(makeDesktopItem {
      name = "hello";
      desktopName = "Hello";
      exec = "hello";
    })
  ];
}
```

:::

### `writeTextFile` {#trivial-builder-writeTextFile}

Write a text file to the Nix store.

`writeTextFile` takes an attribute set with the following possible attributes:

`name` (String)

: Corresponds to the name used in the Nix store path identifier.

`text` (String)

: The contents of the file.

`executable` (Bool, _optional_)

: Make this file have the executable bit set.

  Default: `false`

`destination` (String, _optional_)

: A subpath under the derivation's output path into which to put the file.
  Subdirectories are created automatically when the derivation is realised.

  By default, the store path itself will be a file containing the text contents.

  Default: `""`

`checkPhase` (String, _optional_)

: Commands to run after generating the file.

  Default: `""`

`meta` (Attribute set, _optional_)

: Additional metadata for the derivation.

  Default: `{}`

`allowSubstitutes` (Bool, _optional_)

: Whether to allow substituting from a binary cache.
  Passed through to [`allowSubstitutes`](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/language/advanced-attributes#adv-attr-allowSubstitutes) of the underlying call to `builtins.derivation`.

  It defaults to `false`, as running the derivation's simple `builder` executable locally is assumed to be faster than network operations.
  Set it to true if the `checkPhase` step is expensive.

  Default: `false`

`preferLocalBuild` (Bool, _optional_)

: Whether to prefer building locally, even if faster [remote build machines](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/conf-file#conf-substituters) are available.

  Passed through to [`preferLocalBuild`](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/language/advanced-attributes#adv-attr-preferLocalBuild) of the underlying call to `builtins.derivation`.

  It defaults to `true` for the same reason `allowSubstitutes` defaults to `false`.

  Default: `true`

`derivationArgs` (Attribute set, _optional_)

: Extra arguments to pass to the underlying call to `stdenv.mkDerivation`.

  Default: `{}`

The resulting store path will include some variation of the name, and it will be a file unless `destination` is used, in which case it will be a directory.

::: {.example #ex-writeTextFile}
# Usage 1 of `writeTextFile`

Write `my-file` to `/nix/store/<store path>/some/subpath/my-cool-script`, making it executable.
Also run a check on the resulting file in a `checkPhase`, and supply values for the less-used options.

```nix
writeTextFile {
  name = "my-cool-script";
  text = ''
    #!/bin/sh
    echo "This is my cool script!"
  '';
  executable = true;
  destination = "/some/subpath/my-cool-script";
  checkPhase = ''
    ${pkgs.shellcheck}/bin/shellcheck $out/some/subpath/my-cool-script
  '';
  meta = {
    license = pkgs.lib.licenses.cc0;
  };
  allowSubstitutes = true;
  preferLocalBuild = false;
}
```
:::

::: {.example #ex2-writeTextFile}
# Usage 2 of `writeTextFile`

Write the string `Contents of File` to `/nix/store/<store path>`.
See also the [](#trivial-builder-writeText) helper function.

```nix
writeTextFile {
  name = "my-file";
  text = ''
    Contents of File
  '';
}
```
:::

::: {.example #ex3-writeTextFile}
# Usage 3 of `writeTextFile`

Write an executable script `my-script` to `/nix/store/<store path>/bin/my-script`.
See also the [](#trivial-builder-writeScriptBin) helper function.

```nix
writeTextFile {
  name = "my-script";
  text = ''
    echo "hi"
  '';
  executable = true;
  destination = "/bin/my-script";
}
```
:::

### `writeText` {#trivial-builder-writeText}

Write a text file to the Nix store

`writeText` takes the following arguments:
a string.

`name` (String)

: The name used in the Nix store path.

`text` (String)

: The contents of the file.

The store path will include the name, and it will be a file.

::: {.example #ex-writeText}
# Usage of `writeText`

Write the string `Contents of File` to `/nix/store/<store path>`: