Re: BonoboPreview initiative - png in a control

[Rodrigo Moya <rodrigo gnome-db org>]

On Mon, 2001-12-10 at 14:19, Jens Finke wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> On Mon, 10 Dec 2001, Michael Meeks wrote:
> >         Storing a PNG seems like the most excellent idea for the default -
> > clearly if the interface is expressed in terms of a control - then if more
> > is needed then more than a simple PNG view can be activated; similarly
> > with a control we can attach some properties that will help with
> > accessibility.
> >
> > 	Similarly, if we store a PNG in the file - we have the advantage
> > that we can use this inside Nautilus somewhat quickly and efficiently.
> 
> There has been some discussion about a general thumbnail storing mechanism
> on freedesktop.org. This way, we can reuse the ones generated from other
> programs even from other desktop environments.
> 
> The latest announcement of the thumbnail management standard draft (TMS)
> is here:
> https://listman.redhat.com/pipermail/xdg-list/2001-August/000161.html
> 
> Please note: It's a little bit outdated now, since I am reworking it
> currently with some major changes.
> 
> However, IMO this is the first step you have to do if you want to provide
> a thumbnail mechanism. How the thumbs are obtained, through a
> Bonobo-Control or a C-library, is more or less an implementation detail.
> 
hmm, sorry to disagree, but is it really right to use a thumbnail for
previewing all kind of files? I mean, there are a lot of files whose
preview would be a lot difficult to generate as a thumbnail.

What would a program be supposed to do to generate that? Get a
screenshot of itself and save it to a file? How would I generate a
thumbnail of a, for instance, gnumeric spreadsheet?

cheers
-- 
Rodrigo Moya <rodrigo gnome-db org> - <rodrigo ximian com>
http://www.gnome-db.org/ - http://www.ximian.com/