jramen

Thanks for the update! Or should I say, downgrade? ;)) Well, it's strange though, cuz I'm not aware I had used any heavily API dependent stuff. But nowadays APIs change without further notice and what worked in old, doesn't need to do so in new one. :-/

And... thanx for using the plasmoid even as it means having da oldie kwappy API. ;) - Jul 25 2013

Sadly, sometimes updates break stuff. :-S
This time I really don't know what's wrong. I currently updated my OpenSuse 12.2 and it's working fine, so probaly guys at OpenSuse did break something for 12.3.

My best bet is for you to wait for the next update, hoping it will fix things, and in the meantime try to run plasmoid from command line with:

# plasmoidviewer solar-system

and hopefully it will report where the crash occurs.
And also, I saw gettext package being updated and it's needed for solar-system plasmoid.
Please try to reinstall and/or downgrade using YAST Installer and Versions tab on selected gettext package. - Jul 24 2013

I can't reply to your post, so I'm replying to mine. :))


GREAT!! I'm very happy that it finally works! ^_^
All the best,
John - May 16 2012

And one more thing, I found this at other plasmoid: "Note: If you get missing script-engine errors when loading the widget you need to install the plasma python script-engine (in openSUSE this requires the "python-kdebase4" and "python-devel" packages"

So please check whether python-devel package is installed. :) - May 14 2012

I sent you a private message with some other possibilities.. :)

But we surely will find what's missing, because I'm using OpenSuse 12.1 myself and plasmoid works on my desktop. :) - May 14 2012

Other than that plasmoid relies on PyQt4, so probably package "python-qt4" is missing. :-S - May 14 2012

Sorry, probably in OpenSuse 12.1 these packages are called:

python-kde4
python-kdebase4 - May 14 2012

Hi there, thank you very much for your kind words. :)

In regard of your problem, I think you have some python packages missing. Please try to install "kdebindings-python" package, it might solve your problem. :) - May 14 2012

Great! ^^

You solved the problem while I was typing my answer. :) - Oct 22 2011

Hi there, it's not a problem of Python, installation of language translations relies on the "Gettext" system package ("msgfmt" script is part of that).

Please install the "Gettext" package and everything should go fine. :) - Oct 22 2011

Thank you very much, Giuseppe!
I added it to new version 0.4.1 :) - Jun 18 2011

Can't reply to your post, so I'm replying here.
Thank you very much and I've implemented everything I could (even removed the "Form" from translation :D) and the new version 0.4 will be soon out and it should solve most of the problems. :) - Jun 14 2011

Thank you, Alexander! :)

The truth is, only the plasmoid main icon that you can see while adding it to desktop is from NASA/JPL. Icons of the planets were created by me using pictures from different sources and they were all labeled as free to use. Well, probably most of them -are- originally from NASA, but it wasn't explicitly stated there at their source.

Therefore I was referring to only this one particular icon. Under these circumstances the correct translation would be: "Источник значка: NASA/JPL.", if I'm correct. :)
Probably, I should have been more specific in the English translation to begin with, eh? :-S - Jun 14 2011

Thank you very much for your translation, Alexander. :)

I added it and would like to have your opinion on these translations in "metadata.desktop" file, because my Russian is not what it used to be 20 years ago O:-) :

Name[en]=Solar system
Name[ru]=Солнечная система

Comment[en]=Displays position of planets in Solar system, Icon credit: NASA/JPL
Comment[ru]=Показывает положение планет в Солнечной системе. Источник иконки: NASA/JPL

Thanx! - Jun 13 2011

Okay, please try it the last time. The same download link as before...
I added code for translation installation and it creates and copies the needed .mo file to share/locale directory.

It even translates the "Sun" correctly but I had to revert back to i18n function instead of i18nc, because that left "Sun" untranslated. :-S

I hope it will work now, 'cuz I'm slowly running out of ideas here. :( - Jun 13 2011

Okay, please try it the last time. The same download link as before...
I added code for translation installation and it creates and copies the needed .mo file to share/locale directory.

