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