.desktop files
.desktop files are the standard way for Linux programs to provide information about themselves and how they are run. These files are stored at /usr/share/applications. Many programs come ready with a .desktop file. If a menu entry is required include one. Here is the example of AbiWord AbiWord's:-
[Desktop Entry] Exec=abiword Icon=/usr/share/icons/abiword_48.png Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=X-DocumentUtility; StartupNotify=true X-Desktop-File-Install-Version=0.9 MimeType=application/x-abiword;text/x-abiword;text/x-xml-abiword;text/plain;application/msword;application/rtf;application/vnd.plain;application/xhtml+xml;text/html;application/x-crossmark;application/docbook+xml;application/x-t602;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-template;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-web;application/vnd.sun.xml.writer;application/vnd.stardivision.writer;text/vnd.wap.wml;application/wordperfect6;application/wordperfect5.1;application/vnd.wordperfect;application/x-abicollab; Name=AbiWord WordProcessor GenericName=Word Processor Comment=Compose, edit, and view documents Name[de]=Textverarbeitung Comment[de]=AbiWord Textverarbeitung Name[nb]=Tekstbehandling Comment[nb]=AbiWord Tekstbehandling ... (more languages) ... Name[ja]=AbiWord ワードプロセッサ Comment[ja]=AbiWord ワードプロセッサ
Exec= - Program's execute line. There may be no need to include '%F' if a program is only started from a menu and won't have a file passed to it.
Categories= - Entry controls which submenu they appears in. Run fixmenus and restart window manager after making alterations.
Icon= - If the icon is in folder /usr/share/pixmaps/ there is no need to include the its path (JWM automatically looks here)
Also on the Wiki
Categories
CategoryGUICategoryXDG
