Hello.

I have a favorite REXX program called fv2. When I was a Windows user I had an icon for fv2 on the Quick Launch bar. Click that icon, and the program ran.

Now, as a Linux (Ubuntu) user it is necessary to go through several steps to run fv2.
1) Launch a terminal by clicking on the terminal icon at the top of the screen. What's that area called? The GNOME panel?
2) Enter: ~/Desktop/RexxScripts
3) Enter: regina fv2

I run fv2 several times per day and would really like to have the convenience of a clickable icon. Is this possible?

Daniel B. Martin

Yes. Click on the GNOME panel, select 'Add to panel...', click 'Custom Application Launcher', checkmark 'Run in Terminal' and enter the commands you would usually enter in order to run the program. You can click the default icon and change it to anything you'd like, and if you need to run it as root with a graphical prompt you can use 'gksudo'.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hello Leopard.

Thank you for your detailed response. I tried to follow your
instructions but was not successful. This is what happened.

1) Click on the Gnome panel.
Nothing happened.

2) Right click on the Gnome panel.
See a pull-down menu with these options:
Add to Panel
Properties
Delete this Panel
New Panel
Help
About Panels

3) Click on Add to Panel.
See a window titled Add To Panel with a scrollable list of options.
Click on "Custom Applications Launcher."
That option becomes highlighted.
Nothing else happens.

4) As a guess, I clicked on the Add button.
See a Create Launcher menu.
The Type field has three options:
Application
Application in Terminal
Location

I groped around, decided Location was the most promising path,
and selected that.

5) The Create Launcher window changed and now had a field marked
Location with a Browse button.
I clicked on Browse and stepped through several menus,
double-clicking on Desktop, then double-clicking on
RexxScripts, then double-clicking on fv2.rex.
The Create Launcher window immediately filled in the Location field
with: file:///home/daniel/Desktop/RexxScripts/fv2.rex
which identifies the file containing the REXX code I want to execute.

6) Click on Okay.
See an error message:
Could not save launcher. The name of the launcher is not set.
Clicked on Close.

7) Keyed in Favorite App in the Name field.
Clicked on the Okay button.
The Create Launcher window vanished.
A new icon appeared in the Gnome panel.

8) The Add To Panel window remains.
Clicked on the Close button.

All this is encouraging, so now it is time to use the new Quick Launch button.

9) Mousing over the new Quick Launch icon, the name Favorite App appears.

10) Click on the new Quick Launch icon.
A new window appears and it is a gedit session on the source code of
that favorite app, fv2.rex. So close, and yet so far!

I realised that nothing in this Applications Launcher mentions regina,
the REXX interpreter.

11) Resorting to guessing, I right-click on the Quick Launch icon.
See a pop-up menu which has Properties as one of the options.

12) Click on Properties and see a pop-up window titled Launcher
Properties. One of the fields is Location which contains
file:///home/daniel/Desktop/RexxScripts/fv2.rex
just as it did when created.

13) I change the file description so it ends in regina fv2.rex.
It now says file:///home/daniel/Desktop/RexxScripts/regina fv2.rex
Click on the Close button.
The Launcher Properties window vanishes.

14) Click on the newly-edited Launch icon.
Get an Error window which says:
Error stating file '/home/daniel/Desktop/RexxScripts/ regina fv2.rex':
No such file or directory

(Note: it really says "stating" but perhaps it should say "starting.")

What shall I do next?

Daniel B. Martin

Hello Leopard.

Yay! It works!! With much trial-and-error, the desired goal was achieved with:
Type = Application in Terminal
Command = regina /home/daniel/Desktop/RexxScripts/fv2.rex

I'm a happy camper!

Now, when I figure out how to do the Thanks operation,
I will formally thank you.

Daniel B. Martin