Ubuntu
unity package

Dash doesn't parse *.desktop files with colon in the filename

Bug #879889 reported by Till Sachau
12
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
BAMF
New
Undecided
Unassigned
Unity
Confirmed
Medium
Unassigned
unity-lens-applications
Confirmed
Medium
Mikkel Kamstrup Erlandsen
unity (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Medium
Unassigned
unity-lens-applications (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

The dash doesn't seem to parse .desktop files located in /usr/share/applications, if the name of the .desktop contains blanks.

Example: I installed Steel Storm, which created the file "Steel Storm: Burning Retribution.desktop" in said directory. As a result, tt was impossible to start the game from the dash.

Solution: renaming "Steel Storm: Burning Retribution.desktop" to "steelstorm.dektop" solved the problem.

I suspected at first the length of the filename or the usage of capitol letters to be the relevant factor. Testing showed that the reason is indeed the presence of blanks.

Tags: dash
Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)
affects: ubuntu → unity (Ubuntu)
Revision history for this message
thouters (thomas-langewouters) wrote :

The colon (:) is the problem here, not the space.

I noticed this problem because of a .desktop file with a colon in its name.

Steps to reproduce:
cd ~/.local/share/applications
cp /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-software-center.desktop ubuntu\:software-center.desktop

Then search for "software" in the dash (Super-a) "software". The icon appears without a subscript, and can't be dragged to the launcher or started.

after a mv ubuntu:software-center.desktop ubuntu\ software-center.desktop
(replace the colon by a space)
The starter appears in double in the dash.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in unity (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Changed in unity-lens-applications (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
thouters (thomas-langewouters)
summary: - Dash doesn't parse *.desktop files with blanks in the filename
+ Dash doesn't parse *.desktop files with colon in the filename
Omer Akram (om26er)
Changed in unity:
status: New → Confirmed
Changed in unity-lens-applications:
status: New → Confirmed
Changed in unity:
importance: Undecided → Medium
Changed in unity (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Changed in unity-lens-applications (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Omer Akram (om26er)
Changed in unity-lens-applications:
importance: Undecided → Medium
assignee: nobody → Mikkel Kamstrup Erlandsen (kamstrup)
Revision history for this message
Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0) wrote :

Omer, this could be related to BAMF too.

Revision history for this message
Jeremy White (jwhite-codeweavers) wrote :

I believe this is the same issue that I filed in bug 916201. I have identified the patch that caused the problem, and posted a potential fix on that bug. The fix is likely utterly incorrect, but hopefully will motivate someone to fix it correctly :-/.

Revision history for this message
Mikkel Kamstrup Erlandsen (kamstrup) wrote :

Yep. The colon is the thing. Just toyed around with some .desktop files with white space in them and it worked quite well. Marking as a dupe of bug 916201.

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