I'm using Linux Mint 12. I can run Pagestream using the start script once I go to the Pagestream directory (/home/Pagestream5). I copied the script to my desktop and would like to run Pagestream from there. I changed the second line in the run script (export PGSPATH=`dirname "$0"`) to read:
export PGSPATH=/home/Pagestream5 "$0"
I also tried it without the "$0". It won't run.

I'm not real familiar with Linux, but it was indicated to me in the Mint forum that the path change should work. So what do I need to do to make this run from a script on my desktop? I don't want to move the main program or any components or directories, just want to run it from a desktop icon. Well, I'd like to get it in the Mint Menu system too, but I'll work on that later!

Hi, welcome to the list!

On Jan 10, 2012, at 7:49 PM, farna@att.net wrote:

> I'm using Linux Mint 12. I can run Pagestream using the start script once I go to the Pagestream directory (/home/Pagestream5). I copied the script to my desktop and would like to run Pagestream from there. I changed the second line in the run script (export PGSPATH=`dirname "$0"`) to read:
> export PGSPATH=/home/Pagestream5 "$0"
> I also tried it without the "$0". It won't run.

Okay, so first off directories right in /home are for users, not applications. If everything is set right it should still work, but it I don't recommend putting PageStream where you have placed it. You might consider creating /opt/PageStream, or something similar, and putting PageStream there.

But that is really just an organization issue. What I suggest doing is running PageStream from the command line to help figure out where the problem is. If you open a terminal window and change to the directory where the script is and run it the output may be informative.

For example, my home directory is '/home/tim' so if the startup script were on my desktop I would do the following (after opening a terminal window):

cd ~/Desktop
./Run-PageStream5

Strictly speaking it shouldn't matter which directory you run it from (given that you made the edit) so from the command line you could do:

~/Desktop/Run-PageStream5

The $0 on the line you are changing should not be there with how you want to run it. $0 is a bash variable that gives the name of the script, what is happening is that it is setting the environment variable to the directory that the script is in. That works only if you have the script in the same directory as the executable.

> I'm not real familiar with Linux, but it was indicated to me in the Mint forum that the path change should work. So what do I need to do to make this run from a script on my desktop? I don't want to move the main program or any components or directories, just want to run it from a desktop icon. Well, I'd like to get it in the Mint Menu system too, but I'll work on that later!

Actually, that might be easier. I'm not familiar with Mint, but if you use the original script and leave it in the PageStream directory then it should work to add the script as the command to start PageStream. (Not that it matters if you have an altered script on your desktop as well.)

Tim Doty

onsdagen den 11 januari 2012 01.49.40 skrev du:
> I'm using Linux Mint 12. I can run Pagestream using the start script once I
> go to the Pagestream directory (/home/Pagestream5). I copied the script to
> my desktop and would like to run Pagestream from there. I changed the
> second line in the run script (export PGSPATH=`dirname "$0"`) to read:
> export PGSPATH=/home/Pagestream5 "$0"
> I also tried it without the "$0". It won't run.
>
> I'm not real familiar with Linux, but it was indicated to me in the Mint
> forum that the path change should work. So what do I need to do to make
> this run from a script on my desktop? I don't want to move the main program
> or any components or directories, just want to run it from a desktop icon.
> Well, I'd like to get it in the Mint Menu system too, but I'll work on that
> later!

I'm not familiar with Mint, but on my Fedora 16 system I have created a
pagestream.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/ and copied the PageStream
icon into /usr/share/icons/ This makes Pagestream appear in the menus and
then it's easy to get it onto a panel or desktop.

To make this work on your system:

1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into /usr/share/applications/

2. Copy the enclosed pagestream.png into /usr/share/icons/

3. Adjust the line starting with Exec= in pagestream.desktop to where you have
your Pagestream installation.

Note that you have to be root to do this.

Regards
Jan
--
Jan Simonson

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jan, I hope you're reading this!! I copied the Icon file over just fine. I don't know what you mean by "1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into /usr/share/applications/".

There is no such file in the Pagestream directory. I don't know how to create such a file -- or rather don't know what to put in it. I can use gedit to create it. Since I have no such file, of course I can't edit it.

