Double Click Shell Script in Ubuntu 16.04 Nautilus only gives the user option to edit the shell script file

Question

When I follow the steps in 

[https://askubuntu.com/questions/138908/how-to-execute-a-script-just-by-double-clicking-like-exe-files-in-windows]

I used to get a dialog box asking whether I wanted to execute the shell script or edit it using gedit. I just reinstalled Ubuntu Linux 16.04 with a LiveCD and ran sudo apt-get install mono-complete. Now , when I double click the shell script in Ubuntu 16.04 Nautilus I only can edit the shell script file.

The contents of this shell script are:

#!/bin/bash
exec /usr/bin/mono-service.exe ./AudioRecorder.exe  "$@".

as specified in 

  [http://www.mono-project.com/archived/guiderunning_mono_applications/]

Why is this problem occuring and how do we fix it so double click the shell script in Nautilus asks me if want to execute the shell script file?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

First of all, /usr/bin/mono-service.exe does not exist.

Next, according to your posted link. Your script should read something like this:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono /usr/lib/mono/4.5/mono-service.exe ./AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono-service ./AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/bash
mono ./AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono ./AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

---

However, these will only work if the exe file is in your home folder and ideally should include the actual path to the exe file such as the following if the exe file is in your home folder:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono /usr/lib/mono/4.5/mono-service.exe ~/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono-service ~/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/bash
mono ~/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono ~/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

---

Alternatively, if the file is in your Downloads folder:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono /usr/lib/mono/4.5/mono-service.exe ~/Downloads/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono-service ~/Downloads/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/bash
mono ~/Downloads/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

or

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/mono ~/Downloads/AudioRecorder.exe  "$@"

Answer 2

Here is the URL I found which answers the question.

Double click Linux Bash Script and debug with pause commands

@terdon's answer is really nice:

Your script needs a terminal for you to interact with it. One way of doing that is what @Sebastian suggested. However, note that bash scripts are not really designed to be run this way. A cleaner way would be to write a .desktop file that launches your script and then double click that. Something like:

[Desktop Entry]
Exec=/home/user/yourscript.sh
Terminal=true
Type=Application

Save that file as foo.desktop in your ~/Desktop folder. That will now appear as an icon there and double clicking it will cause your script to be run in a terminal. Obviously, you need to change /home/user/yourscript.sh to the actual path of your script.

One question remains open: With @terdon's emulator, how can I redirect stdin, stdout and stderr to /dev/null?

[EDIT June 2 2016 4:30 A.M. The way to redirect stdout and stderr is to exec mono-service ./AudioRecorder.exe & , ine the background]