Task folders and a task manager

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

I scantly recall a feature from OS/2 to which I think we should have a
parallel in GNOME. Since I don't recall the OS/2 system very well, I'll
just describe what I'm thinking about for GNOME.

A task folder is a GUI representation of a directory which when opened
with the GUI restores a mini-session which is tied to it. Any files
which were being worked on when the directory was last closed are
revisited by the application that was being used to work on them. When
the task folder is closed, the state is saved for the next opening,
perhaps telling the applications to close (and save) the relevant files.

When this is implemented, having a Startup Folder for the main session
should be a trivial matter.

This must not conflict with the operation of a session manager, but
instead be another layer on top of it; perhaps called a task manager.
The task manager could interact with the session manager to indicate
that there is no need to restore a certain application since the task
manager will restore it when it is restored. Ultimately, the session
manager may need only to manage the task manager. This should provide a
way to extend session management to provide a more user friendly
interface and also multi-session support while leaving the standard
session manager untouched. Non-task managed apps will still work as they
always have.

This should perhaps also be extensible to support a document management
scheme in the future. A document may be modeled as a directory with the
files that are included in the document (when they can be local or the
user has the necessary permission). But I know to little about making a
document management system; hopefully someone who does will note where
the task-manager might cause problems as the specifications are being
written.

This is just an initial presentation. There's still much that needs to
be done to decide how it will work and how it will appear to the user.
Since it could integrate with cron, at, email, to-do lists, etc. I'd
like to think that it might ultimately make using the computer as simple
as having a good secretary.

Cheers,
Greg Merchan
(auspex)