[Usability]Re: Killing views [Was: Dealing with files in Gnome]



Shahms E. King wrote:

I tend to agree about the "in-window per-file views being confusing and
silly" (unless we want the entire desktop experience to be through
nautilus, which I doubt), but rather than the full-fledged NautilusView
I see no reason the sidebar couldn't house a BonoboControl as a preview
of the currently selected file or something.  That would make even more
sense as it could then be very easily integrated as the "preview widget"
in the file selector.

That wouldn't solve the basic problem with inline viewing, i.e. that you can only browse one file at a time. It could be useful as a preview means, though, but this is already done in icons.

Back to square one: what might Nautilus users want to do with their files? I see three levels:

1. file managing operations (copy, move, etc.): the user doesn't need a preview, or the thumbnail(s) are more than enough;

2. file browsing: the user wants to browse the content of one or more specific files, but he doesn't want to edit it/them (yet);

3. file editing: the user wants to modify one specific file.

How should Nautilus cater for these needs?

1. the UI is complete, intuitive and even redundant (drag'n'drop, middle mouse drag'n'drop, keyboard shortcuts);

2. when the user double clicks (or single clicks, if the single click mode is preferred) on a file, Nautilus should open it in the NautilusViewer: it could be one single app, or more specific tools, it doesn't matter for the user as long as the UI is consistent and appropriate for the task;

3. the user can get to editing the file both from 1. and from 2.: wrt to 1., a context menu seems a good choice; if the user has already opened the file with the Nautilus Viewer, though, a menu item, possibly with multiple choices (Edit with...), should do the job; this is how it works in GQView (I open images with GQView and if I want to edit them I resort to its Edit/in xxxx menu).

At the end of this mail, I realize that Mark's idea of two separate functions, View (with...) and Open (with...) has its merits, because they would fit with 2. and 3. ... :)

Ciao

--
Roberto Rosselli Del Turco      e-mail:	rosselli at cisi.unito.it
Dipartimento di Scienze			rosselli at ling.unipi.it
del Linguaggio			Then spoke the thunder	DA
Universita' di Torino		Datta: what have we given?  (TSE)

  Hige sceal the heardra,     heorte the cenre,
  mod sceal the mare,       the ure maegen litlath.  (Maldon 312-3)





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