Custom Application Launchers

[jstgtpaid]

Sorry, I am a long time Gnome user. However, a lot of my favorite apps are moving to KDE. So here I am.

I could ask the simple question, how do I make custom application launchers? I want to be able to have different icons that launch the same app with different command line switches (chromium using different user data directories for example)

However, I want to ask the question, given the new technology introduced in the latest KDE versions (I am using ubuntu 10.04 with KDE added via the repo 4.4??) what is the proper 'NEW' way for me to approach that problem of custom application launchers?

Or do I simply right click on desktop, create link to application and type away the command line settings for my shortcut?

Just wondering if there is a newer, smarter way of getting the same or better functionality using KDE 4's new features...

Thanks in advance for your time!
Steven

[Yuri sss]

Re: Custom Application Launchers

It's very easy to do in Kde
Open the K-Menu, then enter the first three letters of the application you want in the search box, and will appear in the list above. Right-click the entry for the app, and you'll have three options: Add to Favourites (to add it to the Kmenu favourites), Add to Desktop and Add to Panel. To customise it further, right-click the panel- or dektop-icon and select "Icon settings". On the "Application" tab, you can change the startup parameters for the app under "Command".
You can repeat this several times to have multiple launchers for the same app with different startup parameters. If you want to differentiate between them, you can click on the icon on the first "Icon Settings" tab ("General") and select a different icon.

[jstgtpaid]

Re: Custom Application Launchers

Thank you very much for the detailed instructions! I actually like the fact that I can change the icons for each one. That is neat, and works well, thanks!

However, I may have either done it wrong, or discovered a bug. Whenever I change the application user directory, it updates them for all the icons? Therefore, even though I can have four distinct launchers with four distinct icons, they all get the same application command switches.

Please try it yourself to ensure that I am not missing a step. You will note that all icons are updated with whatever your last command change was...

[Yuri sss]

Re: Custom Application Launchers

Strange. Admittedly, the last time I tried something like that was quite some time ago, and it seems they changed the behaviour now.
Well, there's more than one way to skin a dog

Remove all the icons from your desktop that you created that way. Open Dolphin, go to your home directory and enter the Desktop directory. Right-click and select "Create new > Link to application". On the "Application" tab, enter the desired command with options under "Command". On the "General" tab, give the shortcut a name and click OK. Now you can also change the icon for it, right-click it > Properties and click on the icon on the "General" tab.
Repeat this for all others. It's not as elegant, but this way, they keep the individual startup options (I just checked).