CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxqtraspberry-piraspbian
Mohd Viquar
Mohd Viquar

Reputation: 11

run external application in linux using qprocess

I am creating an GUI application using QT creater in Raspbian. When I click a button I want to open an external application like terminal, or browser, etc.

I have tried many attempts

std::system("/usr/share/raspi-ui-overrides/applications/scratch.desktop&");

it says me permission denied

QDesktopServices::openUrl(QUrl("/usr/share/raspi-ui-overrides/applications/scratch.desktop"));

QDesktopServices::openUrl(QUrl("/usr/share/raspi-ui-overrides/applications/scratch.desktop"));

Upvotes: 1

Views: 470

Answers (2)

eyllanesc
eyllanesc

Reputation: 244023

The .desktop files are not executable, but serve as shortcuts for the desktop system. Assuming that the scratch.desktop has the following:

scratch.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Scratch
Comment= Programming system and content development tool
Exec=scratch
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=scratch
Categories=Development;
MimeType=application/x-scratch-project

Then the executable is /usr/bin/scratch, And you can run it with Qt:

QProcess::startDetached("/usr/bin/scratch");

Or:

QProcess::execute("/usr/bin/scratch");

Upvotes: 1

afenster
afenster

Reputation: 3608

I'm assuming the question is about Raspberry Pi and Raspbian.

In Raspbian, the scratch.desktop and other *.desktop files are not executables, but just text files that describe which application to run.

Example:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /usr/share/raspi-ui-overrides/applications/scratch.desktop 
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
TryExec=scratch
Exec=scratch
Icon=scratch
Terminal=false
Name=Scratch
Comment= Programming system and content development tool
Categories=Application;Development;
MimeType=application/x-scratch-project

You need to use an actual binary to start the process. For scratch, it would be /usr/bin/scratch. For a browser, it's likely to be /usr/bin/epiphany-browser. Look at Exec= line in the *.desktop file to see the name of the executable, then use which in the terminal to see its location:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ which epiphany-browser 
/usr/bin/epiphany-browser

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions