[KiaraGrouwstra]

This PR adds io.github.datalab_platform.datalab.metainfo.xml, an AppStream metainfo file that describes DataLab as a desktop application. Software catalogs and package repositories can read this file to show the name, description, links and screenshots of DataLab. For example, NGI Forge, which packages DataLab with Nix, can then get the screenshots from this file and does not need its own list of screenshot URLs.

Notes:

• The ID follows the io.github.<user>.<repository> convention for projects on GitHub, and the launchable is DataLab.desktop, the desktop entry in this repository. If you prefer a different ID, I can change it.
• MANIFEST.in now includes *.metainfo.xml, so the file is also in the source distribution, next to DataLab.desktop. Distributions can install it to share/metainfo.
• The screenshots refer to the images in doc/images/ on the main branch.
• The file does not contain a <releases> list, so it does not need an update for each release.
• appstreamcli validate --pedantic passes. It only gives the releases-info-missing hint.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5-5

[PierreRaybaut]

Hi @KiaraGrouwstra, thanks a lot for this contribution! Since maintainers are allowed to edit the branch, we pushed two commits on top of yours. Here is what changed and why:

1. AppStream ID now uses the project domain (e5bbe10)

• The component ID is now com.datalab_platform.DataLab, and the developer ID is com.datalab_platform. The project owns datalab-platform.com, so we preferred this to the io.github.* form. We wanted to settle the ID before the first release, because it should not change afterwards.
• AppStream recommends, and Flathub requires, that the desktop entry and icon be named after the ID. So the files are now:
  • com.datalab_platform.DataLab.metainfo.xml
  • com.datalab_platform.DataLab.desktop (renamed from DataLab.desktop)
  • com.datalab_platform.DataLab.svg (new: a copy of resources/DataLab.svg, listed in MANIFEST.in so it is shipped in the sdist)

2. Desktop entry fixes (these issues existed before your PR)

• Name=DataLab (was datalab). GenericName and Comment are clearer, and we added Keywords.
• Icon=com.datalab_platform.DataLab: a themed icon name, without the .svg extension.
• Categories: we added DataVisualization and removed Education. desktop-file-validate reported that Education and Science are both main categories, so DataLab would appear twice in application menus. The metainfo <categories> were updated to match.

3. Metainfo content

• The description now lists the supported file formats (text/CSV, NumPy, MAT-Files, TIFF, PNG, DICOM, HDF5…). The previous wording only mentioned HDF5.
• The help URL now points to the documentation (https://datalab-platform.com/en/) instead of the homepage.
• We added <recommends>: keyboard and pointing controls, and a display height of at least 768 px.

4. Screenshots (3d9f908)

• We kept the raw.githubusercontent.com/.../main/... URLs. main is our stable branch, and these paths are more stable than the /_images/ folder of the Sphinx-built website, which is regenerated on every deployment.
• DataLab-Screenshot-Signal.png and DataLab-Screenshot-Image.png date from 2024 and show an outdated user interface. We replaced them with doc/images/shots/s_beautiful.en.png and doc/images/shots/i_beautiful.en.png, which the documentation uses and which are regenerated with the other doc screenshots. Blob detection remains the default screenshot.

Validation

• desktop-file-validate passes.
• appstreamcli validate --pedantic was only available to us in version 0.15.2. Apart from messages caused by that old version (developer, vcs-browser and contribute are not recognized yet), only two pedantic hints remain: cid-contains-uppercase-letter (the uppercase DataLab in the ID is intentional) and releases-info-missing. Could you confirm that it still passes with your AppStream 1.x?

Impact on your packaging

Since the files were renamed, the NGI Forge recipe may need an update if it refers to DataLab.desktop or to the former ID io.github.datalab_platform.datalab. It should also install the new icon (for example to share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/).

Does all of this work for you? If so, we'll merge the PR. Happy to adjust anything if it causes trouble on your side.

[KiaraGrouwstra]

that looks great - thanks!