at 23:13





                This answer is kind of funny, since (even though I don't think it does any-much-more than running Exec value in the shell) it made me realize TryExec key was my problem.

                – mirh
                Dec 4 '18 at 23:13











                3














                usually, the terminal(-output) gives you a lot of useful information, both on the application as well as the desktop file. An example:
                if I run my application from the terminal, typing the command in the terminal, the application starts.



                However, if there is something wrong, you can expect an output like:



                Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 4044, in <module>
                MainWindow()
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 51, in __init__
                self.load_sectons()
                AttributeError: 'MainWindow' object has no attribute 'load_sectons'
                jacob@Jacobwerkkamer:~/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code$


                which gives you a lot of usefull information, even the line in your application that causes the error. (I messed it up on purpose)



                The same with the desktop file, just open a terminal in the directory of the .desktop file and drag it on to the terminal. If you for example remove the Exec= line from a .desktop file, the terminal will tell you it cannot find the command to execute.



                To test if the application gives an error, just run what you put after theExec= string.



                The terminal output is usually very specific and useful in bug reports, like here.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 2





                  I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                  – Kevin Reid
                  Mar 20 '14 at 18:41
















                3














                usually, the terminal(-output) gives you a lot of useful information, both on the application as well as the desktop file. An example:
                if I run my application from the terminal, typing the command in the terminal, the application starts.



                However, if there is something wrong, you can expect an output like:



                Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 4044, in <module>
                MainWindow()
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 51, in __init__
                self.load_sectons()
                AttributeError: 'MainWindow' object has no attribute 'load_sectons'
                jacob@Jacobwerkkamer:~/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code$


                which gives you a lot of usefull information, even the line in your application that causes the error. (I messed it up on purpose)



                The same with the desktop file, just open a terminal in the directory of the .desktop file and drag it on to the terminal. If you for example remove the Exec= line from a .desktop file, the terminal will tell you it cannot find the command to execute.



                To test if the application gives an error, just run what you put after theExec= string.



                The terminal output is usually very specific and useful in bug reports, like here.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 2





                  I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                  – Kevin Reid
                  Mar 20 '14 at 18:41














                3












                3








                3







                usually, the terminal(-output) gives you a lot of useful information, both on the application as well as the desktop file. An example:
                if I run my application from the terminal, typing the command in the terminal, the application starts.



                However, if there is something wrong, you can expect an output like:



                Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 4044, in <module>
                MainWindow()
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 51, in __init__
                self.load_sectons()
                AttributeError: 'MainWindow' object has no attribute 'load_sectons'
                jacob@Jacobwerkkamer:~/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code$


                which gives you a lot of usefull information, even the line in your application that causes the error. (I messed it up on purpose)



                The same with the desktop file, just open a terminal in the directory of the .desktop file and drag it on to the terminal. If you for example remove the Exec= line from a .desktop file, the terminal will tell you it cannot find the command to execute.



                To test if the application gives an error, just run what you put after theExec= string.



                The terminal output is usually very specific and useful in bug reports, like here.






                share|improve this answer













                usually, the terminal(-output) gives you a lot of useful information, both on the application as well as the desktop file. An example:
                if I run my application from the terminal, typing the command in the terminal, the application starts.



                However, if there is something wrong, you can expect an output like:



                Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 4044, in <module>
                MainWindow()
                File "/home/jacob/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code/qle_quicklisteditor", line 51, in __init__
                self.load_sectons()
                AttributeError: 'MainWindow' object has no attribute 'load_sectons'
                jacob@Jacobwerkkamer:~/Bureaublad/werkmap_2.0/uploaded_versions/2.1.2/32_en_ppa /qle-2.1.2/code$


                which gives you a lot of usefull information, even the line in your application that causes the error. (I messed it up on purpose)



                The same with the desktop file, just open a terminal in the directory of the .desktop file and drag it on to the terminal. If you for example remove the Exec= line from a .desktop file, the terminal will tell you it cannot find the command to execute.



                To test if the application gives an error, just run what you put after theExec= string.



                The terminal output is usually very specific and useful in bug reports, like here.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Mar 20 '14 at 18:24









                Jacob VlijmJacob Vlijm

                66k9130229




                66k9130229








                • 2





                  I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                  – Kevin Reid
                  Mar 20 '14 at 18:41














                • 2





                  I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                  – Kevin Reid
                  Mar 20 '14 at 18:41








                2




                2





                I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                – Kevin Reid
                Mar 20 '14 at 18:41





                I know about how to use a terminal and how to troubleshoot a program launch in general. Assuming this approach, what I need to know is how to reproduce the conditions of a .desktop launch accurately in the terminal.

