This has been so painful, I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, but I’m trying to get Perspective Workstation working on Ubuntu 20.04.2.
First, the only thing mentioned with regard to Linux in the User Manual is a tiny blurb on applications in general (Designer Launcher, Vision Client Launcher, and Perspective Workstation) which tell you to simply extract the contents of the ‘tar.gz’ file and then “click on the ‘designerlauncher.desktop’ file.” This only results in the .desktop file being opened in the text editor.
I did a bit of research and it appears that .desktop files are now only supported either on the Desktop, or in the /usr/share/applications/ folder (at least with the GNOME Desktop). So, a person has to copy the .desktop file to that folder, but then edit it using
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/perspectiveworkstation.desktop
and change the Exec key to
Exec=/home/<username>/<parentfolders>/perspectiveworkstation/app/perspectiveworkstation.sh
Now this will only let you launch Perspective Workstation from the Applications menu. When you configure Workstation to launch your default project, and windowed/kiosk mode, then save a shortcut, you still have to edit that .desktop file to work, and change
/home/<username>/./ParentFolder/perspectiveworkstation/app/perspectiveworkstation.sh
to
/home/<username>/ParentFolder/perspectiveworkstation/app/perspectiveworkstation.sh
removing the relative path reference “/./”.
My question is: will IA be revising either their instructions in the User Manual or their shortcut creation?
Gnome drives me crazy. Which is why I use Kubuntu instead of Ubuntu, and have had no problems with launchers. FWIW.
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IIRC Gnome tried to nix desktop icons a few years ago and never brought them back. So it’s been difficult since to get them in and working (but possible). Can you add it to the icon bar on the left (default position, name may not be correct)?
Thanks for the suggestion, Phil. I will definitely take a look at Kubuntu!
@Tim.Johnson, it is correct that true-to-form .desktop definitions only (instead of actual applications themselves) are what should probably end up in places like /usr/share/applications/, /usr/local/share/applications/, and ~/.local/share/applications/.
That said, if you do place the extracted perspectiveworkstation folder and its contents in /usr/local/share/applications (I had to make the applications/ folder there first, fwiw) or if you’re wanting to just install for your user, in ~/.local/share/applications/, it will “just work” and show up in the applications list within Ubuntu’s desktop.
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I am not able to get this to work, I have tried opening it from desktop and from usr/share/application but nothing happens. I have tried bin/bash but almost no information pops up.
I have tried opening it in XFCE, GNOME and KDE plasma.
I have downloaded the file (linux version) used tar xzf to unzip it. Then double clicked the .desktop file, then nothing. I have tried opening the shell script with terminal, then nothing. Is there a specific command to open the workstation correctly? There is no difference when the file is opened in folder on desktop, outside folder in applications or inside folder in applications. What am i missing here?
I see that something popsup but closes immediately, I was able to capture by filming it and going through the video frame by frame.
I am on a debian bullseye system on a radxa rock 4 c+ hardware. is this not suitable for opening the workstation?
You aren't going to get it to work, because there's no JavaFX/JxBrowser combination available for ARM Linux.
The combination does exist for x86-64, which is why Workstation is supported on it.
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Thank you so much for replying and sharing your knowledge!
So that means I will never be able to install it on my radxa due to hardware limitations?
Software limitations. JavaFX does exist for some ARM devices, like the latest Mac, so it is possible it will become available.
If you use a legacy launcher, you should be able to get a Vision client working. Vision does not require JavaFX in general. (But you won't be able to use its WebBrowser component, which also leverages JxBrowser.)
Chromium is available, so a Perspective client can run that way, with some missing features.
Thanks for your response, we will circle back to using a browser in kiosk mode for perspective
