"/etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged"?

[fpemud]

According to the desktop menu spec, it looks like files in "/etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged/" are supposed to be merged with the menu.

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  <DefaultMergeDirs/>

However, after I created these 3 files, I don't see the "Virtual Machines" menu and a "Virtual Machine - temp" program in the application menu.

This is my .menu file:

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[fpemud@fpemud-workstation /etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged]$ cat fvm-applications.menu 
<!DOCTYPE Menu PUBLIC "-//freedesktop//DTD Menu 1.0//EN"
"http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/menu-spec/menu-1.0.dtd">
<Menu>
  <Name>Applications</Name>
  <Menu>
    <Name>Virtual Machines</Name>
    <Directory>fvm-virtualmachines.directory</Directory>
    <Include>
      <And>
        <Category>VirtualMachine</Category>
      </And>
    </Include>
  </Menu>
</Menu>

This is my .directory file:

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[fpemud@fpemud-workstation /usr/share/desktop-directories]$ cat fvm-virtualmachines.directory 
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Virtual Machines
Comment=Virtual Machines
Icon=computer
Type=Directory

This is my .desktop file:

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[fpemud@fpemud-workstation ~/.local/share/applications]$ cat fvm_temp.desktop 
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Virtual Machine - temp
Type=Application
Exec=fpemud-virtmanager start temp
TryExec=fpemud-virtmanager start temp
Icon=computer
Categories=VirtualMachine;

I'm using cinnamon, perhaps is there any syntax error in my file?

[Dominique_71]

The implementation of the files in /etc/xdg/menus has always been a mess. It is why distributions like arch or debian provide their own applications menu systems, which are able to modify these files.

Also, your dekstop file contain no main category, and to use at least one of them is mandatory..

The only desktop I know that support the additional categories out of the box in any distribution is fvwm-crystal. It use its own database, and can add the missing entries and icons to this database. For that, it doesn't care about the files in /etc/xgd/menu, but only check and use the dekstop files. The database can be customized independently by the user.