Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

THX1138 · 2019-01-24 21:30:48

I have just found dmenu and it looks like a really useful thing.
Unfortunately I cant find many sites or videos that show just simple basic
things such as how to use it to launch, for example, firefox,
I have, so far learnt how to start dmenu and make it appear at the bottom
of the screen.

The people who are showing how to do stuff are
talking about very advanced things. Just a few pointers toward some
cool but noob tips and tricks would be nice, or even just a few links to some noob
tutorials

damo · 2019-01-24 21:38:28

Start typing the name of the executable - "firefox" is the first item after typing "fir".

Menu -> Help & Resources -> dmenu (this runs 'man dmenu' BTW)

THX1138 · 2019-01-24 22:04:20

Oh no - i never saw dmenu in there (facepalms)
I suddenly got inspired and installed i3 desktop and played with dmenu in that
then I got it working in openbox - i never realised it was a feature of bunsen
hahaha - this is typical of me
the answer is always staring me in the face and I never see it till
someonelse switches the light on. hahaha I should be ok for a while now
until I get a bit more advanced

thanks anyway

damo · 2019-01-25 00:09:13

It's also in the keybinds shown in the default conky

Maybe you should go through Introduction to the BunsenLabs Desktop in the "Getting Started" forum section?

ohnonot · 2019-01-25 06:18:52

usually you don't want dmenu itself (that's for building your own dynamic menus), but "dmenu_run", also part of the dmenu package, accessed with hotkeys already present in BL.
dmenu_run is a shell script, have a look at it!

you choose entries by typing letters. when the proper entry is highlighted you just press enter.

btw, i have extended my dmenu_run to sort entries by last access:

#!/bin/dash

#----
# Modified dmenu_run from suckless, that uses an history file to store
# the most recent commands introduced and display them the first ones
# on the list.
#
# Requires dmenu, ed and stest
#----

HISTORY=${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-"$HOME/.cache"}/dmenu_run_hist_history
# the same cache as used by vanilla dmenu_run
CACHE=${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-"$HOME/.cache"}/dmenu_run

cmd=$(
    IFS=:
    if stest -dqr -n "$CACHE" $PATH; then
            stest -flx $PATH | sort -u | tee "$CACHE" | cat "$HISTORY" - | dmenu "$@"
    else
        cat "$HISTORY" "$CACHE" | dmenu "$@"
    fi
)
dash -c "$cmd" &

{ # Update history in background
    [ -z $cmd ] || ! hash ${cmd%% *} && exit
    ed -s "$HISTORY"  <<EOF || echo $cmd > "$HISTORY"
g/^${cmd}$/d
1i
$cmd
.
wq
EOF
} &

malm · 2019-01-25 08:53:10

dmenu_run

THX1138 · 2019-01-25 10:26:31

Yeah I figured it all out - it's simple when you realise that it's all there
It's a great little program but not what I thought it was.
I thought it was basically a text version of tint2 and I really like that dmenu
aesthetic. Tint2 is a bit too, erm, what's the word.... icony, iconed, (iconic?)
I'm just seeing how far I can rice my bunsenlabs at the moment.

PackRat · 2019-01-25 13:38:16

tint2 is a bit too, erm, what's the word.... icony, iconed, (iconic?)

Easy enough to change tint2 to text instead of icons:

task_icon = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task icon.
task_text = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task text.

tint2 configuration options

As I recall, there should be a menu option to edit the tint2rc.

Last edited by PackRat (2019-01-25 13:38:44)

THX1138 · 2019-01-25 17:05:25

Easy enough to change tint2 to text instead of icons:
task_icon = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task icon.
task_text = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task text.
tint2 configuration options
As I recall, there should be a menu option to edit the tint2rc.

yes but not the launcher. The launcher appears to be icon only

damo · 2019-01-25 20:52:34

THX1138 wrote:

yes but not the launcher. The launcher appears to be icon only

So use a button instead of a launcher - you can then have text instead of an icon.

