Re: File actions (was: Device icon action)

[Stanislav Brabec <sbrabec suse cz>]

Joe Shaw wrote:

> We could perhaps overload the MIME system for this, but that makes me
> feel a little dirty.  How do other people feel about the problem?  Any
> other suggestions?

As I wrote elsewhere:

I am sending you a random ideas, what can be included to new
specification.


Define a way to define actions. Default actions (Open, Edit, Send)
should be part of standard action set, additional actions should be
definable via additional files. Actions can have subtype (e. g.
Send/Bluetooth, maybe even Send/Bluetooth/MobilePhone).

Application should associate actions with application/desktop/command

A special action is Convert. Application can associate a matrix of MIME
types and its possible conversion.

MimeType=class/type;class/anothertype;
MimeType/Edit=class/type
MimeTypeConvert(class/anothertype)=class/type 
MimeTypeConvertExec(*/*,class/anothertype)=myconvert %s -t %M %S
MimeTypeConvertExec=myconvert -f %m %s -t %M %S

File manager could take an advance of such database - while renaming
file suffix it can offer conversion to another format or it can create
menu items "Edit/Convert to" without much effort from application
author.


Other problems of current MIME type specification:


Translations.

"Internationalised descriptions of applications should not be repeated
(Gimp should not have to specify translations of "Edit in Gimp" for
every MIME type it supports)."

This is not so easy in some languages. In Czech (diacritics removed)
there is a problem of inflexion and proposal should take care of it.

Image editor = Editor obrazku
Open with image editor = Otevrit v editoru obrazku
Convert with image editor = Konvertovat editorem obrazku


Virtual MIME types.

Some programs (eog) inherits its MIME types from lower level libraries
and its plugins. It means, that eog has no real idea, which MIME types
it can open.

Proposal: Define virtual MIME type, which is expanded to actual state.

eog.desktop
MimeType=virtual/gdk-pixbuf-2.0

gdk-pixbuf-2.0 will define this MIME type and its expansion.


MIME types added by plugin.

Some programs (gimp) MIME type list can be extended by plugins (e. g.
rawphoto adds image/x-dcraw MIME type). But GIMP list is fixed.

How to fix it? I am not sure, but we should have a way, how plugin can
propagate its MIME type to main application without editing its desktop
file.



P. S.: Is there any way to join
http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Standards_2fmime_2dactions_2dspec
discussion?

-- 
Best Regards / S pozdravem,

Stanislav Brabec
software developer
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SuSE CR, s. r. o.                             e-mail: sbrabec suse cz
Drahobejlova 27                               tel: +420 296 542 382
190 00 Praha 9                                fax: +420 296 542 374
Czech Republic                                http://www.suse.cz/