Re: File and Font selection box ideas [long] (was Re: GNOME and the File selection dialog box)

[Martin Baulig <martin home-of-linux org>]

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On Fri, 4 Sep 1998, Miguel de Icaza wrote:

> To: martin@home-of-linux.org
> Subject: Re: File and Font selection box ideas [long] (was Re: GNOME and the File selection dialog box)
> From: Miguel de Icaza <miguel@nuclecu.unam.mx>
> 
> > The `GtkFileSelection' widget should be subclassed from GtkFrame and not
> > GtkContainer and not even GtkNotebook: you can include a GtkFrame in a
> > GtkContainer and you can include a GtkContainer in a GtkNotebook with less
> > then ten lines of code but not the other way around.
> 
> I do not understand the argument here.  Can you show us a detailed
> example of why we should use a GtkFrame as the base widget?

Well, yes - the GtkFrame doesn't work, it draws a frame around itself - perhaps a GtkBin
or a GtkContainer ?

My idea was that one should do be able to do this:

        nb = gtk_notebook_new ();

	vb = gtk_vbox_new (FALSE, 0);

        fileselection = gtk_fileselection_new ();
        gtk_box_pack_start_defaults (GTK_BOX (vb), fileselection);

	/* perhaps some more widgets here ... */

	gtk_notebook_append_page (GTK_NOTEBOOK (nb), vb,
                                  gtk_label_new (_("Select file"));

In this example, the File selection box should be included in the `vb' box
without a frame drawn around it and the user should be able to add more
widgets to this box (help texts, some buttons to delete/rename, ...).

If we use a GtkNotebook and then add some more widgets to the `vb' box 
this will look ugly.

> > For instance, when a new file/font is choosen, it should emit a signal to
> > itself and let the signal handler either accept or refuse the selected
> > file/font. One can then subclass `GtkFileSelection' to `GnomeFileSelection'
> > and use the signal handler to to specific things when a file/font is selected.
> 
> I do not like this approach.  An interface that shows me lots of fonts
> and the complains about not being able to use one is pretty bad.  I
> like more the idea of the filter which was suggested by the
> GtkFontSelector author: You pass a number of criteria about the fonts
> that can be shown and only those are shown.

Yes, this is better. I only looked closer at the Gnome Font selection box
which does not have this feature.

Martin

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