DeskCMD for Linux

Your Efficient Desktop Assistant

DeskCMD for Linux is a lightweight and powerful application designed to enhance your productivity by allowing you to launch apps, execute system commands, and perform internet queries directly from your desktop. This eliminates the need to open separate terminal or browser windows, saving you time and effort. Written in C, DeskCMD is fast and ensures minimal resource usage. Additionally, users can create aliases that streamline task execution by simply typing them into the entry field. Its intuitive interface enables quick access to information without navigating through multiple windows.

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Key Features

linktext DeskCMD offers a range of features accessible through its intuitive interface:

• URL Management:
  • Save URLs: Easily store your favorite URLs for easy access later. To save a URL, copy or type it into deskcmd and hit Enter.
  • Recall URLs: Retrieve saved URLs using commands like list and eu, or through the saved URL dialog. Typing list opens a dialog with saved URLs.
  • Launch Multiple URLs: Open several URLs at once directly from the entry field or the saved URLs dialog.

• Clipboard Management:

  • Save Clipboard Text: Store text copied to the clipboard for future use. This can be done by clicking the action button (☐), hitting Enter with an empty entry field, or typing sc.
  • Access Saved Text: Retrieve and edit saved clipboard text using the ec command, which opens the clips.txt file in your configured text editor. Saved clippings will open in the text editor.

• Internet Searches:

  • Perform Searches: Initiate internet searches directly from the DeskCMD entry field. Simply type your search phrase and hit Enter.
  • Search History: Maintain a history of your searches. Access and reuse previous searches using the hist command to open a dialog or the eh command to edit the hist.txt file.
  • Multiple Searches: Perform multiple searches simultaneously by separating your queries with a "|" (e.g., dogs|cats|tadpoles).

• Service-Specific Searches (Website Directed Searches):

  • Set up searches for specific services such as Maps, Images, Amazon, and more by editing the serv.txt file.

  • Define a unique single-letter or number prefix followed by a name and the website URL with its query string format (e.g., i,Google Images,http://images.google.com/images?q=).

  • Use these custom searches by typing the prefix followed by a colon and your search term (e.g., i:wallpaper for Linux Mint). Whatever you enter after letter: will get appended to the website querystring.

  • Example of code from serv.txt file:

            ...
            xed, xed &
            youtube, firefox https://youtube.com &
            zoom, https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting
            ---- SERVICES ---- ! Do Not Remove This Line !
            a, Amazon, https://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?field-keywords=
            m, Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/search/
            y, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=
            s, aspell, sp 
            ...
    

• Command Execution:

  • Launch Applications: Start applications with predefined commands or by prefixing the application name with $ or > (e.g., $gedit or >gimp). Directly execute an app installed on your system by prefixing it with one of these characters.
  • Execute System Commands: Run system-level commands effortlessly by prefixing them with > (e.g., >shutdown now).
  • Open URLs (via command): Access websites directly by prefixing the URL with > (e.g., >https://github.com). Note that a URL without the leading > is saved and may be recalled with the list command.
  • Aliases: Create aliases for frequently used URLs or system commands in the serv.txt file for quick access. The format is Alias, {URL | fullpath-command-line} (e.g., git,https://github.com or dev, dev.sh). Access these via the alias name. DeskCMD will match on leading character substrings of your alias.

• Built-in Utilities:

  • Random String: Entering rs returns random string of characters.
  • Calculator: Evaluate math expressions using a leading = followed by the expression (e.g., =24.5^3 / 2.2). This feature requires that "bc" the Linux "Basic Calculator" be installed on your system (sudo apt install bc).
  • Date/Time: Display the current date and time by typing T.
  • Date Math: Calculate future or past dates using a leading % followed by an offset expression (see bash date command syntax, e.g., %+5 days, %-4 weeks, %2021-04-01 + 100 days). The response will always be in the %Y-%m-%d format.
  • Window Positioning:
    • Toggle the window caption bar on and off using the cap command.
    • Save the current window geometry and caption status using the winset command, which saves this information to winmet.txt.
    • Fine-tune the window position and size in undecorated mode using the @ command with pixel adjustments (e.g., @top:-20, @left:+17, @width:+210, @height:-3). These pixel values are added or subtracted from the current position values!
    • Toggle the window level to be always on top or at the bottom using the top command.
  • Help: View a "cheet-sheet" of available commands by typing help.

Getting Started

1. Download and Extract: Extract the ZIP file into a folder.
2. Run Setup: Navigate to the extracted folder in your terminal and execute the setupData.sh script. This copies deskcmd's files to ~/.config/deskcmd/data.
3. Run DeskCMD: Execute the deskcmd file to launch the application. Note that deskcmd may be copied to any directory in the system's path.

