Bug 426125

What's the "Command" you're using?

(In reply to Ahmad Samir from comment #1)
> What's the "Command" you're using?

In my case, I'm starting AllegroGraph.  An example is:

/home/joe/tmp/ag7.0.2/bin/agraph-control --config /home/joe/tmp/ag7.0.2/lib/agraph.cfg start

However, I suspect any command using a --config option will produce the same type of result.

The command "grep --config file" should do it even if grep fails as the underlying desktop shell seems to be grabbing the file of the --config option and overwriting with desktop app state config information.  I'll test such a scenario and report back.

Technically what the .desktop file does is pass the command to konsole (assuming that's your default terminal emulator), and since you specified "do not close on exit" the command will be something like:
konsole --noclose -e "/home/joe/tmp/ag7.0.2/bin/agraph-control --config /home/joe/tmp/ag7.0.2/lib/agraph.cfg start"

could you try this, in terminal:
export QT_LOGGING_RULES="*kio*=true;"
dolphin

note where the output in the terminal is then go to the desktop folder, you should find the link you created there, open it, and post the output from the terminal (from after you open the .desktop file) here.

Generally speaking most command parse "--someword" as a parameter, for example if you want to grep "--config" in a file you'll have to use something like:
grep -- --config /path/to/somefile

the -- tells grep that all the string after it are not parameters.

In konsoles case everything after "-e" isn't treated as parameters/options to konsole.

(In reply to Ahmad Samir from comment #3)

So, yes, I understood the konsole process and, yes, konsole is the default terminal emulator.  The structure of the grep command is irrelevant for the example.  In fact the command is irrelevant.  I was pointing out that it probably didn't matter where or how the "--config" option is supplied.  The value after the option is used by some mechanism (konsole?) to created/overwrite a file named by the value--even if the command fails.

For my test:
1. I opened konsole and executed this on the command line:
       konsole --noclose -e grep --console ~/Bin/test.cfg
   This did *not* produce the "test.cfg" file (as expected).

2. I created a .desktop file, "TermTest.desktop", containing:
      [Desktop Entry]
      Comment[en_US]=
      Comment=
      Exec=grep --config ~/Bin/test.cfg
      GenericName[en_US]=
      GenericName=
      Icon=network-server-database
      MimeType=
      Name[en_US]=TermTest
      Name=TermTest
      Path=/home/me/Bin
      StartupNotify=true
      Terminal=true
      TerminalOptions=\s--noclose
      Type=Application
      X-DBUS-ServiceName=
      X-DBUS-StartupType=none
      X-KDE-RunOnDiscreteGpu=false
      X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
      X-KDE-Username=
NOTE: I found that the "Path" key must be set to an absolute directory. If I set it to "~/Bin", the desktop file would not execute.  But, that's another issue...

3. I double click the "TermTest.desktop" icon to execute.  The konsole app opens and the command fails (as expected):
      [=============================================]
      [            TermTest -- Konsole              ]
      [                                             ]
      [ /bin/grep: unrecognized option '--config'   ]
      [ Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]...  ]
      [ Try 'grep --help' for more information.     ]
      [                                             ]
      [=============================================]
However, a new file is generated in the ~/Bin directory, test.cfg (*not* as expected):
      [MainWindow]
      State=AAAA/wAAAAD9AAAAAAAAAoAAAAHCAAAABAAAAAQAAAAIAAAACPwAAAAA
      ToolBarsMovable=Disabled
After the app is closed, the file, test.cfg, is updated:
      [Desktop Entry]
      DefaultProfile=
      
      [Favorite Profiles]
      Favorites=
      
      [MainWindow]
      State=AAAA/wAAAAD9AAAAAAAAAoAAAAHCAAAABAAAAAQAAAAIAAAACPwAAAAA
      ToolBarsMovable=Disabled

4. Doing as you suggested:
> export QT_LOGGING_RULES="*kio*=true;"
> dolphin
Double clicking the "TermTest.desktop" file creates a dialog asking to "open", "execute", or "cancel".  Choosing "execute" produced no following results in the terminal output.
<(from after you open the .desktop file) here.
So, there is nothing to post.  However, the same results for step 3 were produced: test.cfg created (*not* as expected).

