Ubuntu Tutorials

Have you ever wondered what the actual command is behind the application you’re launching from the Applications Menu?  I’ve found it useful a number of times, and I have two three methods of finding out what the command actually is.  If there are any Gnome devs reading this, could finding the properties be made simpler directly from the menu itself?

What’s The Command?

There are actually two three ways that I can think of to do this.  One includes the Main Menu Editor, which I blogged about yesterday, the second involves a bit of a quick workaround and the third just uses your browser.  Do you have any other suggestions on how this might be done?

To find the command using the Main Menu Editor you would simply launch the tool:

System > Preferences > Main Menu

Find the application in the list, and then double-click the entry to find the details.  You’ll see something like:

The second method that you can use, and this is the one that I’ve used most often, is quickly adding the application to your panel and then checking the launcher properties.  Because the properties are not available from within the menu itself (again, Gnome devs, can this be added?) we can add the application to the panel and then check the properties.  To find the details this way we’d do the following:

Navigate to the application through the main menu.  Right-click on the application and select “Add this launcher to panel”.  This will add the menu-based launcher to your panel.  The next step is to right-click on the new panel launcher and select properties.  You’ll then find what command and details are being used to launch that application.

Once you’ve found what you’re looking for you can safely remove the newly added launcher via right-click > Remove from panel.

The third method, which was found apparently by accident recently, is simply to drag-n-drop the menu entry into a Firefox tab.  It’ll open the .desktop file, which will outline the command and a whole lot more.  Look for the “Exec=” line for the command used.

I like to keep on top of my machines health.  I like to do this without programs getting in my way, or dedicating desktop space to monitoring applications.  The way I’ve found to do this simply and effectively is with the System Monitor panel Applet.

Adding the System Monitor Applet

To add the system monitor applet to one of your panels (I prefer the top panel), simply right-click and select “Add to Panel”.  Scroll down until you see “System Monitor: A system load indicator”.  Select it and select Add.  You should now have a small black box on your panel which will monitor cpu activity.

I like to take this one step further and also monitor memory, network, load average, swap and disk activity.  This can be done by right-clicking on the new applet and selecting “Preferences”.  At the top of this preferences window you have the options of activating the resources you wish to monitor.  I check all of these boxes.

As you check each one you’ll get an additional box in your panel.  Each one monitors something different and in a different color (customizable).  You can now, at a glance, see the cpu load, network usage and all the rest without running any additional applications.

I find this to be a quick, efficient and out-of-the-way method of monitoring my machine.