Using DeskCMD

• Interacting with DeskCMD: Type your requests, commands, or queries into the DeskCMD entry field and activate them by hitting Enter, Tab, or clicking the action-button ☐.
• Saving URLs: To save a URL, copy or type it into deskcmd and hit Enter. A URL without the leading > is saved.
• Saving Clipboard Text: To save text from your system clipboard, click the action button ☐ or hit Enter with the entry field empty, or type sc.
• Recalling Saved Items: Use the list command to open a dialog of your saved URLs or the hist command to pop up a dialog of your saved searches. Select one or more entries and click Select. Double-click to instantly repeat one item.
• Editing Configuration Files: Use the following commands to edit DeskCMD's configuration files in your default text editor (gedit by default):
  • ec edit saved clips text (clips.txt).
  • eh edit saved search history (hist.txt).
  • es edit custom command / services file (serv.txt).
  • eq edit the search query engine URL (search.txt).
  • ee edit the name of your text editor (editor.txt). The text editor is used by deskcmd for maintaining several of its text files.

Command Aliases and Website Searches

The serv.txt file holds your aliases with custom commands and URLs. The entries in serv.txt take two forms: Aliases and Website Directed Searches. Create your commands in serv.txt in ascending order which should allow for unique substrings.

Aliases

Aliases can be either URLs or system commands.

The general format is

Alias, {URL | fullpath-command-line}

To create an alias first invent a name for the command. The name is simply a "key" (alias) that you will type to launch the command.

examples from a serv.txt file:

  git,https://github.com  
  dev, dev.sh  
  shutdown, shutdown now  
  reboot,reboot  
  drive, https://drive.google.com  

To perform these commands in deskcmd you would type the alias and hit Enter or click the action button. deskcmd will match on leading character substrings of your alias.

Note: if you create an alias in serv.txt and then mistype it when using it, the mistyped alias will be treated as a search and launch it in the browser.

Using the above example aliases:

type	action
git	opens github.com in your browser
dev	executes your shell script to ... ?
shut	shuts down your machine
shutdo	shuts down your machine
sh	shuts down your machine
reboot	reboots your machine
reb	reboots your machine

Create your commands in serv.txt in assending order which should allow for unique substrings.
Your commands will hopefully become familiar from use.

---

Website directed searches

These are URLs that may have a ?querystring after the domain and path part. To setup a web directed search in serv.txt make sure that the first character of each line begins with a single letter (a-z, 1-0).

The general format is:

letter,name,website-URL + query-string... where letter = a unique letter a-z, A-Z, 0-9

You may have to experiment with each website to learn what format they expect for search queries

Some examples:

     a,Amazon,https://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?field-keywords=
    
     i,Google Images,http://images.google.com/images?q=
    
     p,Php,http://php.net/manual-lookup.php?pattern=
    
     m,Google Maps,https://www.google.com/maps/search/

Use like this:

    a:mini computers  
    i:wallpaper for Linux Mint  
    p:preg_split  
    m:arlington, tx  

Note that what ever you enter after letter: will get appended to the website querystring that you've set up in serv.txt.

It may take a little work to discover some of these querystrings but many do exist. deskcmd comes with several already set up, but may have changed over time.

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Positioning DeskCMD on Your Desktop

1. Type cap to toggle the window caption bar on and off.
2. Position DeskCMD on your desktop.
3. Then type winset to save the windows geometry and caption status (winmet.txt).
4. Window/widget fine positioning can be tweaked while the window is in un-decorated mode by using the @ command.
5. When the position is correct then use the winset command to save the window position. For broader positioning use the cap command to toggle into "decorated" mode, and then drag the window around like any other window.

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Important Notes

• DeskCMD does not store any browser history and bookmarks.
• Note: if you create an alias in serv.txt and then mistype it when using it, the mistyped alias will be treated as a search and launch it in the browser.
• It may take a little work to discover some of these querystrings but many do exist. deskcmd comes with several already set up, but may have changed over time.
• DeskCMD uses the DuckDuckGo search engine as default. Edit search.txt (or use the eq command) to change it. Restart DeskCMD after changing this setting. One of the advantages of DDG is its BANG query feature.
• The default text editor is set to gedit. To change it, edit the editor.txt file and restart deskcmd, or use the ee command. The text editor is used by deskcmd for maintaining several of its text files.

DeskCMD System Files

Here's a breakdown of the files and their purpose according to the sources:

• clip.txt: Stores saved clipboard text.
• serv.txt: Contains command aliases and website-directed searches.
• winmet.txt: Saves the window geometry and caption status.
• editor.txt: Specifies the name of the default text editor used by DeskCMD.
• urls.txt: Stores a list of saved URLs.
• search.txt: Holds the URL for the preferred search engine.
• hist.txt: Contains the history of search queries.

MX

DeskCMD & Pop-OS

LMDE

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