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I'm trying to write a script that will create an entry in the messaging menu that shows your to-do list. This way, each item would be a shortcut, and clicking on an item would mark it as done.

I know how to add an entry to the menu, and I know how to add shortcuts below it. My problem right now is having them update in real time. As it is, if edit /usr/share/applications/foo.desktop to include more shortcuts, my messaging menu entry for foo only updates after I log out and back in again.

How can I change that? Is there a command I can run to update the messaging menu? Is there some other workaround?

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up vote 2 down vote accepted

A possible workaround is to kill the messaging service backend. It gets respawned automatically.

kill $(pidof indicator-messages-service)

However, I don't use it myself, so I haven't verified if it actually reads the .desktop files again.

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Hm, that might work. I was trying to kill the gnome-panel but it wasn't working, not to mention it was annoying. I'll try it as soon as I can. –  Bruce Connor Apr 7 '11 at 1:16
It works! Thanks –  Bruce Connor Apr 7 '11 at 16:05
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