Parch

Desktop files, icons & MIME

Applications integrate with the desktop through metadata. A package that installs a binary without a desktop file is, from the user's perspective, not installed.

Desktop entry checklist

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Parch Welcome
Name[fa]=خوش‌آمد پارچ
GenericName=First run assistant
GenericName[fa]=دستیار اجرای اول
Comment=Set up your Parch system
Comment[fa]=سیستم پارچ خود را راه‌اندازی کنید
Exec=parch-welcome
Icon=parch-welcome
Terminal=false
Categories=System;Utility;
Keywords=welcome;setup;پارچ;خوش آمد;
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=parch-welcome
  • Name, GenericName, and Comment carry [fa] translations, Persian names are required for Parch software, not optional.
  • Keywords include both languages so search finds the app either way.
  • Icon references the icon name installed into hicolor, never a path.
  • StartupWMClass matches the app's real window class on Wayland.
  • Actions ([Desktop Action …]) expose tasks like “New window”.

MIME associations

  • Declare handled types in MimeType= and ship a *.xml MIME cache file when defining new types.
  • Change default associations only with user intent (never hijack on install/upgrade).
  • Update the caches in the package's install script hooks (update-desktop-database, update-mime-database, gtk-update-icon-cache).