Re: Gtk+ print support - request for feedback

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On Sat, 2006-03-04 at 12:27 -0500, Michael Sweet wrote:

> ppd_text_to_utf8() leaks memory for UTF-8 encoded text - you can
> set encoding to a constant string there, too!

I don't see the leak. It just returns a strdup of the passed in text
(which is supposed to be freed by callers).

> I think you'll find the hardcoded option list approach to be a dead-end.
> It works for basic/common options that you want on the main page, but
> the "advanced" properties need to use something that isn't compiled in,
> such as the UI group from the PPD file.

What I do is:
Some really common settings (like number of copies, collation, paper
source, etc) are in the main pages. Then I put the rest of the settings
into generated tabs. There are "Color", "Image Quality" and "Finishing"
tabs, where we put setttings that we whitelist on the option name or
group name (using well known names from existing ppds, and gtk-specific
group names: "ColorPage", "ImageQualityPage", "FinishingPage"). The rest
of the settings are put in an advanced tab that shows the settings
grouped and indented by Group.

We (will) also try to use our own translations for common Option names
and values.

This way we hope to get a slightly more consistent and easier to
navigate UI, while still allowing all sorts of PPD options.

> Don't limit the number of choices based on conflicts/constraints -
> otherwise you WILL end up dead-locking users so they have no way to
> access a particular option.

The approach to conflicts is: Remove all choices that conflict with the
default settings in the InstallableOptions group, since we don't show
these options (that is up to the system configuration tool). For
conflicts between normal settings we show a warning icon next to the
conflicting settings and a warning text about conflicts in the dialog.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
                   alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
He's a jaded soccer-playing gangster who hides his scarred face behind a mask. 
She's a mentally unstable hypochondriac safe cracker with an MBA from Harvard. 
They fight crime!