Display/Run standalone windows exe in wine 'Programs' menu

[BeloSol01]

I've searched for 'run standalone' and come up with references to particular programs, and the wiki correctly says windows programs installers will give you menu entries.

I can't find a general description for using a windows standalone .exe, that doesn't use an installer, so it appears in the Wine Programs menu.

This is the kind of program when you just put the program directory in /Programs and then put a link into the Start menu -- in MS Windows. What's the equivalent way of setting this up with Wine?

I have already placed the program's directory on the KDE Desktop, and then right click on it, but I'd like for the program to begin running directly, without going through one or two intermediate windows and clicking the right button.

This must be somewhere on the site, as it's really a 'noob' question and if so, just give me a link and that will be fine. I have already followed the directions for a program that requires installation, and this works great, so I know what it's supposed to look like and how it works when an installed program appears in the Menu.

[dimesio]

Create a menu entry yourself using KDE's menu editor.

[BeloSol01]

OK, thanks.

I believe a 'helper' utility was complicating things as now the Windows stand-alone program is running immediately from the file manager, after I uninstalled q4wine. I installed this along with Wine -- thinking it was a necessary enhancement. I now suspect that idea was mistaken, at least for the current version of Wine??

To see what a properly-installed program looks like in Wine, I have followed instructions on this site for for using (a completely different program's) Windows installer.

That program now runs perfectly, but it will take some study before I understand what was created (by Wine or perhaps by the Windows installer?) in the Menu Editor's Command field, and that is:

Code: Select all

env WINEPREFIX="/home/ron/.wine" wine C:\\windows\\command\\start.exe /Unix /home/ron/.wine/dosdevices/c:/users/Public/Start\ Menu/Programs/PC\ Software\ for\ YO-520/PC\ Software\ for\ YO-520.lnk

I assume it would be best to place my standalone exe in a subdirectory of Wine's C:, similar to where the installer placed the other program? How much of the above Command, if any, would I then have to copy, with the name of the standalone .exe substituted for the final link?

Another question regarding the link that was created: The reason for this is part of what's still confusing me -- it is standard procedure that the Command (in the Menu Editor) goes to a link, and not to the .exe itself? If this is covered somewhere I haven't yet found, a hyperlink to that documentation will be most appreciated ... since right now, I don't understand the reason for most of what I see in the code box, above.

[BeloSol01]

Would this automate adding a non-installable program, or would it -- before I try it -- cause problems either with Wine itself, or the usability of the program:

1) Manually drop a directory containing the uninstallable .exe and its associated files into Wine's C: directory.

2) From the Wine entry on KDE's Kickoff Launcher, run Wine's Uninstall Wine Software (opens Wine's Add/Remove Programs window).

3) Click Install ... (opens a Wine file explorer window).

4) Locate the uninstallable's exe in Wine C: and then click Open.

Anything wrong or inadvisable about this? Would these steps automatically do everything that has to be done, with no 'side effects'?

[dimesio]

All that will do is run the .exe. Winemenubuilder creates the Linux menu entries/desktop links from the Windows ones the program's installer would normally create. For uninstalling, Wine's uninstaller just runs the app's uninstaller, if it has one. If the app you are trying to run has neither, there's nothing Wine can do about it.

As for creating the menu item yourself, just use the same command you use to run the app from a terminal, including specifying the WINEPREFIX if is not ~/.wine. For some apps you may also need to set the Work Path field (Advanced tab) to the location of the executable.

[BeloSol01]

Thanks! It's less complicated than I thought. I don't have to duplicate what the installed program placed in the Command field, then.

The program in question (the uninstallable one) is an old, very simple Password Prompter, and its data file is on my Data partition (NTFS) -- the same location in use since Windows2000, and now used by Windows 7. I am hoping to configure the password program, than will not be located in Wine's C: drive, so that it 'sees' the same data file.

The idea being, if I have to run the program under Windows 7, it will also be looking at the same data.

Configuring the shortcut to the program has always managed to 'point' the .exe to the program's data, before, so I will try to do this again, unless you were to say Wine would work better by setting a link in Wine's C: to the directory in my Data partition.

Thanks for the advice and to understand it completely, I need to study WINEPREFIX and what it does, in more detail.

By the way, I've been unable to locate a reference on the 'env' parameter that precedes 'WINEPREFIX'. Is that easy to answer?

[dimesio]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Env

[BeloSol01]

Good answer.
Now I understand why I wasn't finding the definition in 'Wine-specific' documentation.