Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:Customizing KDE function GetCookie (name) { var arg = name + "="; var alen = arg.length; var clen = document.cookie.length; var i = 0; while (i < clen) { var j = i + alen; if (document.cookie.substring(i, j) == arg) { var end = document.cookie.indexOf (";", j); if (end == -1) end = document.cookie.length; return unescape(document.cookie.substring(j, end)); } i = document.cookie.indexOf(" ", i) + 1; if (i == 0) break; } return null; } var m1=''; var gifstr=GetCookie("UsrType"); if((gifstr!=0 ) && (gifstr!=null)) { m2=gifstr; } document.write(m1+m2+m3);            Keyword Title Author ISBN Publisher Imprint Brief Full  Advanced      Search  Search Tips Please Select ----------- Components Content Mgt Certification Databases Enterprise Mgt Fun/Games Groupware Hardware IBM Redbooks Intranet Dev Middleware Multimedia Networks OS Prod Apps Programming Security UI Web Services Webmaster Y2K ----------- New Titles ----------- Free Archive To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles. Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux (Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing) Author(s): Manuel Ricart ISBN: 078971826x Publication Date: 12/22/98 function isIE4() { return( navigator.appName.indexOf("Microsoft") != -1 && (navigator.appVersion.charAt(0)=='4') ); } function bookMarkit() { var url="../../../../../www.itknowledge.com/PSUser/EWBookMarks.html@url="+window.location+"&isbn=0"; parent.location.href=url; //var win = window.open(url,"myitk"); //if(!isIE4()) // win.focus(); } Search this book:   Previous Table of Contents Next Chapter 10Customizing KDE In This Chapter •  Adding an Application to the Panel or Application Launcher •  Other KDE Options •  The KDE Control Centery KDE is fairly customizable; here’s a quick guide on what you can do to customize your desktop. Most of KDE is customized through the use of kdelnk files (files that have a kdelnk extension). These files provide configuration information that KDE uses to associate files with applications, icons with applications and documents, devices such as disk drives with icons (see Chapter 7, “Working with Disks”), and others. The KDE Panel can be customized in several ways. The following sections present some of the most useful. Adding an Application to the Panel or Application Launcher Adding an application to the panel is a simple two-step process. First, you’ll need to create a kdelnk file that provides information about the application you want. This file will associate an executable program with an icon and its files. Then you install the kdelnk file by dragging it into the panel or putting it in a special directory where the application launcher will find it. Creating a Kdelnk File that Represents an Application Creating a .kdelnk file for an application is easy. The process is very similar to the process we used to create a .kdelnk file for your floppy and CD-ROM drives in Chapter 7, “Working with Disks.” Right-click on an empty area of the Desktop. When the popup menu appears, select New and then Program. A window will appear, asking you to supply a name for this kdelnk file. Change the name from the default “Program.kdelnk” to a name which represents your program, for example, “Netscape.kdelnk.” An icon which looks like a gear appears on your desktop. After you have created the icon, right-click on it and choose the Properties command. This will present you with a panel like the one in the following figure. This window controls the properties for the kdelnk file. Click on the Execute tab to change the settings that associate the icon with the actual program. The Execute panel looks like the one in the next figure. The execute tab allows you to associate a program with the kdelnk file. If you know the location of the program file, just enter it into the Execute field. For example, the path to the Netscape program is /opt/netscape/communicator/netscape. If you don’t know the exact path, you can also use the Browse button to find the file by hand. Some programs use a special directory as their working directory where they keep files. When programs do this, they will routinely look in that working directory for the files associated with the program. Such programs would require having the Working directory field filled. The Swallowing on panel option is for applications like the CD player that become a small icon on the panel when running. The Run in terminal button is for command line programs for which you want to provide an icon. To associate an icon with the file, click the button containing the gear icon. This will bring up a panel you can use to select an icon for your program (see the next figure). Use the Select icon panel to associate an icon with your program. The Select icon panel has a popup menu that you can use to find icons in KDE’s icon area in the /opt/kde/share/icons or in your home directory in the kde/share/icons directory. Note that this directory is typically invisible because it starts with a period; to display it in a KFM window, activate the Show Dot Files option in the View menu. Click on an icon you like, and click OK. (Netscape’s icon is the one that looks like a ship’s wheel.) Check This Out:  You can add your own icons using the Paint application. Icons are saved using the XPM format and are 32 pixels wide by 32 pixels high. If you store them in the kde/share/icons directory in your home directory , you'lll be able to associate them. The final step in configuring the kdelnk file is to associate file types and the name of the program with the kdelnk file. This will allow KFM to associate the icon with the program when you are browsing the file system (see the following figure). To associate your icon with the actual program, type the name of the program followed by a semicolon (;) in the Binary Pattern field. KDE will use this name to show the icon when you are browsing through the file system. The Application tab associates file types and icons with the program. The comment area is displayed as a ToolTip when you hover your cursor over the icon. The comment field is displayed as a ToolTip when you hover your mouse over an item displaying this icon. The application name is the name for the program in your language. If you were editing this .kdelnk file by hand, you would be able to provide multiple translations to the application name. The two lists at the bottom are special. The list on the left side represents the MIME (Multimedia Internet Mail Extensions) types that the application is able to open. MIME types are sometimes tricky to figure out, but in the case of Netscape, you’ll want to associate the text/html type. To eliminate associations that don’t match, select them from the left list and click the arrow pointing right (->). To add an association from the list, select the type you want and click the arrow pointing left (<-). When you are done with your selections, click OK to save and dismiss the panel. The icon will change from a gear to the icon you selected for this program. The next step will make it visible to KFM. Previous Table of Contents Next Products |  Contact Us |  About Us |  Privacy  |  Ad Info  |  Home Use of this site is subject to certain Terms & Conditions, Copyright © 1996-2000 EarthWeb Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of EarthWeb is prohibited.