--- In PageStreamSupport@yahoogroups.com, Jan Simonson <nytt@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> I'm not familiar with Mint, but on my Fedora 16 system I have created a
> pagestream.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/ and copied the PageStream
> icon into /usr/share/icons/ This makes Pagestream appear in the menus and
> then it's easy to get it onto a panel or desktop.
>
> To make this work on your system:
>
> 1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into /usr/share/applications/
>
> 2. Copy the enclosed pagestream.png into /usr/share/icons/
>
> 3. Adjust the line starting with Exec= in pagestream.desktop to where you have
> your Pagestream installation.
>
> Note that you have to be root to do this.
>
> Regards
> Jan
> --
> Jan Simonson
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

fredagen den 10 februari 2012 18.27.32 skrev du:
> Jan, I hope you're reading this!! I copied the Icon file over just fine. I
> don't know what you mean by "1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into
> /usr/share/applications/".

First of all, I'm sending this to you directly as well as any attached file is
stripped off on the list. I forgot this when I wrote my first posting. I enclose
it again but you can also copy the following into your editor and save the file
as /usr/share/applications/pagestream.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=PageStream
Name[sv_SE.ISO8859-15]=PageStream
Comment=Desktop publishing program
Comment[sv_SE.ISO8859-15]=DTP program
Exec=/opt/pagestream/Run-PageStream5
Icon=/usr/share/icons/pagestream.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Office;

This is the same as the enclosed file. Remember to change the line
Exec=/opt/pagestream/Run-PageStream5 depending on where you have your
PageStream installed.
Also rember that you will have to be root to be able to write into /usr.

> There is no such file in the Pagestream directory. I don't know how to
> create such a file -- or rather don't know what to put in it. I can use
> gedit to create it. Since I have no such file, of course I can't edit it.
> --- In PageStreamSupport@yahoogroups.com, Jan Simonson <nytt@...> wrote:
> > I'm not familiar with Mint, but on my Fedora 16 system I have created a
> > pagestream.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/ and copied the
> > PageStream icon into /usr/share/icons/ This makes Pagestream appear in
> > the menus and then it's easy to get it onto a panel or desktop.
> >
> > To make this work on your system:
> >
> > 1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into /usr/share/applications/
> >
> > 2. Copy the enclosed pagestream.png into /usr/share/icons/
> >
> > 3. Adjust the line starting with Exec= in pagestream.desktop to where
> > you have your Pagestream installation.
> >
> > Note that you have to be root to do this.

Regards
Jan
--
Jan Simonson

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jan, you're a life saver! Your pagestrem.desktop file worked perfectly! Pagestream is not in the menu right now, but once I restart the system it may appear. If not it really doesn't matter, but I will probably work with the Mint support group to figure that out. Again, thank you for the help!

--- In PageStreamSupport@yahoogroups.com, Jan Simonson <nytt@...> wrote:
>
> fredagen den 10 februari 2012 18.27.32 skrev du:
> > Jan, I hope you're reading this!! I copied the Icon file over just fine. I
> > don't know what you mean by "1. Copy the enclosed pagestream.desktop into
> > /usr/share/applications/".
>
> First of all, I'm sending this to you directly as well as any attached file is
> stripped off on the list. I forgot this when I wrote my first posting. I enclose
> it again but you can also copy the following into your editor and save the file
> as /usr/share/applications/pagestream.desktop
>
> [Desktop Entry]
> Encoding=UTF-8
> Name=PageStream
> Name[sv_SE.ISO8859-15]=PageStream
> Comment=Desktop publishing program
> Comment[sv_SE.ISO8859-15]=DTP program
> Exec=/opt/pagestream/Run-PageStream5
> Icon=/usr/share/icons/pagestream.png
> Terminal=false
> Type=Application
> Categories=Application;Office;
>
> This is the same as the enclosed file. Remember to change the line
> Exec=/opt/pagestream/Run-PageStream5 depending on where you have your
> PageStream installed.
> Also rember that you will have to be root to be able to write into /usr.
>

Another option is to just use the Menu editor; this will do the same
thing, but will make sure the file is put into the correct spot
automatically, and also lets you edit the characteristics via a simple GUI.

