Re: Application roles - first steps

[Enrico Sersale]

On 2004-02-18 22:31:09 +0200 Stefan Urbanek <stefan@agentfarms.net> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On 2004-02-18 01:26:31 +0100 Enrico Sersale <enrico@imago.ro> wrote:
>
> > On 2004-02-16 22:37:55 +0200 Stefan Urbanek <stefan@agentfarms.net> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > Do you mean to show the value for this new .plist key in the Contents and 
> > Tools inspectors?
> > If so, I can add this feature in 5 minutes...
>
> I meant to add it to the viewer window (browser/icon view). Something like 
> application filename transformation before displaying. So application name 
> will be displayed as something like values of one of display[1-3]:
>
> NSString *appFileName;
> NSString *appRole;
>
> appRole = [[appBundle infoDictionary] objectForKey:@"NSApplicationRole"];
>
> display1 = appFileName;
> display2 = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ (%@)",
>                         [appFileName stringByRemovingPathExtension],
>                         appRole];
> display3 = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ (%@)",
>                         appRole,
>                         [appFileName stringByRemovingPathExtension]];
>
> You can also add the role into inspector, if it is no problem (it should be 
> shown there regardles of user preferences). However, the point of adding it 
> directly to the viewer and enabling it by default was, that users can see 
> that something like roles exists. For the time being, user defaults can be 
> used to configure that, no need for preferences UI, if it is a problem.
>
> Is that possible?

Yes, but I don't know if it is a good idea to show something more then the file 
name in a browser column or under an icon. I think that we should always use 
inspectors for these kinds of information.
So, here is my proposal:
1) actually, (on CVS), the Contents Inspector of GWorkspace has become a 
separate application.
2) now I'm starting to write an other app, "FileInfo"?, that will have the role 
of the other inspectors (attributes, access, etc.).
3) (the proposal). I could write a third app that shows something like the 
actual Tools inspector if a file is selected, various info on a application 
(also its role) if an app is selected, and a list of all the applications; this 
list could show the role and sort and find by role, etc. With this solution you 
have, in a single place, all you need and you can open a file with a choosen 
app with a single operation.