Re: libgnome: User level

[Colm Smyth <Colm Smyth Sun COM>]

>IMO you can also solve this with stackable databases, as used in 
bonobo-config.

Not really.  Stackable databases (as used also in GConf ;) are not the
solution to the problem below; each database in the stack has an
identical namespace.

The configuration context I described below provides a list of
base addresses that define a logically stacked namespace
that may be resolved within a single database or across multiple
(stacked or composed) databases.

Colm.

>From: Dietmar Maurer <dietmar ximian com>
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>To: Colm Smyth <Colm Smyth Sun COM>
>CC: hp redhat com, michael ximian com, bratsche gnome org, 
gnome-2-0-list gnome org
>Subject: Re: libgnome: User level
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>IMO you can also solve this with stackable databases, as used in 
bonobo-config.
>
>- Dietmar
>
>Colm Smyth wrote:
>
>> In one useful incarnation, this could become a "configuration context" 
that
>> identifies a series of GConf directories that allow an efficient 
search/retrieval
>> of multiple related settings (like a structure), with the possibility
>> for data "inheritance".
>>
>> Here is a somewhat contrived, simplified and definitely fictional API 
example:
>>
>> /* a "search-path" for one or more related settings */
>> gchar *config_context[]={
>>         "/user",
>>         "/client-protocols",
>>         "/client-protocols/imap",
>>         "/client-protocols/imap/server/my_great_mail_server"
>> };
>>
>> /* two settings that occur together, a "pseudo-structure" */
>> gchar *settings[]={
>>         "name",
>>         "host"
>> };
>>
>> GSList *mail_settings = gconf_context_get(db, config_context, 
settings);
>>
>> The result is a GSList(GConfValue) and the config_context should 
probably also
>> be a GSList but you get the idea.  GConf would internally look for the 
value for
>> the user's IMAP mail login name at /user/name, /client-protocols/name,
>> /client-protocols/imap/name and lastly
>> /client-protocols/imap/server/my_great_mail_server/name (and does
>> the same for the host setting) in a single API call.
>>
>> What do you think ;)
>>
>> Colm.
>>
>> >Delivered-To: gnome-2-0-list gnome org
>> >X-Authentication-Warning: icon.labs.redhat.com: hp set sender to 
hp redhat com using -f
>> >To: Colm Smyth <Colm Smyth Sun COM>
>> >Cc: michael ximian com, bratsche gnome org, gnome-2-0-list gnome org
>> >Subject: Re: libgnome: User level
>> >From: Havoc Pennington <hp redhat com>
>> >MIME-Version: 1.0
>> >
>> >
>> >Colm Smyth <Colm Smyth Sun COM> writes:
>> >> To be honest though, it's far more important to think about 
designing
>> >> a good user interface than trying to carve up it's features into
>> >> easy, hard and impossible to understand. If everything is easy and
>> >> natural, there doesn't need to be such artificial distinctions.
>> >>
>> >> When a feature gets forced into a user interface by jamming a menu
>> >> option onto a menu or a tab onto an already over-loaded dialog,
>> >> you can't fix it by just hiding it sometimes; it's always going
>> >> to be hard to understand and use.
>> >>
>> >> As I have absolutely no idea how to design a UI for use by anyone 
except
>> >> myself, I'm all too happy to ask for help from someone who can, 
like Calum.
>> >>
>> >
>> >My view is that the advanced user level is basically a dumping ground
>> >for crack-rock settings to avoid flamewars. ;-)
>> >
>> >If we had some way to simply pick the good ideas and delete
>> >e.g. nearly all the Sawfish or panel options that would be ideal.
>> >But I think there would be a lot of complaints if we removed those
>> >options.
>> >
>> >Michael makes a good point that user level should be global for "the
>> >desktop" (users don't consider panel/WM/FM separate apps) but
>> >maybe specific to larger apps like Gnumeric.
>> >
>> >Havoc
>> >
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