[Feature Request]: Add .desktop file

[Cool-Game-Dev]

Checklist

• I am using an up-to-date version.
• I have read the documentation.
• I have searched existing issues.

Description

Currently when installed, TagStudio does not create a .desktop file, which causes issues with things such as icon packs and application launchers.

Solution

Create a .desktop file and add it during the install process.

Alternatives

No response

[zierf]

As already briefly mentioned in my comment for PR #368, the recently updated Nix Flake is missing the entry for generating a .desktop file.

---

For my originally intended Flake with Poetry2Nix I solved it as follows.

File flake.nix

Filepath /flake.nix

Copy the TagStudio icon to the appropriate system path and define a .desktop file for the current system architecture (I didn't use a systems helper). Of course, this should also be compatible with the new metadata and the "pyproject.toml" in the end.

preInstall = ''
  mkdir -p $out/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps
  cp -rv ${projectDir}/tagstudio/resources/icon.png $out/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/${pname}.png
'';

desktopItems = [
  (pkgs.${system}.makeDesktopItem {
    name = "${pname}";
    desktopName = "TagStudio";
    genericName = "Tagging Document Management System";
    comment = "A User-Focused Document Management System";
    categories = [
      "AudioVideo"
      "Qt"
    ];
    exec = "${pname}";
    icon = "${pname}";
    terminal = false;
    type = "Application";
  })
];

File ts_qt.py

Filepath /tagstudio/src/qt/ts_qt.py
(now different file path)

Add a Linux-specific block to link the appropriate .desktop entry. I used the same notation here as name (not desktopName) in the definition of the .desktop file, which matches the pname of the Nix package.

if sys.platform != "darwin":
    icon = QIcon()
    icon.addFile(str(icon_path))
    app.setWindowIcon(icon)

if sys.platform == "linux":
    # app icon must be defined in a .desktop file to be displayed under Wayland
    app.setDesktopFileName("tagstudio");

---

I'm not sure if the app.setDesktopFileName is still necessary.
But I needed both changes back then, as a solution to Issues #415 and #422 on NixOS.
(screenshots from my comment in Issue #200 with more info provided)

The .desktop file provided a suitable icon and title as a Wayland window:

415: Application Icon, Name and global menu

As well as a suitable icon in the application menu and the ability to pin the window correctly.

422 Pin to panel

---

It would directly prevent several problems under Wayland. I can't comment on the packaging for other systems, but it would probably make sense to simply place a .desktop file in the root directory. Then the maintainers for various other distributions can use it too.

[Cool-Game-Dev]

I also believe @xarvex mentioned that now the tool is pip-installable (because of #844) it should be easy to add a .desktop file to the pip installation process.

[xarvex]

The .desktop file should most definitely be present somewhere in the repository for easy usage, either for distributions or for users to insert themselves. I am not too sure if pip will be able to help here, though, unfortunately. I could be wrong, but I do not think it has the ability to “place” files in the manner necessary.

Absolutely, though, the Nix package will take care of it and link the file properly.

I haven't worked on this yet, as there were other matters to take care of, but I should be addressing it today.

[xarvex]

Whew, was hoping that would have been quicker, but other things took hold. @zierf I marked you as a co-author thanks to the lovely work in your comment that gave me a place to start from.

I can verify desktop visibility and functionality on my end, just need help verifying that the window icon and pinning work as expected.