Ubuntu – create a custom launcher for Eclipse

13.10eclipselauncherunity

Can't make my custom Eclipse launcher work on 13.10 (fresh install).
See screenshot below:

enter image description here

The custom eclipse launcher on panel doesn't work.

Double click on Eclipse.desktop from file manager works but adds a new launcher with grey "?" icon. Eclipse is managed by the new grey launcher, not mine.

I can't just block and use the "?" launcher because it opens eclipse directly while I need to run my command.

I followed the following steps:

1) Unzipped eclipse into /opt/eclipse (repository is not an option).
2) Created custom gtk theme in /opt/eclipse/gtkrc-2.0-eclipse
3) Created /opt/eclipse/run.sh (the content is in the picture)
4) Installed gnome-panel and created a new launcher with custom icon and run.sh command
5) Opened the file manager, navigated to /usr/.../application and
   dragged-dropped Eclipse.desktop onto panel

Hope it's all clear.
How can I make my custom launcher work as expected or, at least, make the grey one run my command?

Edit:
Following the Sushantp606's instructions I got the launcher work, but the grey laucher still opens when I run eclipse.
Then… I looked for eclipse launchers with

locate .desktor | grep eclipse

and found this:

~/.local/share/applications/eclipse.desktop
/usr/share/app-install/desktop/eclipse-platform:eclipse.desktop

I changed the Icon in both with the right path and now the launcher with grey icon has the eclipse icon as expected. So dropped the one I've created.

Best Answer

After your first step make a link by using -

sudo ln -s /opt/eclipse/eclipse /usr/bin/eclipse

Creating unity launcher icon-

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/eclipse.desktop

paste the following lines as it is-

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Eclipse
Exec=env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY= eclipse
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/eclipse/icon.xpm
Type=Application
Categories=IDE;Development
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow
[NewWindow Shortcut Group]
Name=New Window
Exec=env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY= eclipse
TargetEnvironment=Unity

For custom theme make the file in home as-

gedit .gtkrc-2.0

and paste the information of theme.

now search for eclipse in dash, drag it to unity launcher . done.

How to use

copy the script below, save it as launcher_add.py
make it executable

Run it by the command:

/path/to/launcher_add.py name_of_desktopfile.desktop

you have to use the filename of the .desktop file, without the path.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python

import subprocess
import sys

desktopfile = sys.argv[1]

def current_launcher():
    get_current = subprocess.check_output(["gsettings", "get", "com.canonical.Unity.Launcher", "favorites"]).decode("utf-8")
    return eval(get_current)

def add_new(desktopfile):
    curr_launcher = current_launcher()
    last = [i for i, x in enumerate(curr_launcher) if x.startswith("application://")][-1]
    new_icon = "application://"+desktopfile
    if not new_icon in curr_launcher:
        curr_launcher.insert(last, new_icon)
        subprocess.Popen(["gsettings", "set", "com.canonical.Unity.Launcher","favorites",str(curr_launcher)])
    else:
        pass

add_new(desktopfile)

The script prevents multiple occasions in the launcher list of the same application, which would cause corruption of he list.

Ubuntu – Why does the custom launcher open under a separate icon

If an application produces a second icon, not being a generic one

If an application generates a second icon in the Unity launcher other than a a grey, generic icon, there must be already an (other) existing launcher, calling p4v in its main command:

An application's .desktop file by definition has a "main" command in the first line, starting with Exec=. This is the command that is run when the icon is clicked in the (Unity) launcher. Apart from that, a .desktop file can have one or more shortcut- sections, available when you right-click on the representing icon in the Unity launcher.

Multiple .desktop files calling the same application in their main command

The symptoms you are experiencing can happen when more than one .desktop file in either /usr/share/applications or ~/.local/share/applications have the same ("main-") command in their first Exec= line, but the files are differently named.

P4v by default should install (and probably has installed) a .desktop file, named p4vasp.desktop in /usr/share/applications.

How to fix
Your problem should be fixed if you remove your own (probably local) .desktop file, then run p4v from Dash and pin it to the launcher.

What if you want to customize the existing launcher?

If you want to change the .desktop file's behaviour or e.g. its icon:

copy the file from /usr/share/applications to ~/.local/share/applications
don't change the file's name
open the file in gedit (drag it over an opened gedit window) and make the changes you'd like
log out and back in, the local version of the .desktop file will overrule the global one.

To revert, simply remove the local one, log out and back in.