(Why do I have to repeatedly point you at the Help & Resources item in the main menu? )

THX1138 · 2019-01-25 21:55:03

Why do I have to repeatedly point you at the Help & Resources item in the main menu?

well thats why youre part of a elite team of bright people cos you read things once and it all makes sense and I'm just normal and it takes a while for things to make sense, so I experiment a lot and make changes to things on my understanding of what I have read and it fails and then suddenly after more experiments it becomes obvious, or else I have to ask others to help me. I do computers the hard way. I stick at it and do experiment after experiment and I only ask after all my google searches and all my forum searches and all my theory runs out. Some people can learn to build a satellite by reading about it, me I would have to build a few failures before getting it right

Last edited by THX1138 (2019-01-25 22:11:32)

Bearded_Blunder · 2019-01-25 21:58:05

plus like me you have to remember things are in the menu... i never remember the package search entry I always do <search engine> debian package some-package .. remembering is *hard*

damo · 2019-01-26 16:02:06

THX1138 wrote:

Why do I have to repeatedly point you at the Help & Resources item in the main menu?
well thats why youre part of a elite team of bright people cos you read things once and it all makes sense ...t

That's not the point. There is a Help menu so that people can be pointed in the right direction to start with, so they don't have to ask questions which are readily answered there. Fair enough if it still needs clarifying for you, but at least show you made an effort.

Forum Rules / General Guidelines

Forum Rules wrote:

If you are seeking help, make sure to have done your fair share of homework to the best of your ability by searching the forums or the internet before wasting other's time.

THX1138 · 2019-01-26 17:36:28

Fair enough if it still needs clarifying for you, but at least show you made an effort.

I did make an effort I was searching a long time in the wrong place, obviously, before I asked the question, but thanks for the answer anyway. If you like I will post my tint2 configs so you can see that I have learnt it pretty well and even added a menu to tint2, jgmenu, and found buttons to be far easier to work with than launchers. So yes, thanks for the help. Just to be certain though, exactly what would "showing I made an effort" look like? What do I have to do to prove that.

Last edited by THX1138 (2019-01-26 17:37:07)

hhh · 2019-01-26 21:45:59

PackRat wrote:

tint2 is a bit too, erm, what's the word.... icony, iconed, (iconic?)
Easy enough to change tint2 to text instead of icons:
task_icon = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task icon.
task_text = boolean (0 or 1) : Whether to display the task text.
tint2 configuration options
As I recall, there should be a menu option to edit the tint2rc.

If there was one thing I could really change in BL, it would be to migrate from tint2 to xfce4-panel in deskbar mode. So much easier to configure.

Scrot in a few minutes, I actually am using tint2 ATM so I'll have to install xfce4-panel and configure it. I also need to reboot to that partition. I'm guessing 20 minutes, tops.

Synchronize watches, and... GO!

hhh · 2019-01-26 21:59:29

Times up, hands in the air!

Crushed it, 14 minutes.

ohnonot · 2019-01-27 07:20:45

@THX1138
I 100% agree with damo's post #13.
And I'm sure it was meant like "it's fine, just remember next time", so let's not start a discussion about it.

THX1138 · 2019-01-27 14:40:14

hhh wrote:

If there was one thing I could really change in BL, it would be to migrate from tint2 to xfce4-panel in deskbar mode. So much easier to configure.

Actually I have been using xfce for about 3 years and wanted to get back to openbox again.
I use BlackBox for windows on my windows computers

S7.L · 2019-01-27 15:18:22

THX1138 wrote:

hhh wrote:
If there was one thing I could really change in BL, it would be to migrate from tint2 to xfce4-panel in deskbar mode. So much easier to configure.
Actually I have been using xfce for about 3 years and wanted to get back to openbox again.
I use BlackBox for windows on my windows computers

Can that be done microsoft windows?

damo · 2019-01-27 15:31:27

S7.L wrote:

...
Can that be done microsoft windows?

bb4win. They wanted one of my dark OB themes a while ago.

#1 2019-01-24 21:30:48

Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#2 2019-01-24 21:38:28

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#3 2019-01-24 22:04:20

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#4 2019-01-25 00:09:13

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#5 2019-01-25 06:18:52

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#6 2019-01-25 08:53:10

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#7 2019-01-25 10:26:31

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#8 2019-01-25 13:38:16

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#9 2019-01-25 17:05:25

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#10 2019-01-25 20:52:34

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#11 2019-01-25 21:55:03

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#12 2019-01-25 21:58:05

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#13 2019-01-26 16:02:06

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#14 2019-01-26 17:36:28

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#15 2019-01-26 21:45:59

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#16 2019-01-26 21:59:29

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#17 2019-01-27 07:20:45

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#18 2019-01-27 14:40:14

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#19 2019-01-27 15:18:22

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

#20 2019-01-27 15:31:27

Re: Can someone help me start with dmenu, please

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