Re: New file type handling

[Gediminas Paulauskas <menesis chatsubo lt>]

On Thu, 2004-07-29 19:22-0400, Seth Nickell wrote:
> > The new system allows you to set the system-wide handler for a file type
> > from any file property box. Why on earth would setting a handler for
> > "file1.png" set the default PNG handler for the entire system? That
> > property box is the FILE's property box. Global config actions don't
> > belong there, even if they're clearly labeled as such. 
> 
> Its not an ontology. Its a common design mistake to obsess too much over
> categorization. Its much more important to orient interfaces toward the
> most common tasks than to have clean categorization (esp. for relatively
> infrequently used things like the file property box for which most
> people are unlikely to develop a strong conceptual model).

I strongly agree that file type handler does not belong to file
properties dialog. It is opened from different menu item (Open with...
vs. Properties), and has a different scope (selected file or files vs.
file type). I couldn't test how that properties page behaves when
several files of totally different types are selected, but can't imagine
a good solution except hiding the page.

Why is it a bad idea to leave "Open with" a separate dialog? The
contents of it could look the same as in file properties page. Make the
title of the dialog read "Handlers for files of type 'PNG image'" or put
that text in a label; but make it clear, that the changes would apply to
all files of same type, not the current file (or is the functionality to
assign a handler to individual file still there?).

I don't see a need for central file types capplet, if it was decided to
nuke it. But I think this was a bad idea to mix global setting with
file(s) properties.

And I do use file(s) properties dialog a lot, to see a total size of
several selected folders, and to manipulate emblems. I would be
certainly dissapointed, if another page slowed that dialog down, while I
never needed it (you change the handlers mostly once, after
(un)installing some program...).

menesis