j4-dmenu-desktop is a fast desktop menu using dmenu (or compatible programs).
It scans .desktop files in $XDG_DATA_HOME and $XDG_DATA_DIRS, providing a menu
for launching applications.
It is inspired by i3-dmenu-desktop. Like i3-dmenu-desktop, j4-dmenu-desktop offers optional integration with i3wm and Sway (but j4-dmenu-desktop should work just fine on about any desktop environment).
You can also execute shell commands using it.
- speed
- conformance to the Desktop Entry Specification1
- daemon mode with
--wait-onwhich parses desktop files ahead of time - support for history sorted by usage frequency using
--usage-log - automatic desktop file loading/removal in daemon mode using inotify/kqueue
- support for any dmenu-like program (j4-dmenu-desktop is independent of any desktop environment + it works with both Xorg and Wayland)
- (optional) i3/Sway IPC integration
- multiple formatters available (program name, program name with executable path...)
- completions for all major shells + a manpage
- and more!
- Compiler with C++17 support
- CMake or Meson
Building with Meson:
./meson-setup.sh build
cd build
meson compile
sudo meson install
Building with CMake:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make j4-dmenu-desktop
sudo make install
See BUILDING for more info.
The package is provided in the Arch Linux extra repository. You can install it via
sudo pacman -S j4-dmenu-desktop
j4-dmenu-desktop is now available in the FreeBSD Ports Collection. A prebuilt package can be installed via
pkg install j4-dmenu-desktop
j4-dmenu-desktop is available in Portage for the amd64 and x86 architectures. You can install it via
echo "x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop ~amd64 ~x86" >> /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords
emerge --ask x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop
The package is also provided by the gentoo-el overlay. You can install it with the following commands as root. (you need to have layman installed and configured)
layman -a gentoo-el
echo "=x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop-9999 **" >> /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords
emerge x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop
The package is now in the apt repository. You can install it via
sudo apt-get install j4-dmenu-desktop
j4-dmenu-desktop is in Debian stable:
sudo apt install j4-dmenu-desktop
j4-dmenu-desktop is in nixpkgs:
nix-env --install j4-dmenu-desktop
# Or use pkgs attribute of the same name in NixOS configuration
j4-dmenu-desktop is packaged in Void Linux:
sudo xbps-install -S j4-dmenu-desktop
This package is maintained my me, meator. As a collaborator of j4-dmenu-desktop and an active Void Linux user, I ensure a higher standard of quality for this package. This package is officially supported, feel free to open issues or ask for support related to the Void Linux package here.
Run j4-dmenu-desktop:
j4-dmenu-desktop
Specify custom dmenu (useful on Wayland, tofi is used as example):
j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu=tofi
Display 5 entries vertically at once:
j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="dmenu -l5"
display binary name alongside name (for example Chromium will become Chromium (/usr/bin/chromium)):
j4-dmenu-desktop --display-binary
Don't display generic names and use alacritty as terminal emulator:
j4-dmenu-desktop --no-generic --term alacritty
Enable I3/Sway IPC mode:
j4-dmenu-desktop --i3-ipc
You can put this in a script file and use it instead of calling j4dd directly:
j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="(cat ; (stest -flx $(echo $PATH | tr : ' ') | sort -u)) | dmenu"
Exchanging the cat and (stest ... sort -u) parts will swap the two parts (j4dd's output and the list of binaries).
% time i3-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="cat"
[{"success":true}]
i3-dmenu-desktop --dmenu="cat" 0.37s user 0.02s system 96% cpu 0.404 total
% time ./j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu=cat
./j4-dmenu-desktop --dmenu=cat 0.01s user 0.01s system 107% cpu 0.015 total
More than 25 times faster :)
Footnotes
-
Some minor features like handling of
TryExeckey are missing. If there are any problems with compliance to the Desktop entry specification, please submit an issue. ↩
