How to add an executable icon in the desktop sidebar?

[Josh]

How in the world do you add a icon your application displays in the Gnome side bar in Ubuntu and other distros? I tried creating a file called UltraEngine.desktop with the contents below, but it had no effect:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=UltraEngine
Comment=
Exec=./UltraEngine
Path=.
Terminal=true
Icon=./icon.png

[reepblue]

Are you putting it in the right directory?

Quote

Place this file in the /usr/share/applications directory so that it is accessible by everyone, or in ~/.local/share/applications if you only wish to make it accessible to a single user. Which is used should depend on whether your application is installed systemwide or into a user's home directory. GNOME monitors these directories for changes, so simply copying the file to the right location is enough to register it with the desktop. 1

Desktop files: putting your application in the desktop menus (gnome.org)

[Josh]

Okay, there is already a file there called "Ultra App Kit.desktop" that Steam must have created:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Ultra App Kit
Comment=Play this game on Steam
Exec=steam steam://rungameid/1512210
Icon=steam_icon_1512210
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Game;

But there is no icon and the tooltip says "Unknown" when I hover over the icon in the sidebar.

[Josh]

Following the instructions here, I changed the icon value and moved the image into ~/.local/share/icons, but it still doesn't appear:
 

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Ultra App Kit
Comment=Play this game on Steam
Exec=steam steam://rungameid/1512210
Icon=UltraEngine
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Game;

 

[Josh]

I also discovered Steam has already placed a bunch of icon files in there, but they are not being loaded!

Oh well, I give up on this junk...

[reepblue]

Put it on the backburner for now. I'm sure this will be fixed eventually.