GtkTreeView enhancement: ``deep tree'' hint? (fwd)

[Mariano Suarez-Alvarez <msuarezalvarez arnet com ar>]

Hi all,

I have a potential idea for a suggestion to the gtk guys, but I tought I'd
ask here first just in case it is actually unsound.

The first difference one (or the user) sees between the now-deprecated
GtkTree and the cool GtkTreeView is that the actual tree is gone:
child-parent relationship is now rendered as indentation (and expanders on
parents) instead of by actually drawing the edges in the tree. I like this
very much, but I think there are situations in which it *is* useful to have
the very explicit edges drawn.

A simple instance is when one has a large deeply nested tree (easily seen,
eg, in gnome-system-monitor), with more items than will fit in the
GtkTreeView: then it becomes rather difficult to see the depth an item is
at. Using a GtkTree, the edges drawn make the structure of the tree very (at
least more)  explicit, even if one is only seeing a part of it.

Right now we have a ``long rows'' hint, which tells the theme to try to do
something so that the eye can tell rows apart. The default theme does this
by setting the background alternatively white and light blue.

Would it make sense to talk the gtk guys into adding a ``deep tree'' (or
``emphasise structure'') hint, suggesting the theme to do something to
emphasize the structure of the tree? The default theme might, for example,
draw the edges as in a GtkTree.

I have no idea how to implement this, but they probably do, since they did
it in GtkTree :)

Cheers,

-- m

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Mariano Suarez Alvarez
Departamento de Matematica - Universidad Nacional de Rosario
Pellegrini 250 - Rosario 2000 - Argentina

    De la observacion de la irreductibilidad de las creencias ultimas
    he sacado la mayor leccion de mi vida. Aprendi a respetar las ideas
    ajenas, a detenerme ante el secreto de las conciencias, a entender
    antes de discutir, a discutir antes de condenar. Y como estoy en
    vena de confesiones, hago una mas, quizas superflua: detesto con
    toda mi alma a los fanaticos.

    Norberto Bobbio, Italia civil.

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