Separate Launcher icons for Writer and Calc

[motoperpetuo]

I just installed Apached Office 4.1.1 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Seems to work well, but I would like to have separate Launcher icons for Writer and Calc. Right now, I just have a Writer icon. If I start Calc up from the Application search menu, I don't get a Calc icon in the Launcher like I do for other applications. If I could get that Calc icon, I imagine I could just right-click on it, choose "Lock to Launcher" and I would be good to go.

Sorry in advance if this has been asked before. I looked around quite a bit and couldn't find it.

[Hagar Delest]

Hi,

You should have some icons already available in the standard menus.
I use xubuntu (XFCE) so can't say for sure for Unity. But you should have a look at the freedesktop pages about launchers. Basically, you've to create a new file (edited in a mere text editor) to configure the launcher. You can also use Alacarte I guess (but knowing exactly what you do is usually better). You can put that launcher in the .local/share/applications directory in your home.

For example, here is one of my custom entries, save it as Your_launcher.desktop in the folder above and adapt it to Calc:

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Exec=/opt/areca/areca.sh
'Hidden=true
Icon=/opt/areca/icons/ico_72.png
Icon[fr]=/opt/areca/icons/ico_72.png
Name=Areca
Name[fr]=Areca
Terminal=false
Type=Application

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.

[motoperpetuo]

thank you for your reply. i'd found something similar about modify these files while googling around, but didn't realize you have to do it in .local/share/applications. i think i was trying to do it in /usr/share/applications/.

anyway, i will give it a shot if i decide to stick with apache office. i just realized .docx and .xlsx are (apparently) not supported, so it's a toss up between not having my two most important formats and putting up with the awful performance and constant lock ups of libreoffice.

[RusselB]

To a certain, though non-specific, amount .docx and .xlsx are supported in regards to reading these files. At present there is no support for exporting/writing these files.
Please note that later versions of Microsoft Office (not exactly sure which versions) do support working with AOO's open document format... at least the 2013 version I have on another system works well with them.

[motoperpetuo]

you're right, i should have specified that i was talking about exporting/saving files in .docx and .xlsx. i'll have to see if earlier versions of ms office work with open document format, consider my options, etc. AOO's performance seems night-and-day better than libreoffice, and i'm certainly enjoying that. in LO i was having to consciously type more slowly than i'm able to type to prevent it from locking up, which was pretty annoying for a first-world problem.

[acknak]

What version of LO are you running? The most recent version(s) are expected to be unstable. If you need stability, you can drop back to their earlier stable release.

I don't use it much but I've noticed no major problems with LO 4.3.2.2 on Fedora.

Also, if I was installing a launcher for my desktop, I'd be looking to install it somewhere under my home directory, rather than in the system location like /usr. I don't know where exactly the user's launchers should go, but there must be a place for launchers created by a user rather than delivered with the system.

[Hagar Delest]

I don't know where exactly the user's launchers should go, but there must be a place for launchers created by a user rather than delivered with the system.

Indeed, it's ~/.local/share/applications
I spent some time few years ago because I had to create custom launchers. I didn't want to use a 3rd party application like Alacarte (menu editor) so I checked how it worked. Once you know what is required and where, it's very easy.

[motoperpetuo]

What version of LO are you running? The most recent version(s) are expected to be unstable. If you need stability, you can drop back to their earlier stable release.

I don't use it much but I've noticed no major problems with LO 4.3.2.2 on Fedora.

not sure what version i had. it was what installed with ubuntu 14.04 LTS. i removed it before installing AOO, thinking there might be conflicts. i LO actually works fine on my laptop, but it was just terrible on this new zareason desktop i have for some reason, even after wiping the preinstalled OS (ubuntu) and reinstalling. AOO is blazing fast and doesn't lock up at all.

[alex336]

The easiest way I have found to do this is to open /usr/share/applications in your file browser (nautilus or whatever it is), and then scroll to the programs you are interested in (calc and writer in this instance), and just drag them onto launcher to the left. That's it!

I just installed Apached Office 4.1.1 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Seems to work well, but I would like to have separate Launcher icons for Writer and Calc. Right now, I just have a Writer icon. If I start Calc up from the Application search menu, I don't get a Calc icon in the Launcher like I do for other applications. If I could get that Calc icon, I imagine I could just right-click on it, choose "Lock to Launcher" and I would be good to go.

Sorry in advance if this has been asked before. I looked around quite a bit and couldn't find it.