README for the program "myGtkMenu"

The purpose of myGtkMenu is to read a description file and display a menu.

You should have received 6 files (in the directory myGtkMenu-1.4/)

  myGtkMenu (A 64-bit Linux executable using GTK+3)
  TestMenu.txt
  main.c
  Makefile
  License.txt
  README

and the directory gnome-icons (contains a few test icons).


INSTALLATION:

(1) Move the directory myGtkMenu-1.4/ to your desired location.
    I keep mine in ~/bin/ for easy backup and restore.

(2) Open a terminal (command prompt) and cd to /PATH/myGtkMenu-1.4/).

(3) Run "./myGtkMenu" in the terminal window to see if a test menu pops up
    and read the terminal output to check for errors. (See the note
    about 'theme parsing error' below.)

(4) If ./myGtkMenu will not run, check file permissions to make sure that
    myGtkMenu is executable and TestMenu.txt is readable (e.g. run "ls -l").
    If all else fails, try using the Makefile to recompile.
    (e.g. run "mv myGtkMenu myGtkMenu.sav; make"; you might have to install 
    gtk3-devel first)

(5) Using TestMenu.txt as a guide, create a new menu description file
    (here called newMenu.txt) in myGtkMenu-1.4/).

(6) Run "./myGtkMenu newMenu.txt" in the terminal window to check for errors.

(7) Create a launcher on the desktop or on a panel that runs
    "/PATH1/myGtkMenu /PATH2/newMenu.txt" 
    (e.g. ~/bin/myGtkMenu-1.4/myGtkMenu ~/bin/myGtkMenu-1.4/newMenu.txt).


Version 1.4 of myGtkMenu should work with Gnome keyboard shortcuts 
(hot keys). In XFCE4, for example, a hot key can be created in the
keyboard setting dialog.

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Some hot keys (keybindings) get carried away and start many instances of the
same program. To make sure that only one instance of myGtkMenu runs at
a given time, a (hidden) lock-file is created in your home directory. If
this causes problems, feel free to comment out that part of the code and
recompile.

The menu normally pops up next to the cursor but it can be placed at a
paticular spot on the screen (see menupos= in TestMenu.txt). Just remember,
if you place the menu at a spot where it will not fit, the menu will look odd.

Theme parsing errors (if any) are due to GTK complaining about your theme and
are not caused by myGtkMenu. You can safely ignore these warnings/errors.
If they bother you, the warning/error messages can be hidden by redirection:
/PATH/myGtkMenu /PATH/newMenu.txt 2> /dev/null

Suggestions:

(1) Use hot keys. In XFCE4, for example, the keyboard setting dialog can be used
    to connect "/PATH1/myGtkMenu   /PATH2/mainMenu.txt" to <Super-L>. One can 
    then start a command prompt by pressing <Super-L> to open myGtkMenu and 
    then <t> (for menu item Terminal). Many of the author's menu items run 
    scripts and it only takes two key presses to start them. For example, 
    <Super-L> followed by <f> runs a script which selects workplace #1 and 
    starts firefox.

(2) Use icons of reasonable size. If myGtkMenu has to input a huge image and 
    then scale it, things will slow down. Many paint programs have the ability
    to easily re-scale images.

(3) Make a sub directory called, for example, "myGtkMenu-1.4/Icons/" and place
    a copy of your favorite icons in that directory. Having all the pieces in
    one directory makes it easier to backup and restore your menu(s).

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    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as
	published by the Free Software Foundation.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
