Re: Advanced gtk_file_selection widget

[Lars Clausen <lrclause cs uiuc edu>]

On 07 Dec 2000, Lokesh Setia wrote:

> 
> Hi,
> 
> I am a unix/linux developer and a user since 5 years. I have always
> wondered while why the file selection widget in GTK is so primitive.
> People trying to migrate from windows have often complained about this
> very thing.  There is no option to set a filter (like *.txt).  And
> there are no icons either, only plain text.  However, there is one
> good feature, which is tab completion, but many new users don't know
> or care about it.
> 
> There are advanced file selecition widgets available elsewhere on the
> net, but unless they are part of GTK core distribution, it will only
> lead to inconsistent interfaces.  I recently installed a beta gtk-1.4,
> and was sad to see the same file selection widget in that too.
> 
> I know it might have been asked before, but I was not able to find
> anything related to this.  Can anyone tell me the rationale behind
> making this widget the way it is?

I believe that would be the "It's good enough for now" rationale.  There
are two plug-in replacements for the file selectors, one that can be found
on Freshmeat->Appindex->Development->Widget Sets->advanced-gtkfilesel,
another is at <URL:http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/sigunix/projects/bugfixes>
(still under development).  Both add most of what you'd expect in a file
request, but in slightly different ways.

I really wish we could get one or the other into 1.4, as a bad file request
is a pain.

-Lars

-- 
Lars Clausen (http://shasta.cs.uiuc.edu/~lrclause) | Hårdgrim of Numenor
"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I    | Retainer of Sir Kegg
will defend to the death your right to say it."    |   of Westfield
    --Evelyn Beatrice Hall paraphrasing Voltaire   | Chaos Berserker of Khorne