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<title>Debian Menu System - What packages with menu managers should do</title>

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<link href="ch1.html" rel="chapter" title="1 Introduction">
<link href="ch2.html" rel="chapter" title="2 Menu from the viewpoint of a user">
<link href="ch3.html" rel="chapter" title="3 The menu file">
<link href="ch4.html" rel="chapter" title="4 What packages with applications should do">
<link href="ch5.html" rel="chapter" title="5 What packages with menu managers should do">
<link href="ch6.html" rel="chapter" title="6 How a user can override the menus">
<link href="ch7.html" rel="chapter" title="7 The internals of the menu package">
<link href="ch8.html" rel="chapter" title="8 Variables and functions in the install-menu scripts">
<link href="ch2.html#s2.1" rel="section" title="2.1 How/when do the window manager startup files get created?">
<link href="ch2.html#s2.2" rel="section" title="2.2 Tuning of the generated window manager startup files">
<link href="ch2.html#s2.3" rel="section" title="2.3 Optimization of menu tree: hints">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.1" rel="section" title="3.1 Location">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.2" rel="section" title="3.2 Syntax">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.3" rel="section" title="3.3 The title field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.4" rel="section" title="3.4 The needs field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.5" rel="section" title="3.5 The section field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.6" rel="section" title="3.6 The command field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.7" rel="section" title="3.7 The icon field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.8" rel="section" title="3.8 The hints field">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.9" rel="section" title="3.9 Entries for menu sections.">
<link href="ch3.html#s3.10" rel="section" title="3.10 Fvwm's task and title bars">
<link href="ch4.html#s4.1" rel="section" title="4.1 Providing a menu file">
<link href="ch4.html#s4.2" rel="section" title="4.2 Adding a hook for dpkg in your packages">
<link href="ch6.html#s6.1" rel="section" title="6.1 Configuring the menus">
<link href="ch6.html#s6.2" rel="section" title="6.2 Specifying that a menu entry should not be displayed">
<link href="ch6.html#s6.3" rel="section" title="6.3 Including other files">
<link href="ch7.html#s7.1" rel="section" title="7.1 The update-menus program">
<link href="ch7.html#s7.2" rel="section" title="7.2 The install-menu program">
<link href="ch7.html#s7.3" rel="section" title="7.3 The install-menu config script definitions">
<link href="ch7.html#s7.4" rel="section" title="7.4 Hints, tree optimization">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.1" rel="section" title="8.1 String constants">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.2" rel="section" title="8.2 Variables">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.3" rel="section" title="8.3 Functions">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.2.1" rel="subsection" title="8.2.1 Special variables">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.2.2" rel="subsection" title="8.2.2 Preferred variables">
<link href="ch8.html#s8.2.3" rel="subsection" title="8.2.3 Suggested variables">

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<h1>
Debian Menu System
<br>Chapter 5 - What packages with menu managers should do
</h1>

<hr>

<p>
Each package containing a <em>menu manager</em> (i.e., a program that can
display a menu) should provide a script or program in
<code>/etc/menu-methods/</code> that can read the menu files.  This script will
be executed by <code>update-menus</code>, which will feed the menu entries to
be installed to your script via standard input (stdin).
</p>

<p>
The scripts in <code>/etc/menu-methods/</code> should be configuration files,
so the user can tune the behaviour of the script, and they must always include
the <code>/etc/menu-methods/menu.h</code> configuration file at the beginning
with the command <samp>!include menu.h</samp> For the same reason, scripts in
<code>/etc/menu-methods/</code> are requested to use the following configurable
functions: <samp>title()</samp> for the title (in place of
<samp>$title</samp>), <samp>icon()</samp> for the icon (in place of
<samp>$icon</samp>), <samp>term()</samp> for running <samp>text</samp> command
under <samp>X11</samp>.  <samp>sections_translations()</samp> for the list of
translations of sections name available.  This later one is only defined if you
<samp>!include lang.h</samp>
</p>

<p>
Good examples for these scripts for nearly all Debian window managers are
included in the <samp>menu</samp> package in
<code>/usr/share/doc/menu/examples</code>.  Note that while working on your
script, you can use the tricks described in &quot;The internals of the menu
package&quot;, section &quot;The update-menus program&quot;, to run just your
script, instead of having update-menus run all scripts (can save quite a lot of
time).
</p>

<p>
This script should not be executable in the package.  Instead the
<samp>postinst</samp> should add the execute bit and then run
<code>update-menus</code> (if it is executable).
</p>

<p>
Similarly, the <code>postrm</code> script when called with option ``remove''
should remove the execute bit and run <code>update-menus</code> (if it is
executable).
</p>

<p>
Here is an example of such a <code>postrm</code> script using <code>sh</code>:
</p>

<pre>
       #!/bin/sh
       set -e
       inst=/etc/menu-methods/#PACKAGE#
       case &quot;$1&quot; in
          remove)
             if [ -f $inst ]; then
                     chmod a-x $inst
                     if [ -x /usr/bin/update-menus ]; then update-menus ; fi
             fi
          ;;
          purge)
              #remove the files that install-menu creates:
              rm -rf /var/lib/foo-wm/menu
          ;;
          upgrade);;
          *)
              echo &quot;postrm called with unknown argument \`$1'&quot; &gt;&amp;2
              exit 0
          ;;
       esac
</pre>

<p>
And here is a good example for a <code>postinst</code> script:
</p>

<pre>
       #!/bin/sh
       set -e
       inst=/etc/menu-methods/#PACKAGE#
       if [ -f $inst ]; then
           chmod a+x $inst
           if [ -x /usr/bin/update-menus ]; then
               update-menus
           fi
       fi
</pre>

<p>
If you are using <code>debhelper</code>, the program
<code>dh_installmenu</code> can help you do it.
</p>

<p>
Please, do not make your package <em>depend</em> on the menu package!  The
preferred way of telling dpkg that your wm can cooperate with menu is:
</p>

<pre>
        Suggests: menu
</pre>

<p>
Please only consider using &quot;depends&quot; if you feel providing reasonable
defaults for systems without <code>menu</code> will make life very difficult
for you.
</p>

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<p>
Debian Menu System
</p>

<address>
version 1.4, 10 November 2011<br>
<br>
Joost Witteveen <code><a href="mailto:joostje@debian.org">joostje@debian.org</a></code><br>
Joey Hess <code><a href="mailto:joeyh@debian.org">joeyh@debian.org</a></code><br>
Christian Schwarz <code><a href="mailto:schwarz@debian.org">schwarz@debian.org</a></code><br>
Bill Allombert <code><a href="mailto:ballombe@debian.org">ballombe@debian.org</a></code><br>
<br>
</address>
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