How/Where to edit the KMenu Source Code?

[channi3]

Hi, I'm starting a project on programming the K-Menu applet within Linux, but I have absolutely no experience on this, I had a few classes with Java, so I'm comfortable with the basics.

So my question is, Where can i find the source code for the K-Menu applet? I've been googling around and only found compiled versions of it (.tar.gz files).

And also, do i just use a simple text-editor to edit the source code, or is there an IDE to do so? I learnt that i can compile the source code using something like JavaC.

Any Help appreciated

Thanks
-Channi3

[coopstah13]

it depends on your preferences, some people like the simplicity and ease of use of text editor, some prefer the bells and whistles of an IDE, I recommend eclipse for java development

as far as the k-menu applet source, no idea where it would be, but you should look for the kde source on the kde website, also .tar.gz doesn't necessarily mean that the file is binary, that is just a container used to compress and group files together

[i92guboj]

You can start here:

Welcome to KDE TechBase - KDE TechBase

Specially these:

Getting Started - KDE TechBase
Development/Tutorials - KDE TechBase

And this one, which is not about kde, but if you really plan to get into this, you definitely need some background with QT, which is the toolkit you will be using:

Qt 4.5.0-rc1: Tutorials

Please, understand that the link above is just an example. You need to check what qt version you will be using, and tweak the url for the correct version, right?


Note that the version of kde and qt to use are fundamental. Do you want to program for kde 4.x or for 3.x? It's very important to know that. kde 3.x will use qt 3.x, kde 4.x will use kde 4.4 nowadays, but soon 4.5.

There are very important differences between the many versions of qt, but more importantly, kde 3 and 4 are very very different in that regard. In kde 3 the bar is called kicker, and it's a standalone program. In kde 4 the bar is based in plasma, which is a bigger framework with is used also to draw all kind of applets and stuff in your desktop, and not just a taskbar. It is something that's new and has been created from the ground.

So, to setup a development environment you first need to know what kde version are you going to develop for.

In kde3, the k menu is part of the kicker package, included in kdebase. In kde 4 I have no idea really, it might be part of kdebase as well, included in the plasma subsystem. I don't know because I don't use it.

Either way, the sources can be downloaded from the kde site. It's part of having a gpl license: the producer of the software forcingly offers the sources for download on the site of the project. So that's the first place to check, always.

[channi3]

Sorry for the very late reply, just thought I'd revive this topic instead of making a new one.

I've been spending some time on other projects, but i did manage to research and actually install the KDE 3.5.10 installation packages onto this system.

I found out that there was already an existing QT package installed which was 3.3.6, so didnt bother installed an updated version.

I checked out the kdebase-3.5.10 package to locate the source code for the k-menu.

I've looked through a couple of files, including the menuapplet.cpp (within the kdebase-3.5.10\kicker\applets\menu directory) and also checked the kmenuedit.cpp file to (within the \kdebase-3.5.10\kmenuedit directory).

But so far, i haven't progressed much.

Are these the correct files i should be looking at, for this purpose?

Thanks
-channi3

[i92guboj]

kmenuedit is a menu editor, unrelated.

You must look inside the kicker directory, I don't have the sources for kdebase-3.x any longer to look at, but you can use grep -r to search for strings in the source code recursively (such as "Log Out").

[channi3]

Thanks for the info.

I've been trying the grep command but it never ever shows any results. It just hangs after i type the command.

I'm trying to type things like:
grep -r 'log out'
grep -r 'Log Out'
grep - r 'Run Command'

I have to hit ctrl+c to quit out of the process.

Am i doing something wrong?

[i92guboj]

Thanks for the info.

I've been trying the grep command but it never ever shows any results. It just hangs after i type the command.

I'm trying to type things like:
grep -r 'log out'
grep -r 'Log Out'
grep - r 'Run Command'

That would be grep -r "whatever" <filename>, for example:

grep -r 'log out' *
grep -r 'Log Out' *
grep - r 'Run Command' *

Which means "all files". If you don't tell grep a file then it greps stdin and sits there waiting for input.