# j4-dmenu-desktop

[![Travis Build](https://api.travis-ci.org/enkore/j4-dmenu-desktop.png)](https://travis-ci.org/enkore/j4-dmenu-desktop/)

j4-dmenu-desktop is a replacement for i3-dmenu-desktop. It's purpose
is to find .desktop files and offer you a menu to start an application
using dmenu. Since r2.7 j4-dmenu-desktop doesn't require i3wm anymore
and should work just fine on about any desktop environment.

You can also execute shell commands using it.

## Project status

I consider j4-dmenu-desktop pretty much feature complete since a few years: larger new features need
a compelling reason and a good patch. Preferably discuss it before putting more work into it.

## Build requirements

* Compiler with basic C++11 support (GCC 4.77 or later required, Clang works, too)
* CMake

Building is the usual cmake/make thingy:

    cmake .
    make
    sudo make install

## Distribution packages

### Archlinux <a href="https://repology.org/project/j4-dmenu-desktop/versions"><img src="https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/j4-dmenu-desktop.svg" alt="Packaging status" align="right"></a>


The package is provided by the AUR. You can install it with an AUR helper of your choice: `j4-dmenu-desktop-git` or `j4-dmenu-desktop`. Else, you may install it manually by invoking the following commands as a regular user. (to build packages from the AUR, the `base-devel` package group is assumed to be installed)

    git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/j4-dmenu-desktop.git    
    cd j4-dmenu-desktop
    makepkg -si

or for the latest:

    git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/j4-dmenu-desktop-git.git
    cd j4-dmenu-desktop-git
    makepkg -si

### FreeBSD

j4-dmenu-desktop is now available in the FreeBSD Ports Collection. A prebuilt package can be installed via

    pkg install j4-dmenu-desktop

### Gentoo

j4-dmenu-desktop is available in Portage for the `amd64` and `x86` architectures. You can install it via

    echo "x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop ~amd64 ~x86" >> /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords
    emerge --ask x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop

The package is also provided by the `gentoo-el` overlay. You can install it with the following commands as root. (you need to have `layman` installed and configured)

    layman -a gentoo-el
    echo "=x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop-9999 **" >> /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords
    emerge x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop
    
### Ubuntu

The package is now in the apt repository. You can install it via

    sudo apt-get install j4-dmenu-desktop

### Debian

j4-dmenu-desktop is in Debian stable:

    sudo apt install j4-dmenu-desktop

### Nix / NixOS

j4-dmenu-desktop is in [nixpkgs](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/applications/misc/j4-dmenu-desktop/default.nix):

    nix-env --install j4-dmenu-desktop
    # Or use pkgs attribute of the same name in NixOS configuration 


## Invocation

Usage:

    j4-dmenu-desktop [--dmenu="dmenu -i"] [--term="i3-sensible-terminal"]
    j4-dmenu-desktop --help

Options:

    --dmenu=<command>
        Determines the command used to invoke dmenu
        Executed with your shell ($SHELL) or /bin/sh
    --use-xdg-de
        Enables reading $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP to determine the desktop environment
    --display-binary
        Display binary name after each entry (off by default)
    --no-generic
        Do not include the generic name of desktop entries
	--wrapper=<wrapper>
		A wrapper binary. Useful in case you want to wrap into 'i3 exec'
    --term=<command>
        Sets the terminal emulator used to start terminal apps
    --usage-log=<file>
        Must point to a read-writeable file (will create if not exists).
        In this mode entries are sorted by usage frequency.
    --wait-on=<path>
        Must point to a path where a file can be created.
        In this mode no menu will be shown. Instead the program waits for <path>
        to be written to (use echo > path). Every time this happens a menu will be shown.
        Desktop files are parsed ahead of time.
        Perfoming 'echo -n q > path' will exit the program.
    --no-exec
        Do not execute selected command, send to stdout instead
    --help
        Display this help message

Environment variables

- $SHELL is respected, and if absent /bin/sh is used
- XDG-spec variables (XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP, XDG_DATA_HOME, HOME) are respected

## FAQ / RAQ / RMR

### Case insensitivity?

Add the `-i` option to the dmenu command

### I want it to display normal binaries, too, yes?

You can put this in a script file and use it instead of calling j4dd directly:

    j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="(cat ; (stest -flx $(echo $PATH | tr : ' ') | sort -u)) | dmenu"

Exchanging the `cat` and `(stest ... sort -u)` parts will swap the two parts (j4dd's output and the list of binaries).

### Get the output into a pipe / launching a program by arbitrary user input

[GOTO](https://github.com/enkore/j4-dmenu-desktop/issues/39#issuecomment-177164865)

### How much faster is it?

    % time i3-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="cat"
    [{"success":true}]
    i3-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="cat"  0.37s user 0.02s system 96% cpu 0.404 total
    % time ./j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu=cat
    ./j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu=cat  0.01s user 0.01s system 107% cpu 0.015 total

More than 25 times faster :)