                – Kevin Reid
                Mar 20 '14 at 18:41











                0














                This might help other people - this is the official spec of the desktop launcher files



                The important section is : Recognized desktop entry keys - which shows you which values you need.






                share|improve this answer




























                  0














                  This might help other people - this is the official spec of the desktop launcher files



                  The important section is : Recognized desktop entry keys - which shows you which values you need.






                  share|improve this answer


























                    0












                    0








                    0







                    This might help other people - this is the official spec of the desktop launcher files



                    The important section is : Recognized desktop entry keys - which shows you which values you need.






                    share|improve this answer













                    This might help other people - this is the official spec of the desktop launcher files



                    The important section is : Recognized desktop entry keys - which shows you which values you need.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Jun 15 '14 at 17:50









                    Tony Suffolk 66Tony Suffolk 66

                    638




                    638























                        0














                        When I really can't figure it out, I:



                        cd ~/Desktop
                        ln -s /my/binary/thatIwanttorun mybinary


                        Then right click on the default icon that's created and point to a better graphic.






                        share|improve this answer


























                        • and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                          – Tom
                          Feb 9 at 21:21
















                        0














                        When I really can't figure it out, I:



                        cd ~/Desktop
                        ln -s /my/binary/thatIwanttorun mybinary


                        Then right click on the default icon that's created and point to a better graphic.






                        share|improve this answer


























                        • and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                          – Tom
                          Feb 9 at 21:21














                        0












                        0








                        0







                        When I really can't figure it out, I:



                        cd ~/Desktop
                        ln -s /my/binary/thatIwanttorun mybinary


                        Then right click on the default icon that's created and point to a better graphic.






                        share|improve this answer















                        When I really can't figure it out, I:



                        cd ~/Desktop
                        ln -s /my/binary/thatIwanttorun mybinary


                        Then right click on the default icon that's created and point to a better graphic.







                        share|improve this answer














                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer








                        edited Feb 9 at 21:41









                        Kevin Bowen

                        14.8k155970




                        14.8k155970










                        answered Feb 9 at 21:20









                        TomTom

                        1




                        1













                        • and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                          – Tom
                          Feb 9 at 21:21



















                        • and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                          – Tom
                          Feb 9 at 21:21

















                        and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                        – Tom
                        Feb 9 at 21:21





                        and there should be a <cr> after "cd ~/Desktop"

                        – Tom
                        Feb 9 at 21:21











                        -1














                        For me, the problem was a missing Icon= line (which seems like a stupid requirement for a working launcher). My full .desktop file now looks like:



                        [Desktop Entry]
                        Name=LiClipse
                        Comment=Variant of Eclipse
                        Exec=/home/tsbertalan/bin/liclipse
                        Terminal=true
                        Type=Application
                        Icon=/home/tsbertalan/usr/liclipse/icon.xpm


                        Which isn't particularly robust to changes in user, but whatever.






                        share|improve this answer




























                          -1














                          For me, the problem was a missing Icon= line (which seems like a stupid requirement for a working launcher). My full .desktop file now looks like:



                          [Desktop Entry]
                          Name=LiClipse
                          Comment=Variant of Eclipse
                          Exec=/home/tsbertalan/bin/liclipse
                          Terminal=true
                          Type=Application
                          Icon=/home/tsbertalan/usr/liclipse/icon.xpm


                          Which isn't particularly robust to changes in user, but whatever.






                          share|improve this answer


























                            -1












                            -1








                            -1







                            For me, the problem was a missing Icon= line (which seems like a stupid requirement for a working launcher). My full .desktop file now looks like:



                            [Desktop Entry]
                            Name=LiClipse
                            Comment=Variant of Eclipse
                            Exec=/home/tsbertalan/bin/liclipse
                            Terminal=true
                            Type=Application
                            Icon=/home/tsbertalan/usr/liclipse/icon.xpm


                            Which isn't particularly robust to changes in user, but whatever.






                            share|improve this answer













                            For me, the problem was a missing Icon= line (which seems like a stupid requirement for a working launcher). My full .desktop file now looks like:



                            [Desktop Entry]
                            Name=LiClipse
                            Comment=Variant of Eclipse
                            Exec=/home/tsbertalan/bin/liclipse
                            Terminal=true
                            Type=Application
                            Icon=/home/tsbertalan/usr/liclipse/icon.xpm


                            Which isn't particularly robust to changes in user, but whatever.







                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered Apr 22 '14 at 0:30









                            tsbertalantsbertalan

                            329210




                            329210






























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