Re: Usability of the GTK+ 2 file open dialog

[Toby <tobia conforto linux it>]

I'd like to join the ranks of those who are frustrated by GTK2's file
dialog.  Here are a few (somewhat arbitrary) suggestions to improve it
without rewriting it from scratch.

Typing a few letters now starts a quick-search for filenames.  First
suggestion: pressing Tab should 'filter' the files displayed as to
include only those who begin with the string (case-insensitive) possibly
preceded by some symbols.  A 'filtered' icon should appear somewhere.
Pressing Tab in a filtered dialog (without a quick-search going on)
should unfilter it.

Now for one of the most annoying things ever: how in the world am I
supposed to select hidden files on GTK2's file dialog!?  Sometimes I get
so frustrated that I have to RENAME the file in a shell, edit it and
then rename it again!  How could its designers forget something like
this?  Or if they didn't, it must be the most counter-intuitive
keystroke ever.

Here's what I'd do: hitting '.' should *immediately* show the hidden
files.  Hitting Tab after '.' should follow the behaviour listed above,
that is filtering the display to only show hidden files.

Another one: who came up with the retarded idea of "Browse for other
folders"?  Just show the damn thing already!  Why add 1 useless click
(on a small widget on top of that) to 90% of file dialog usage?

One minor thing: I noticed that Alt-Up goes to the parent directory.
I'd give Backspace the same behaviour, following popular OS usage.

This is only based on my user experience.  I'm sure more people will
come up with other issues about features I'm not using (~ expansion...)


Toby

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