Setting a shortcut's cwd

Question

I have a program that works correctly if:

1. I run it from the command line in its own directory.
2. I run it from the command line from wherever, using cd /path/to/prog && ./prog.
3. I double-click it in Caja.
4. I right-click it in Caja, pick Make Link, and double-click the link.

It doesn't work if:

1. I run it from the command line from a different directory with the correct relative path. (Many program-specific errors are given about how it can't find files that are in its own subdirectories.)
2. I move the link mentioned above to the desktop, and double-click it there. (A window frame pops up and immediately disappears, without even being filled in.)
3. I make a Launcher on the desktop and point it to the program. (Ibid.)
4. I make a Launcher on the desktop and point it to cd /path/to/prog && ./prog. (Ibid.)

AFAICT all the non-working methods are due to the cwd being incorrect.

So, how do I simply make a working shortcut to this program on the desktop?

Or, how can I set a shortcut's cwd properly, without additional workarounds like making a one-liner bash launcher script and making a shortcut to that?

Linux Mint 18.1 MATE 64-bit.

Update: The launcher interface doesn't seem to have a Path option:

Answer 1

You can create it with the launcher UI shown, and then edit the resulting ~/Desktop/*.desktop file yourself to add a Path=... line. What doesn't work is if you put Exec=prog_name rather than duplicating the whole path. So it has to look like:

...
Exec=/path/to/prog
Path=/path/to/
...