Re: An object Oriented File Manager Design



> Have you read:
> http://mail.gnome.org/archives/nautilus-list/2002-September/msg00093.html
> 
> From the nautilus perspective we have basically settled on the navigation 
> model.

Just read it. And damn, I much prefer the idea of mixing oo and
navigation. That seems to be the way nautilus is atm. A lot of things
are already done on a per folder basis.

I don't know where this fits in with oo v's navigation but what really
annoys me about nautilus is it's menus. Everything else about it is
configurable. In my local version of nautilus[1] i run without the
location bar or sidebar or status bar and I've patched it to remove the
back and forward buttons(something i should be able to do more easily if
we eventually get menu editing).

The nautilus menu's just confuse me. It's not to do with navigation,
it's to do with the way they deal with the folder and file objects. I
recently helped the seahorse guys restructure some of their menus
because they had just started with a standard "FIle, Edit, View, ..."
configuration and had tried to fit everything into those menus.
Apps like rhythmbox, file roller, seahorse CVS HEAD, xchat etc... have
broken from the compulsion to have a File menu.

To me nautilus seems a bit like it's just sticking with the usual menus.
I could be wrong though. Maybe nautilus just focuses on the files in the
view more than I would like. I think that the file/folder currently
being viewed should be given presidence. It should be possible to view
properties or use "Open With->" for the currently viewed object without
pressing up and right clicking on it. This might not be a stong argument
if nautilus was only a file manager, but there are no sub-objects when
you are using a text viewer. Even in the folder view it makes sense to
be able to act on the current folder without having to go up a level.

DaveB sent me a great glade file a while back that shows how nautilus
could have a folder menu instead of a File menu and then use the Edit
menu to perform operations on files contained within.

To me it's invaluable to be able to open a text file in the text view
and then be able to "File -> Open With -> Text Editor". And also for a
folder: "Folder -> Open With -> Terminal"


[1] http://evolvedoo.sf.net/Screenshot-Nautilus.png

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