appstreamcli compose broken

[Matthias Klumpp]

Am Do., 21. Dez. 2023 um 23:12 Uhr schrieb Daniel Kasak
<d.j.kasak.dk at gmail.com>:
>
> Thanks yet again Mattias. I'm edging closer to the goal post, I believe. Now there is a missing category:
>
> Running appstreamcli compose
> FB: Running: appstreamcli compose --prefix=/ --origin=biz.smartassociates.sdf --result-root=/mnt/array0/work/Smart/Smart_Framework/flatpak/.flatpak-builder/rofiles/rofiles-NeUyJn/files --data-dir=/mnt/array0/work/Smart/Smart_Framework/flatpak/.flatpak-builder/rofiles/rofiles-NeUyJn/files/share/app-info/xmls --icons-dir=/mnt/array0/work/Smart/Smart_Framework/flatpak/.flatpak-builder/rofiles/rofiles-NeUyJn/files/share/app-info/icons/flatpak '--components=biz.smartassociates.sdf,biz.smartassociates.sdf.desktop' /mnt/array0/work/Smart/Smart_Framework/flatpak/.flatpak-builder/rofiles/rofiles-NeUyJn/files
> Only accepting components: biz.smartassociates.sdf, biz.smartassociates.sdf.desktop
> Processing directory: /mnt/array0/work/Smart/Smart_Framework/flatpak/.flatpak-builder/rofiles/rofiles-NeUyJn/files
> Composing metadata...
> Run failed, some data was ignored.
> Errors were raised during this compose run:
> general
>   E: filters-but-no-output
>
> biz.smartassociates.sdf
>   E: no-valid-category
>
> What category tag, and what valid options?

Maybe switching this to a full report with explanations helps - it
adds a bit of clutter, but also makes things more clear.

> I should point out that I've tried searching for docs on these things before reaching out. I've also entered some other apps, looking for hints as to how they do things. For example, I tried entering the "pulse effects" app ( flatpak run --command=bash com.github.wwmm.pulseeffects ) and searching its /app/share/appdata/com.github.wwmm.pulseeffects.appdata.xml ... but there is no "category" example here to be found.

What it's telling you is that you forgot to categorize your app. This
can happen in two ways, either via a "categories" element in your
MetaInfo file[1] *or* via a Categories field in your desktop-entry
file. See the table at
https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-latest.html#recognized-keys
Categorization is required so we know where to show your app, it is
also needed in the desktop-entry file so it doesn't appear as
"unsorted" in the menu structure of DEs that use them.

So tl;dr: Add a Categories= field to your desktop-entry file and you
should be fine! :-)

Best,
    Matthias

[1]: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/chap-Metadata.html#tag-categories

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