This workflow is for anyone running Parallels. I have to run many Windows programs for my day job, so I have a Parallels VM running most of the time on my MacBook. I created this workflow to make it easier to launch these Windows apps from Alfred.
When you press the "p" hotkey, alfred will display a list of programs taken from your Parallels VM's Start Menu:
More Details
If you're familiar with Parallels, you probably know that it creates a .app for each Windows program in: (home)/Applications (Parallels)
Alfred does a pretty good job of picking these apps up and letting you launch them. Unfortunately, the names of the .app files are often poorly chosen. For example, the VMware vSphere Client is named "VpxClient.app" It is also not possible to launch MMC based apps this way (they all are launched via "Microsoft Management Console.app").
Fortunately there's a solution. Parallels also stores a copy of your Windows Start Menu in:
(home)/Library/Parallels/Applications Menus
Every file in this folder is actually an XML file and is named exactly as the program is named in your Start Menu. If you rename a shortcut in your Windows Start Menu, a few minutes later, the XML file in this directory will be updated. These XML files are associated with the "Parallels Link" program that is part of the main Parallels Desktop package.
Initially I created the workflow using a simple "File Filter" input, but this didn't bring over the icons for the apps. So this workflow was created to scan the contents of (home)/Library/Parallels/Applications Menus and present the contents with icons as shown in the picture above.
Notes:
To remove the (home)/Applications (Parallels) apps from Alfred, you'll need to exclude that directory from Spotlight. Just open Spotlight preferences, change to the Privacy tab and drag that folder into the box.
You may wish to change the hotkey to "Argument Required." Since I'm in Windows so often, I wanted the p hotkey to instantly show Parallels apps. However, this prevents Mac apps like Path Finder, Photo Booth, Pixelmator, etc from showing up at the top of the list.
This only works for Parallels VMs that have the setting enabled: Options...Applications...Share Windows Applications with Mac.
The code isn't 100% perfect yet. It shows some hidden, non-app files that it finds in those directories, but as you use the workflow, Alfred will de-prioritize those.
Download: https://github.com/flakshack/ParallelsAppMenu/blob/master/Parallels%20App%20Menu.alfredworkflow?raw=true
Any comments, criticisms or suggestions welcome!