5. I changed the command in the .desktop file from "grep" to "xyzzy", a non-existent command.  The same results for step 3 were produced: test.cfg created (*not* as expected).  Of course, the output was different:


      Warning: Could not find 'xyzzy', starting '/bin/bash' instead.
      Please check your profile settings.

      /bin/bash: --config: invalid option
      Usage:  /bin/bash [GNU long option] [option] ...
              /bin/bash [GNU long option] [option] script-file ...
     ...blah, blah, blah...

6. I execute "TermTest.desktop" as per 3, but unchecked "Do not close when command exits". The same end result for test 3 is produced: test.cfg created (*not* as expected).

7. I execute "TermTest.desktop" as per 3, but unchecked "Run in terminal".  I get a dialog: 
      [======================================]
      [           Sorry--Plasma              ]
      [                                      ]
      [  Could not find the program 'xyzzy'  ]
      [                                      ]
      [======================================]
No "test.cfg" file is produced (as expected).

So, obviously, the .desktop file process is executing some alien terminal processing command that is taking the --config option as its own.  If it's konsole, it is inconsistent with the konsole executed on the command line.  Additionally, konsole does not report that it uses a --config option.

I have validated that the overwritten/created configuration file is equivalent to a default /home/<user>/.config/konsolerc file.  So, why is konsole behaving bad in this use case?

>$ konsole --version
>konsole 19.12.3

Reviewing comment 3, there was no instruction for running a ".desktop" file in a terminal.  However, searches indicated this might be done.  The result of such a run follow.  The command to run a desktop file from a terminal is:

  kioclient5 exec <your.desktop>

The TermTest.desktop file:
NOTE: The <user> (the current user) in the "Path=" line is a holder for an actual user directory and the "Bin" directory from the "Exec=" and "Path=" lines exists in the <user> directory.

> [Desktop Entry]
> Comment[en_US]=
> Comment=
> Exec=xyzzy --config ~/Bin/test.cfg
> GenericName[en_US]=
> GenericName=
> Icon=network-server-database
> MimeType=
> Name[en_US]=TermTest
> Name=TermTest
> Path=/home/<user>/Bin
> StartupNotify=true
> Terminal=true
> TerminalOptions=\s--noclose
> Type=Application
> X-DBUS-ServiceName=
> X-DBUS-StartupType=none
> X-KDE-RunOnDiscreteGpu=false
> X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
> X-KDE-Username=

Executing the TermTest.desktop file in a terminal with the QT Logging Rules:

>~$ cd Desktop
>~/Desktop$ export QT_LOGGING_RULES="*kio*=true;"
>~/Desktop$ kioclient5 exec TermTest.desktop
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/recentlyused.so" supports protocols ("recentlyused")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/ftp.so" supports protocols ("ftp")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/audiocd.so" supports protocols ("audiocd")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/remote.so" supports protocols ("remote")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/file.so" supports protocols ("file")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/http.so" supports protocols ("http", "https", "webdav", "webdavs")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/gdrive.so" supports protocols ("gdrive")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/trash.so" supports protocols ("trash")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/help.so" supports protocols ("help")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/ghelp.so" supports protocols ("ghelp")
>kf5.kio.core: "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/kf5/kio/kdeconnect.so" supports protocols ("kdeconnect")
>~/Desktop$ "Could not find binary: " "xyzzy"

Additionally, as show in the "Exec=" line, this process erroneously produces a ~/Bin/test.cfg file containing a default konsolerc configuration:

> [Desktop Entry]
> DefaultProfile=
> 
> [Favorite Profiles]
> Favorites=
> 
> [MainWindow]
> State=AAAA/wAAAAD9AAAAAAAAAoAAAAHCAAAABAAAAAQAAAAIAAAACPwAAAAA
> ToolBarsMovable=Disabled

Replacing the "Exec=" line:
> Exec=xyzzy --config ~/Bin/test.cfg
with:
> Exec="xyzzy --config ~/Bin/test.cfg"
and running:
>~/Desktop$ kioclient5 exec TermTest.desktop
does NOT produce the "test.cfg" file.

Changing the same with the AllegroGraph desktop file also fixes the problem.
Should this be fixed to automate the quotes when executing?
At the very least, it should be documented with the side effects explained.