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Desktop Gnome Do

Launching programs and actions with Gnome Do Central launCher Redrex, Fotolia

Information at your fingertips with actions to match – Gnome Do tact in . The tool also supports file operations and much more. Various merges search engine and application launcher functionality to create plugins give users a convenient ap- proach to extending functionality. a new and convenient tool. BY CHRISTOPH LANGNER Installation ocuments, applications, mes- Gnome Do can do more than just Gnome Do is easy to install because sages, and bookmarks tend to launch programs – it will find in includes all the necessary pack- Dspread all over a system. Gnome (see Figure 2), , or ages [3]. Simply run Applications | Add/ Do [1] gives users a new launcher for databases or contacts in Evolu- Remove… and enter -do into the Gnome and other desktops that not only tion, Gmail, or the Pidgin instant mes- Search box. Then mark the resulting finds information but also triggers ac- senger. If you want, you can tell Gnome entry GNOME Do for installation and tions on the basis of the results. Do to set up a chat session with the con- click on Apply Changes. The flexible Gnome Do [1] application After you finish the install, Applica- launcher is similar to the [2] tions | Accessories | GNOME Do takes launch tool for Mac OS X. Users press a keyboard shortcut to pop up a window in which they enter the name of the pro- gram they need. Because Gnome Do auto-completes the entry, entering just part of the name is sufficient (Figure 1). For example, typing text will launch your text editor. Figure 1: Gnome Do auto-completes the Gnome Do bases its auto-complete entry. (Screenshots courtesy of David suggestions on start menu entries. Siegel) Figure 2: Gnome Do even finds your music.

48 ISSUE 01 UBUNTU USER Gnome Do Desktop

the Visual Effects tab, you can choose file extension of .dll, which is fairly sur- Normal or Extra. prising for users. Simply drop the plugin into the .local/share/gnome-do/ triple Functionality plugins directory below your home di- The Gnome Do main window has three rectory and relaunch the program to sections, two of which are visible on allow Gnome Do to detect the plugin. launching the tool. When you enter a This gives users a simple approach to search key, an action to match the adding a variety of functions. search automatically appears in the sec- Gnome Do 0.5 introduced a new pref- ond section. For example, if you enter erences window and plugin manager text, Gnome Do automatically selects (Figure 3), which helps you browse, Run to execute a program. If you then download, install, and enable or disable confirm the action by pressing Enter, the plugins from within the tool. Additional Gnome text editor launches. plugin information is available on a wiki Because Gnome Do uses the names in page, and you can do plugin-specific the start menu to identify applications, it configuration. can cause some confusion. The Gnome Gnome Do will search or Figure 3: Plugins extend Gnome Do’s func- text editor binary is called . If you Epiphany bookmarks and open links in tionality. enter the name in Gnome Do, the pro- your browser, and it will also search for gram fails to find a match. To be on the music in your Rhythmbox, Amarok, or you to a program launcher. First you will safe side, stick to the names in the appli- Banshee database and add this to a play- see the application window. If you click cation menus. list (see Figure 4). Also, you can add on the desktop or perform some other If you enter the name of a file or direc- Pidgin or Evolution contacts to the action, Gnome Do disappears into the tory in your home directory and press launcher. background. Tab to move to the action area, you can To move the tool to the foreground, then press the Down arrow key to select Community Contributions you just press its configured keyboard other actions, such as moving or copy- New plugins are released almost daily. shortcut – by default, that’s Windows ing. After selecting an action, a third sec- Gnome Do provides a community plugin + Spacebar. tion appears and you can choose a target category with plugins from a variety of for the action. contributors. New community contribu- session These controls are typical of Gnome tions include Skype, Twitter, Flickr, and After installation, Ubuntu automatically Do: You start by typing a search key and Google Calendar plugins, as well as the launches Gnome Do in the background then press Tab to move on to the next WindowManager plugin that lets you ar- at every start of the desktop. With the section, where you press the Down range windows on your desktop. Devel- session management feature, you can arrow key to select an action. opers who enjoy working with undo and later reactivate this behavior if can also refer to the detailed documenta- you want. plugins tion to implement their own ideas [5]. n To remove Gnome Do from the list of The recent Plugin improvements have programs that are started automatically, made Gnome Do a flexibly extendable INFO press System | Preferences | Startup Ap- tool [4]. Each plugin has a library with a [1] Gnome Do: http:// do. davebsd. com/ plications and search for the [2] Quicksilver: http://docs. blacktree. GNOME Do entry. Now you com/ quicksilver/ what_is_quicksilver want to deactivate the checkbox next to it and click [3] Installation: http://do.davebsd.com/ wiki / index.php ? title=Installing_Do on Close. In the same way, you can later configure the [4] Gnome Do plugins: http:// desktop to run Gnome Do at do.davebsd.com/wiki/index. php?title=Category:Plugins startup again. Gnome Do does not use a [5] Developing plugins: http:// traditional application win- do.davebsd.com/ wiki / index. php?title=Getting_started_with_writ- dow. Assuming you have ing_plugins desktop effects enabled, Gnome Do does without a frame and the window is Christoph Langner works in test transparent. management for PTV in Karlsruhe, To enable the desktop ef- Germany, and has played an active Figure 4: Gnome Do searches the Rhythmbox music fects, click on the Appear- role in the open source software

ance entry in the System | database for artists and albums and offers actions rele- AUTHOR community for many years. Preferences menu. Now, in vant to the current context.

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