Re: Suggestion: The option to open a folder in a New Tab instead of a New Window.

[Mark Thiele <markthiele gmail com>]

> There is nothing wrong in not being everything to everyone. 

True, but you don't have to be a power user to want to have access 
multiple files in multiple directories all at once.


> There is a cost that all users have to bear when you add complex
> features to the UI, so for each feature its a tradeoff you have to make
> between how it affects the majority of users and how much it gains the
> people who use the feature. 
>   
I would suggest that most users would not be calling for tabs, as they 
have not had the opportunity to use them before in a file browser. There 
is nothing to stop it being a preference option. I would also suggest 
that it may become quite popular if it were offered in an obvious way. A 
quick search of the web will discover many calls for tabs in nautilus.

> Of course, nobody has done the work of actually implementing tabs and
> designing the user interaction model. So perhaps its possible to do it
> such that it doesn't affect the non-tab-user much and doesn't cause too
> much strain on the rest of the codebase. If that is the case, and the
> patch is clean it might be accepted. But I am not gonna spend time on it
> personally.
>   
I'd have a look at it, within the time I have available, but do not know 
where to start. Any pointers?

> For nautils it would be different, as much of the widgetry around the
> view is context-dependant on what is in the view, so there is a much
> more complicated interaction model. For instance, the menus, toolbars,
> uri bars etc would change as you switch views. Not impossible to code,
> but it surely makes the UI model more complex. Not to mention how it
> totally breaks the spatial model (although one could support tabs just
> in browse mode).
>   
I never knew there was anything other than browse mode until yesterday! 
Isn't it default?


> I don't know why gedit uses tabs, but I'd say that its more likely that
> you have massive amount of text files open than massive amount of
> directories, as gedit is often used as a programming editor. So, the
> gain there is likely much larger. 

If you do have  a large number of text based files open however, won't 
you want a file browser with the ability to stand alongside? I've put 
pcmanfm launchers on my desktop for this purpose, but still feel that I 
shouldn't have to go to the bother.
> Still, tabs in gedit bug me because
> opening a new file not giving me a new window just seems weird and
> unexpected. As a causual gedit user I would prefer it to not use tabs,
> as I've seen only pain from it and no gain.
>   
I absolutely love the tab feature in gedit, so I guess personal taste 
comes into it. I'd put it down as all gain and no pain. Personally I 
hate sorting through multiple windows, so the fewer windows I have open, 
the happier I am.
If you want a gedit file in a separate window, just drag-and-drop the 
tab onto the desktop and it will open a new window. If you want to take 
a file from one window to another, just drag-and-drop the tab. I've 
found it's so well implemented that anyone who uses computers regularly 
should be able to use it fairly intuitively without exhausting it's 
capabilities.

Anyway, that's off the topic.

Many thanks for giving me more info to chew on. If you could give me any 
pointers on where I would start in the code if I were to look into tabs 
for nautilus, it would be greatly appreciated. It would be a shame to 
see the gnome base system lose out on the versatility that tabbed file 
browsing could allow. Personally, I do not believe a user should have to 
move outside of their base install to do the basics in a comfortable way.

In short, nautilus is a very good fm, but tabbed browsing capabilities 
would make it better.

Yours,

dov