Re: [PATCH] Allow to get properties of open folder

["John Keller" <jkeller matchbox fr>]

Daniel Brodie wrote:
> Calum Benson wrote:
> > <late afternoon meandering>
> > I wonder if in our spatial world, we really want the leftmost menu to be
> > "Folder" rather than "File", since the window represents a folder in the
> > same way it represents a File in a document-based app?  Most of the
> > items currently on it would make at least as much sense as they do now,
> > if not more... but we'd probably then need a File menu elsewhere on the
> > menubar, which might start getting a little odd...
> > </late afternoon meandering>
>
> How about having the File menu become a Folder menu, like you proposed,
> and have the Edit menu become a Selected menu which will have the things
> in File that wont belong there anymore? Most of the things in the Edit
> menu are only relevant for selected files, so it wouldn't need to change
> much anyhow. The only problem I can see is that the Edit menu is too
> large as it is, so it would need to be cleaned up a bit.

Ooh, ouch. I think the proposals to create separate menus get pretty
divergent from the goals.

A point that I tried to make in my previous post is that the window and the
folder are, in fact, the same object. What menu separation introduces is a
visible separation of operations, such that you've created a modality.

What's more, the burden is on the user to understand the mode *before* even
opening a menu. Also, what happens when nothing is selected? Does the
object-edit menu then become disabled? Or are its contents disabled?

> This also solves the problem of having two properties menu items, since
> they are under completely separate menus they are easily
> distinguishable.
> Another thing that this will enable would be to open the folder in a new
> program (such as the terminal) without having to go to the parent
> folder, since you could have this functionality in the Folder menu
> (otherwise you get the same problem with the properties item, and in
> terms of confusing between the item for selected files and for the
> folder.)

I agree that properties should be allowed on the open folder without having
to (re)open its parent. This is a point that I made, but in support of a
unified properties item, in my previous post.

- John