Re: [gtk-list] Re: drag and drop protocol: compatible with gtk?

[Owen Taylor <owt1 cornell edu>]

Elliot Lee <sopwith@cuc.edu> writes:

> On 3 Jan 1998, Owen Taylor wrote:
> 
> > What is implemented in GTK is a earlier version of this protocol.
> > It won't interoperate right now, but presumably the protocol in GTK
> > will be updated to conform.
> 
> Not likely, I hope.

Great! Just what we need, another incompatible DND protocol. 
While I don't think JX compatibility is very important, compatability
with Qt's solution is crucial. (From Arnt Gulbrandsen's response, it
sounds a bit like they might by going with the JX solution)

> > Looking at the web page, it is a definite improvement over what is in
> > GTK now
> 
> How so? I.e. what's wrong with what is currently in Gtk, what improvements
> do you see the JX protocol making, what changes do you think both
> protocols need?

I'll prepare a detailed critique of both protocols. Though it would
be a lot easier if there was an actual description of the GTK
protocol. The code leaves a number of unanswered questions, e.g:

 When are XdeEnter events sent to the target app? (The code sends
 them on every motion event, that doesn't leave the drop zone, but I suspect
 that is a bug)

 What is the function of the 'sendreply' flag for XdeEnter and XdeRequest?

 etc.

> > though I'm still not completely satisfied with it. It does a pretty good
> > job at being a nice simple, lightweight protocol.
> 
> The Gtk protocol does things the way I think they should be done. The JX
> protocol has some nice things, but it also has some real shortcomings as I
> see it, and I don't think it is wise to support it.
 
Perhaps not. But I can't see the point in using a GTK-specific protocol.

> > Personally, I'd like to use this opportunity to reorganize DND in GTK so
> > that we can later add Motif DND interoperability without changing the
> > the API.
> 
> I'm pretty certain that we can put Motif in without changing the API as it
> is, but yes, putting the DND stuff into a separate file (and perhaps
> changing gdk_event_translate) might be nice.

A subset of Motif DND could possibly be shoe-horned into the current
API. (The fact that Motif uses selections presents a problem problems
both for data transfers during the drag and after the drop.)
But, I think things could be improved by presenting a more generic
interface to the program.

Regards,
                                        Owen