Notices

Hello all,

Inspired by Command Navigator (http://upir.cz/maemo/cmdnav.php) I decided to try my hand at a customizable task navigator (sidebar) menu plugin. I had two goals to make it different from Command Navigator. Thus I present, Personal Menu

NOTE: This software has only been lightly tested and I cannot guarantee that it will be problem free. Use at your own discretion, as I am not responsible for any data loss or damage this software may cause.

First, I wanted it to be thumb-ready with icons to fit in with the rest of the Maemo environment (I find myself using the stylus less and less).

Second, I wanted an easy way to add installed applications without having to figure out the name, command, and icon of each one. The fourth screenshot show an application being added from the installed application list.

Once installed you can go into the control panel, select "Panels" from the "Personalization" section and disable one of the other plugins in favour of this one. The configuration for this plugin is located in the control panel in the "Personalization" sections too, and is called "Personal Menu".

If you have not configured Personal Menu when you first use it, it will be loaded with a link to the configuration dialog. If you want to put a link to this in the menu once you have configured it, the command is as follows:

One problem I have noticed with the application is that it has a problem adding commands above a certain length (the above command will not add through the setup tool) but if you manually edit "~/.personal_menu.rc" it has no problems executing the long command.

Some things I am planning for the future:

• Easier icon selection when adding an arbitrary command (although if you enter an invalid icon name it falls back to a default) - DONE
• Allow commands to be run in the terminal or as root (ala Command Navigator) - DONE
• Implement a multiple column menu like Command Navigator - DONE

Please let me know if you find any problems or have any suggestions for features. I am very open to suggestions. Also, let me know if you find it useful, a waste of space, or not different enough from other things out there.

I am in the process of getting the source code ready to be released (needs to be formatted, copyright headers, and a home) - DONE

UPDATE: Version 0.2 now includes many more features, such as:

• Multiple columns (max of two right now)
• Selectable icon size (64, 40, 26, or 0)
• Selectable "minimum rows" to be displayed. Any items past this number will overflow into another column.
• Fixed a bug where if you were adding from installed applications and hit "OK" when you were finished it would add a blank item
• Added a "helper" application to launch the menu from a command (/usr/bin/personal-menu)
• Now displays the app name instead of the executable name in the launch notification
• Shows the application icon in the launch notification
• Fixed the problem with adding arbitrary command

Still to be implemented:

• Run command in xterm or as root - DONE
• Translate pre-installed application desktop entries (does not look trivial from the discussions I have read) - DONE
• Easier way to select icons for arbitrary commands - DONE

I have updated the screenshots and attached package in this post. I have applied for a garage page and am waiting for the registration to complete.

UPDATE: Release a new version to the garage page (https://garage.maemo.org/projects/personal-menu/)

This version includes the following fixes:

• Changed the license and add appropriate copyright information
• Translates pre-installed applications from Nokia when selecting them
• Hopefully fixed a problem where three columns get drawn in the menu
• Properly draw the menu no matter where the task navigator is (right, left, top or bottom)
• Added an easier way to select icons for arbitrary command

Still missing are root and terminal functionality (DONE). As Jiri has mentioned, there is a problem with xterm which makes it so it does not launch with a command line option gracefully. I am looking at this. I would also like to find a way to enable root execution upon install, but I am not sure if this is easy or wise.

UPDATE: New version 0.4 available at the garage page. This version adds "Run in term" and "Run as root" options (see post 64 for details on the limitations here)

Also new are the ability to backup and restore the settings with the built-in application and alphabetical name sorting when selecting installed applications or icons.

UPDATE: Version 0.4-2 is out in my garage page. Selecting from installed applications should work all the time now (modest, email, mahjong and others didn't work before)

Excellent idea

Looks good! Thanks but I will be using cmd-navigator yet until your planned features are implemented.

Also, would it be possible to add a option to make the menus small without icons like cmd-navigator? I know I can have cmd-navigator installed but it would be nice if this replaced the cmd-navigator.

qwerty,

I could have an option to select icon size (large, medium, small, none) so you can select your level of thumb-ability vs screen space.

Sounds good!

I hope to replace cmd-navigator soon

Haha . . . I just brought this one up in #maemo a couple weeks ago. <_<



Nice work!

Looks really good so far and i like the idea with the icon size.
Handling with the selection from installed apps is really nice.
Would it also be possible to switch the "display-mode" to applet (like simple launcher) with working
transparency and also multiple rows ?
It could also do both: sidebar + applet on screen which can be sized an positioned. That way, we would
have an all in one solution. which could replace cmd-navigator and simple-launcher (which does not seem under development right now).

For me, it would be the Ulimate launcher

Cheers MiBi

Looks good. I'm going to try it out.
I just wish I could only have one or two icons on the left side.

To me, that sounds like feature-bloat. I don't see the point of integrating those two applets, because I want different things in those places, and I don't see any gain unless they use the same configuration.

Anyway, I like the combination of picking menu .desktops and running commands; you've made mixing the two easy. And I very much like the current size, though more options is generally better. The one enhancement I would like: some way to pop this open from dbus or shell; that way I could use powerlaunch to bring this up.

thanks great idea