[Usability] [Yet Another] New File Chooser Design

[Luke Hutchison <lukeh byu net>]

[This discussion has been moved from desktop-devel list]

[[Initial (long) disclaimer: I know this has been flogged to death
already.  I know the release dates are close, and that all the great
GNOME and GTK hackers are working very hard and don't want frivolous
distractions right now.  I know there's no real way these suggestions
will make it into the final GTK-2.4 default file chooser, even just
based on the remaining time before release.  I know a lot of talented
people have thought longer and harder about these issues than I have.  I
know that there are still a lot of disagreements as to the "best" way to
do this, even without adding other possibilities to the fray.  I know
that the decisions about the file chooser are now wisely being handled
by one or two talented hackers, to make sure we have *something* that
works in time for the deadline.  SO--if now is a bad time for me to
bring this up, I'll wait until after the GNOME-2.6 release before I
bring it up again.]]

Here is a proposed design for a File Chooser with a menu bar :o)

  http://rivit.cs.byu.edu/~lukeh/filechooser/index.html

Adding a menu bar to the File Chooser dialog significantly simplifies
the UI, and it seems to yield a design that is more in keeping with the
spirit of the HIG, as well as making Open/Save dialogs more consistent
with Nautilus UI design.

[And so, based on the disclaimer above, do people want to talk about
this on the usability list now, or not for a month or two?]

Thanks for your patience,
--
Luke Hutchison.