1 # MyMenu
2 
3 > A replacement for dmenu, 'cause I was bored
4 
5 ![MyMenu works!](screen.png)
6 
7 ![MyMenu alternate layout](screen-alt.png)
8 
9 ---
10 
11 ## What?
12 
13 This is a replacement for `dmenu(1)`.
14 
15 ## Why?
16 
17 This was the perfect excuse to learn how to make window with Xlib.
18 
19 ## How?
20 
21 Check out the [manpage](mymenu.1) for further documentation. Check out
22 also the [template](Xexample) for the resources.
23 
24 ---
25 
26 ## Dependencies
27 
28  - Xlib
29  - Xinerama (optional)
30    For multi-monitor support
31  - Xft (optional)
32    For TrueType (r) font support
33  - pkg-config (optional)
34    used in the makefile to generate `LIBS` and `CFLAGS` correctly
35 
36 ## Build
37 
38 As simple as `make` (or `make gnu` if you're using GNU libc). Keep in
39 mind that, by default, both Xft and Xinerama are enabled. So, you may
40 want to run:
41 
42   - `make no_xft` to build without xft support;
43   - `make no_xinerama` to build without xinerama support;
44   - `make no_xft_xinerama` to build without xinerama *and* no xft support.
45 
46 #### ignore case completion / don't have `strcasestr(3)`
47 
48 If you want to build without the ignore case completion or on your
49 platform `strcasestr(3)` isn't available, you have to update the
50 `Makefile` and remove `-DUSE_STRCASESTR`. A simple
51 ``` shell
52 sed -i.orig 's/-DUSE_STRCASESTR//g' Makefile
53 ```
54 should be enough.
55 
56 
57 ## FAQ
58 
59  - Does not run / Hangs
60 
61    At the startup mymenu will read `stdin` for a list of item, only
62    then it'll display a window. Are you sure that you're passing
63    something on standard input?
64 
65  - License
66 
67    The code is released under GPLv3, but I don't have strong
68    preference regard licenses, so if you ask I may release the code
69    also under a different license (a free software one of course).
70 
71  - Will feature $X be added?
72 
73    No. Or maybe Yes. In fact, it depends. Open an issue and let's
74    discuss. If it's something that's trivial to achieve in combo with
75    other tool maybe is not the case to add it here.
76 
77  - Is feature $Y present? What $Z do? How to achieve $W?
78 
79    Everything is documented in the man page. To read it, simply execute
80    `man -l mymenu.1` or `mandoc mymenu.1 | less` (depending on your
81    system the `-l` option may not be present).
82 
83 ---
84 
85 ## TODO
86 
87  - Improve UTF8 support
88  
89    The whole UTF8 support is still kinda naïve and should definitely
90    be improved.
91 
92  - Opacity support
93 
94  - Command line flags
95 
96    At the moment the X Resource Database is the only way to interact
97    with the graphic appearance of MyMenu.
98 
99 ## Scripts
100 
101 I'm using this script to launch MyMenu with custom item
102 
103 ``` shell
104 #!/bin/sh
105 
106 cat <<EOF | /bin/sh -c "$(mymenu "$@")"
107 sct 4500
108 lock
109 connect ethernet
110 connect home
111 connect phone
112 ZZZ
113 zzz
114 ...
115 EOF
116 ```
117 
118 You can generate a menu from the `.desktop` file with something like
119 this:
120 
121 ``` shell
122 #!/bin/sh
123 
124 getname() {
125     cat $1 | grep '^Name=' | sed 's/^.*=//'
126 }
127 
128 getexec() {
129     cat $1 | grep '^Exec=' | sed 's/^.*=//'
130 }
131 
132 desktop_files=`ls /usr/local/share/applications/*.desktop`
133 
134 {
135     for i in $desktop_files; do
136         getname $i
137     done
138 } | mymenu "$@" | {
139     read prgname
140     for i in $desktop_files; do
141         name=`getname $i`
142         if [ "x$prgname" = "x$name" ]; then
143             exec `getexec $i`
144         fi
145     done
146 }
147 ```
148 
149 or generate a list of executables from `$PATH` like this:
150 
151 ``` shell
152 #!/bin/sh
153 
154 path=`echo $PATH | sed 's/:/ /g'`
155 
156 {
157     for i in $path; do
158         ls -F $i | grep '.*\*$' | sed 's/\*//'
159     done
160 } | sort -f | /bin/sh -c "$(mymenu "$@")"
161 ```
162 
163 Of course you can as well use the `dmenu_path` and `dmenu_run` scripts
164 that (usually) comes with `dmenu`.