It even translates the "Sun" correctly but I had to revert back to i18n function instead of i18nc, because that left "Sun" untranslated. :-S

I hope it will work now, 'cuz I'm slowly running out of ideas here. :( - Jun 13 2011

Yes... :-{ I'm working on it. As I see, installation of those files should be provided by the plasmoid itself and while "plasmoidviewer solar-system" did work with translations, putting it on desktop doesn't, so I need to make some code changes.

Sorry for the inconvenience.. - Jun 13 2011

1. The "dwarf planets" means small objects like asteroids, i.e. Ceres ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet) ), Juno, Vesta, etc. It would be possible to show/hide them with this checkbox, but they aren't implemented yet.

2. Yes, I did generate .mo files, but they weren't in the right directory. :(
And... I'd be happy to add your translation to next release, if you'll make it public, of course. :)

3. Yes. The correct translation in combination with your i18nc suggestion should solve this problem. Thank you! :)

4. Ok. No need to translate it, then. The .pot and .po files are generated by scripts and I currently don't know how to get rid of the "form". O:-) - Jun 13 2011

Thanks for the French translation, I added it, too. :)

Also, I did find some problems, one function (KGlobal.locale().insertCatalog) missing and also, compiled .mo files weren't in their respective LC_MESSAGES directories. :/ Well, these are new things for me and good howto is hard to find.. :P

Please, try again to download (from the same link) and update, now it should work. I installed Greek language into my KDE and it worked for me. :) - Jun 13 2011

Hi Dimitrios!

Thank you for your feedback and Greek translation. :)

Plasmoid uses the system i18n() function, so I can't really influence this behavior. :( I think it just considers "Sun" to be the abbreviation of Sunday and translates it to corresponding three-letter abbreviation in other language(s). :-/

On the other hand, I added your translation to the applet and you are very welcome to download and try this beta-version (0.3.1) from here:

http://ramen.xnetkn.sk/solar-system.plasmoid

You can update your currently installed version by issuing command:

plasmapkg -u solar-system.plasmoid

I really hope it will work fine. Please, let me know and if it does, I will make it an official release. :)

Thanks again for your help and time!

PS: If you have the French translation, I'd be very happy to include that, too. ;) - Jun 13 2011

Hi evergreenpsyche,

Thank you for your suggestions. :)

Sadly, realistic orbits won't come any time soon, because I have little time to spare right now and on top of that I'm just a beginner in PyKDE/PyQT (I'm more into php+mysql :P). :((

On the positive note, I've managed to make it resize-compatible, so you are highly encouraged to try out the new version. Hopefully, it won't be a deal-breaker anymore. :)

Once again, thank you for your feedback and all the best,

John - Mar 08 2011

:D True! I saw it for myself! :o)) - Apr 16 2010

Thanx very much for bug report.
Fixed. :) (hopefully :D) - Apr 16 2010

Super! Thank you very much, stribianese91. :)

As I see, it's high time for me to compile some new KDE. :)) - Apr 16 2010

Oh, no problem, you can bring all the coal you can carry! :-D (with the energetic crisis around, it would be quite welcome :) )

But now back to being serious. :)
I will add this option to enable Pluto (will be disabled by default), because you are right, of course.

"I have no idea, however, whether one can specify the orbit of Eris, Haumea, Varuna etc. at all."
No. There is currently no possibility to add other objects externally, because applet in its current stage isn't that much universal. Of course, with little retrofitting and knowing ephemerids of those dwarf planets (NASA is our friend here :)) ) it could be done, of course.

And.. thanx for your feedback!

