Popup applications menu via keyboard

phelum · 2020-12-05 21:37:18

Hi,
I'm running xfce 4.14 on debian buster. This release of xfce is from MXLinux because the debian files required to generate xfce are too old. This mixed-up installation could make my question unanswerable here.

I set a keyboard shortcut (Super+A) to bring up the applications menu. But it always brings up the desktop menu instead.

The shortcut should run /usr/bin/xfce4-popup-applicationsmenu and I believe it does.
This shell script runs /usr/bin/xfce4-panel --plugin-event=applicationsmenu:popup:bool:$ATPOINTER || xfdesktop --menu
So it looks like xfce4-panel with the plugin-event is failing and so xfdesktop is invoked.
I can test this with /usr/bin/xfce4-panel --plugin-event=applicationsmenu:popup ; echo $? which returns 1.

There is a file /usr/share/xfce4/panel-plugins/applicationsmenu.desktop which I assume is relevant.
It contains:
X-XFCE-Module=applicationsmenu
X-XFCE-Internal=TRUE
X-XFCE-API=2.0

There is a directory /usr/lib/xfce4/panel-plugins but it is empty and pre-dates the 4.14 installation.
There is a directory /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel-plugins and it does contain libapplicationsmenu.so which seems relevant.

If I click on "applications" in the panel I do get the proper menu. But if I run xfce4-popup-applicationsmenu I get the desktop menu. This seems wrong to me.
If I check Panel Preferences it just shows "Applications Menu" with no further info.
If I use Settings Editor->xfce4-panel it shows that plugin-1 is applicationsmenu but that is all.

Can anybody see what is wrong here or tell me how I can determine exactly what the mouse click does and how I can emulate this with a keyboard shortcut ?

Thanks,
Steven

MrEen · 2020-12-05 21:47:13

See if ToZ's answer here solves this.

phelum · 2020-12-05 22:22:05

MrEen wrote:

See if ToZ's answer here solves this.

Hi,
Thanks for the tip but no cigar I'm afraid.

In Panel Preferences if I hover on Applications Menu I get Internal Name: applicationsmenu-1.

But /usr/bin/xfce4-panel --plugin-event=applicationsmenu-1:popup ; echo $? still gives me 1 and no display.

I've just tested with other xfce4-popup-* scripts and they all fail. It looks like my xfce4-panel has problems with all plugin-event operations.

One clue might be that when I use the keyboard to popup the menu the button on the panel darkens. When I try again the button stays dark and the desktop menu appears. To lighten the button I have to click it to popup the menu and then click again to remove it.

Cheers,
Steven

Last edited by phelum (2020-12-05 23:04:40)

MrEen · 2020-12-05 23:07:30

I wonder if ToZ's bug report has anything to do with this.

EDIT: The proper link for that bug report is now here: https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/-/issues/201

Last edited by MrEen (2020-12-05 23:31:36)

phelum · 2020-12-05 23:37:46

MrEen wrote:

I wonder if ToZ's bug report has anything to do with this.

Yes, I think it's definitely relevant.

I'll leave this problem for now because I doubt most users will see it because they will always use the mouse. I can't get Super by itself to bring up the menu (probably it is regarded as a modifier key and ignored when not with a normal key) and so most ex-Windows users will resort to the mouse. This makes my shortcut Super+a somewhat useless.

Thanks for all your help here.

Cheers,
Steven

MrEen · 2020-12-06 00:12:22

I'm using an almost 4 year old OS, so things may have changed, but I stay away from the Super key for shortcuts. Of the 4 default uses of the Super key, only 2 work, Super_L pops up WhiskerMenu and Super+P pops up the Display properties window. Super+D is supposed to show the desktop and Super+Tab should switch windows, but neither of those work for me on Mint 18.3

Just wanted to throw that out there as I've seen many others post issues when the Super key is involved in shortcuts.

ToZ · 2020-12-06 02:15:37

Forgot about that bug report. Just tested it again now and it works (I'm running the latest git version of Xfce). The pointer parameter (-p) doesn't though (see https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/-/issues/297).

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#1 2020-12-05 21:37:18

Popup applications menu via keyboard

#2 2020-12-05 21:47:13

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

#3 2020-12-05 22:22:05

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

#4 2020-12-05 23:07:30

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

#5 2020-12-05 23:37:46

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

#6 2020-12-06 00:12:22

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

#7 2020-12-06 02:15:37

Re: Popup applications menu via keyboard

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