This utility is also used to control what items show up on your personal
menu; with it, you can hide applications that you know you never use,
thus simplifying and cleaning-up your personal menu (handy for
multi-user systems).

*Technically* since PageStream is not packaged, you *shouldn't* be
putting it into /usr/share/applications; it should go into your home
folder instead. The menu editor will handle that for you. Yes, this is a
nit-pick. Feel free to ignore

On Debian/Ubuntu (and probably Mint as well), this app is just called
"Main Menu"

Well, I had it in my home folder, then moved it on the recommendation that it shouldn't be there, and now...

Okay I understand it's just a preference, and really doesn't matter. Since I have it working I'll leave it where it is. I've got to get the different file structure of Linux down anyway. Don't know where to find most stuff right now! Once you get used to the logic behind where things are it makes some sense, but when used to a simpler file structure Linux seems complicated.

I'm having an issue with the menu editor in Mint 12, but will take that up with the Mint guys. Right now I'm pretty happy that I have a desktop icon I can click on to run the program!

--- In PageStreamSupport@yahoogroups.com, David Breakey <david@...> wrote:
>
> Another option is to just use the Menu editor; this will do the same
> thing, but will make sure the file is put into the correct spot
> automatically, and also lets you edit the characteristics via a simple GUI.
>
> This utility is also used to control what items show up on your personal
> menu; with it, you can hide applications that you know you never use,
> thus simplifying and cleaning-up your personal menu (handy for
> multi-user systems).
>
> *Technically* since PageStream is not packaged, you *shouldn't* be
> putting it into /usr/share/applications; it should go into your home
> folder instead. The menu editor will handle that for you. Yes, this is a
> nit-pick. Feel free to ignore
>
> On Debian/Ubuntu (and probably Mint as well), this app is just called
> "Main Menu"
>

Hi,

On Feb 13, 2012, at 9:54 AM, farna@att.net wrote:

> Well, I had it in my home folder, then moved it on the recommendation that it shouldn't be there, and now...
>
> Okay I understand it's just a preference, and really doesn't matter.

Pretty much. In practice I extract PgS to my desktop, but I wouldn't consider that "installed". There are a variety of conventions about where things should go, at least two if not three or more. LSB (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Standard_Base) was supposed to resolve this, but every distro had their own implementation of LSB and no two were alike so…

Just as an example, Google Chrome installs itself under /opt/ -- in fact /opt is a favored dumping ground for a lot of non-distro software.

Installing software in your home directory is just a work around for not having administrative permissions on unix/linux system. Or, preference, or (as in my case) laziness.

For what its worth /usr/bin is, according to the "standard" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard), the location for 'Non-essential command binaries; for all users'

Tim Doty

> Since I have it working I'll leave it where it is. I've got to get the different file structure of Linux down anyway. Don't know where to find most stuff right now! Once you get used to the logic behind where things are it makes some sense, but when used to a simpler file structure Linux seems complicated.

It is. Should an executable be under /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /opt or somewhere else? In practice, I let the distro I'm using worry about such things and put things I "install" (like PageStream) wherever I feel like ;)

> I'm having an issue with the menu editor in Mint 12, but will take that up with the Mint guys. Right now I'm pretty happy that I have a desktop icon I can click on to run the program!

I'm glad that is working for you.

Tim Doty

>
> --- In PageStreamSupport@yahoogroups.com, David Breakey <david@...> wrote:
> >
> > Another option is to just use the Menu editor; this will do the same
> > thing, but will make sure the file is put into the correct spot
> > automatically, and also lets you edit the characteristics via a simple GUI.
> >
> > This utility is also used to control what items show up on your personal
> > menu; with it, you can hide applications that you know you never use,
> > thus simplifying and cleaning-up your personal menu (handy for
> > multi-user systems).
> >
> > *Technically* since PageStream is not packaged, you *shouldn't* be
> > putting it into /usr/share/applications; it should go into your home
> > folder instead. The menu editor will handle that for you. Yes, this is a
> > nit-pick. Feel free to ignore
> >
> > On Debian/Ubuntu (and probably Mint as well), this app is just called
> > "Main Menu"
> >
>
>