How do I make "MATE Search Tool" a favorite

[Mudshark]

I love the "MATE Search Tool"
I cannot find any other way to launch it aside from getting to it via
Software > Installed > MATE Search Tool

I also cannot see how to make it a "favorite"

Anyone?
Thanks,
Rich

[swarfendor437]

When you open the menu and get to "MATE Search Tool" can you not right-click and select "Add to favourites"?

[Mudshark]

I cannot find it in any menu. It only shows up (and can only be executed by) digging under Software > Installed > MATE Search Tool.

[Aravisian]

Does the app have a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications directory?

[Mudshark]

Yes, it does. I right-clicked on it and no "favorites" option.

[Aravisian]

@Mudshark

Yes, it does.

If it has a desktop file, then it should be showing up in the application menu. Can you open the .desktop file in a text editor and check two conditionals it may have:

• Categories=; < Check if the categories it specifies are not present in your app menu
• OnlyShowIn=MATE; < Check if it has this conditional which makes the app only show in that desktop environment

[Mudshark]

Categories=GTK;Utility;Core;
OnlyShowIn=MATE;

The Utility category is in my menu, but MATE search tool is not part of it.
What's the OnlyShowIn mean?
How should I edit these entries?
Thanks!

[Aravisian]

@Mudshark

OnlyShowIn=MATE;

Remove that line as it sets the app to only be visible in the Mate Desktop Environment. Save the file.
You will need to elevate to Root Permissions, first

[Mudshark]

I see that w/o root access the file is read-only.
How would one

1. elevate to root to
2. edit this file?

[Aravisian]

By the time I got to this thread, another user created the following tutorial. :

Three ways to edit files and folders as root

You can use sudo -H nautilus Or sudo -i nautilus The reason it is dangerous is because on occasions (even though it is fine most of the time), it can create a hefty permissions error. Your configurations are stored in home, but running directly off of sudo, you are running from Root. Since you are launching from Home, as Root, with no front end, it can cause the system to write any changes as owned by Root. This can cause a variety of difficult to diagnose problems - and on this for…

If you are using Core, you would call on Files by its actual software name: nautilus
If you are using Lite, you could call on the file manager by its name: thunar

[Mudshark]

@Mudshark

Remove the line:
OnlyShowIn=MATE;
as it sets the app to only be visible in the Mate Desktop Environment. Save the file. You will need to elevate to Root Permissions, first.

First, this worked to allow right-clicking a file to edit as admin:

Install nautilus-admin to get a right click option to open a file or folder as root. This is the most convenient and specific way. Run in terminal:
sudo apt install nautilus-admin

Second, edited the desktop file and made the "OnlyShowIn=MATE;" line a remark by adding a # in front of it.

Now I can find "MATE search" in Applications, and was able to right-click to make a favorite.

Thanks so much folks!