thanks @amarok. I added the Type=Application and capitalization. But, it still wasn’t working.
For the -x vs. --, I read in the bash man page that -x is being deprecated. I tested the – with a basic command, and it did work. The .desktop seems to work if it is just returning standard output. But, when I need to actually execute a command it doesn’t seem to work?! I’ll keep testing.
Thanks for the links to the apps you created also! Your approach is the same as mine 