P.S.: Please excuse my engrish, English isn't my primary language. O:-) - Apr 16 2010

Yes, I know, I'm an astronomer myself. ;)
It's there for the old time's sake. It -was- a planet back then and someone might miss it. :oP

I can make a new version, in which the user can disable it, if he is an astro-puritan. :))
Because I'm an "old-school" astronomer, I personally would miss it.. O:) - Apr 16 2010

:)

I'm very very happy that it finally worked! :)

And it was a pleasure to be of service. :)

But let me say this:
WOW! Sooo many fortune files! :))

My "fortune -f" lists only 7 that are included in basic package I presume, but you really have quite a collection! :)

I've read your blog article already and I find it very nicely written and informative (and amusing here and there)! :)) And of course I downloaded your myfortunes.txt file and added to my modest collection. ;)

Finally, thank you very much for all your kind words and interest in my lil' plasmoid. :) - Nov 01 2010

Oh, I read somewhere that fortune is being installed in /usr/games/ directory on some distros. On my OpenSuse 11.3 executable is /usr/bin/fortune, right in the PATH.

I would solve the problem you are encountering by creating a symbolic link to /usr/games/fortune in some directory which is in the PATH, for example in /usr/bin.

You can do this by executing "ln" command at root's prompt (only root can write into /usr/bin directory):

# ln -s /usr/games/fortune /usr/bin/fortune

Hopefully this will solve that problem. :) - Nov 01 2010

Well, this plasmoid is just a "frontend" for Fortune package, so it doesn't handle fortunes directly. :(

Therefore the easiest way to add your custom fortune is to add it to Fortune files.

It can be a lil' bit tricky for linux beginners, but it's quite easy. :)

You need to create a new file, for example "myfortunes", containing quotes separated by %, put it into fortune data directory (usually /usr/share/fortune/) and then run "strfile" command on it.

All this requires root access, because only root can write into that directory and running strfile also requires root privileges.

So. Short recipe follows:

1. gain root access
2. create file /usr/share/fortune/myfortunes
containing:

It takes an amateur to mess something up... but to REALLY screw something up requires an "expert".
%

3. run:
# strfile /usr/share/fortune/myfortunes

This will create myfortunes.dat file in the same directory.
4. hopefully Fortune will pick this particular quote someday, too, 'cuz as I saw, there are gazillions of them there.
5. to see whether Fortune accepted your file run:
# fortune -f

and that will list all the files Fortune will pick quotes from.
:)

Hopefully this helps. ;)

PS: You can also put all your desired fortunes into "myfortunes" file and then specify fortune command in plasmoid as:
fortune myfortunes
and then only quotes from this particular file will be picked. :) - Oct 31 2010

Glad to hear that!
Thank you very much for your feedback. :) - Jul 30 2010

Please, try the new version 0.3.

I had a very hard time to figure it out, because it's not very well documented (couldn't find any examples how to solve this), 'cuz I thought the problem was with python, but no, it was of Qt and its string interpretation/displaying.

So please test it, whether it works for you. :) - Jul 30 2010

I'm quite new to Python, I know "him" only for 5 days or so (not about his existence, just coding in it, mind you). :) I wouldn't dare to juggle with uninitialized pointers in C++ or Delphi, but I'm just learning this new language, so... I -really- appreciate any help. Some things I had to figure out by trial-and-error method, cuz I learn best from examples and there aren't many out there...
Definition of functions is pretty important, too, but it's just a half of the story. How to use them is sometimes quite a different one. :-S

Either way, many thanks for you comment and trying to help, I really appreciate that. :) - Apr 13 2010

Yes, no problem. :)

I will play with it a little, make some neat configuration box for it or something and let you know. ;) - Apr 11 2010

If you are still interested in this very nice wallpaper, you can find it here:

http://nature.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/247588/

:) - Apr 10 2010

GREAT! It worked like a charm! :))
Thank you sooo much for your help. :)

Really superb icon set! :o] - Jul 28 2008

Well, my country (Slovakia) has been banned on Speedyshare. :/ Any other more... reliable mirror? Thanx. :) - Jul 28 2008

Sorry, I tried out 5 web browsers in my OpenSuse 11 - Firefox, Epiphany, Konqueror, Opera, lynx, even fired up Windows and IE, but with no luck so far.. :(
Anyway, thanx for trying to help. :)
Maybe some DNS issue... :/ - Jul 27 2008

Looks very nice, but www.funny-games.biz instead of download.. - Jul 27 2008