Programs and Documents
Table of Contents
KDE offers a varying number of ways to launch programs. You may:
Simply select the relevant item in the menu.
Run the program from Konsole, or by clicking the menu and choosing (while you still might prefer the quick keyboard shortcut, which is simply Alt+F2).
Create a shortcut on the desktop or use Kicker's quick launcher.
The menu functions much like the Start menu of Windows®, however it breaks programs up by what they do. Programs on the menu are broken into category menus, such as and . Under these category menus there are subcategory menus, such as , and . Under the subcategory menus lie program launchers, which, when clicked on, launch the associated application.
Depending on the program, there may not be a launcher in the menu.
To search your hard drive for more applications, click the menu, choose
and type
kappfinder. In
Kappfinder, click , and the hard drive will be
searched for programs. Click the checkbox next to each program to be added
to the menu, and click and
. The menu now will have new program
launchers under the relevant category menus.
Launchers to programs may also be placed on the desktop. To create a new launcher, click on the desktop, and choose ->. On the KDesktop properties dialog box, type in the name of the program on the General tab. You may also wish to choose a custom icon by clicking on the gear icon. Click the Application tab and type a short sentence about the program in the Description textbox. In the Command textbox, type the name of the program (case sensitive), and any command line options you wish to use. Choose , and your new program launcher will be created on your desktop. Simply click on the new launcher on the desktop and the associated program will run.
To launch a program using Konsole, click the menu and choose ->->. Once Konsole appears on the screen, simply type the name of the program you wish to launch (remembering that bash, the command language interpreter that Konsole uses by default, is case-sensitive) and press Enter. If you are unsure about the name of a program, type the first few letters then press the Tab key on your keyboard. By pressing Tab, bash (through Konsole) will try to guess the name of the program you wish to launch. If it finds more than one matching program, a list of matching programs will be printed on the screen. Type the name of the program from the list and press Enter to launch.
Whichever way you choose, launching a program is a simple affair with KDE. From the menu, to Konsole, all your programs are just a few clicks or key-presses away.
Related Information
Check the Kicker handbook for more information on enabling or disabling the menu, adding applications to the quick launch, or on organizing the categorization of the applications in the menu. You can view the Kicker handbook either via the KHelpCenter or by using Konqueror's KIOslave by typing help:/kicker in the Location toolbar.
