Ubuntu – How to properly add PlayOnLinux programs to the Unity Launcher

evernotelauncherplayonlinuxunitywine

I have a PlayOnLinux app (Evernote) that runs great, but I would like to pin it to the Unity launcher. I already have a shortcut in the Dash and I can pin that to the Launcher, but then running it results in the app showing a wine icon in the launcher and not the icon that the shortcut had. The shortcut I have is a PlayOnLinux created shortcut and the command is:

/usr/share/playonlinux/playonlinux --run "Evernote"

I read elsewhere that in order to properly pin a wine app to the Unity Launcher the command has to look like this:

env WINEPREFIX="/home/myname/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/wine1.4_en4.5" wine 'C:\\Program Files\\Evernote\\Evernote\\Evernote.exe'

This works great in terms of launching and having Unity use the right icon on the Launcher, but this fails because the "wine" I am running is not the POL 1.4, but rather the system installed version. Playing around with the WINELOADER environment variable did not help.

NOTE: This question is not a duplicate of How can I add PlayOnLinux programs in the Unity dash? as I already have the launcher shortcut in the Dash.

Best Answer

As of in Ubuntu 13.04 with the latest PlayOnLinux running Evernote and/or join.me in a Wine 1.5.28 bottle...this problem has just disappeared on its own.

I just have PlayOnLinux create the shortcuts on my desktop and then I copy them to ~/.local/share/applications log out and log back in. Then I take these Dash shortcuts and drag them to the launcher.

Workaround on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and up

Note

This workaround requires a working launcher for your Wine application. Here's a tutorial on how to create one. The workaround also applies to applications installed with PlayOnLinux scripts. More recent versions of PlayOnLinux automatically add the StartupWMClass line to their launcher.

Instructions

Open your .desktop launcher in your favorite text editor and append this line to the file:

StartupWMClass=application.exe

where application.exe is the base name of the executable you want to launch in Wine.

Don't use the the full path, only the base name. And make sure it's unqoted (a general rule you should follow with desktop files).

Result

Application icons and descriptions should be rendered fine now:

enter image description here

Source: https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity-2d/+bug/702452

Ubuntu – How to pin Eclipse to the Unity launcher

For 11.10 and newer

First, create a .desktop file to eclipse:

gedit ~/.local/share/applications/opt_eclipse.desktop

Then, paste this inside (dont forget to edit Exec and Icon values):

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Eclipse
Comment=Eclipse Integrated Development Environment
Icon=** something like /opt/eclipse/icon.xpm **
Exec= ** something like /opt/eclipse/eclipse **
Terminal=false
Categories=Development;IDE;Java;
StartupWMClass=Eclipse

After that, open that folder with nautilus:

nautilus ~/.local/share/applications

If you want to use this launcher outside dash/launcher (ex: as a desktop launcher) you need to add execution permission by right clicking the file and choosing Properties -> Permissions -> Allow execution, or, via the command-line:

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/opt_eclipse.desktop

Finally drop opt_eclipse.desktop to launcher.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Change Icon of Wine Application in Unity Launcher

Workaround on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and up

Ubuntu – How to pin Eclipse to the Unity launcher

For 11.10 and newer

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