[gnome-panel] Menu changes not persistant in 2.8.x

[Jonathan Brandmeyer <jbrandmeyer earthlink net>]

I'm running Gnome 2.8 (Debian Sid) on my home workstation and need some
help patching a problem.  I've found that when I change a menu entry
(via the Launcher Properties dialog), the change does not persist across
a logout/login cycle.  A new .desktop file is saved under
~/.gnome2/vfolders/applications/, and I can verify that the file
contains the correct change.

I would like to write a patch for this issue, but the menu handling code
documentation is rather spartan.  Would someone familiar with this code
please point me in the direction of the .desktop file loading code that
is run at startup?

Thanks,
-Jonathan