Re: nautilus, gnome-vfs question

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On 26 Apr 2003, Edd Dumbill wrote:

> How can I make nautilus display a different name than the basename of a
> URI for a file?  The code that handles .desktop files does this.

Making a .desktop file is one way to do it. Or a .directory file for 
directories. 

> The reason I ask is that my human readable names in my gnome-vfs module
> aren't guaranteed unique, but I want nautilus to show them rather than
> the unique ones (which are unhelpful hexadecimal strings).

What sort of filesystem is this? I guess you can use .directory files. 
However, .directory files are a large performance problem, so they are 
only enabled for some specific uri schemes in nautilus. Your scheme would 
have to be added.
 
> Right now I'm faking .desktop files but this doesn't seem entirely
> satisfactory.  Essentially, I want folderish behaviour, but with the
> ability to control the presented filename and icon as with .desktop
> files.

I'm not sure about these sorts of hacks. They will cause all sorts of 
problems for users.

If you can't use a unique directory name for instance you're risking 
having duplicate filesnames in the same directory. This totally breaks all 
known semantics of how filesystems work. This *will* break apps. gnome-vfs 
already has far too weak semantics, and for each divergence from 
unix/posix semantics gnome-vfs becomes more and more useless.

The bizzare semantics of vfolders and desktop files for instance require 
lots of hackery inside Nautilus that no other gnome-vfs using app is gonna 
get right. (examples: data changes for a dekstop file => name may change, 
copy a file named "foob.ttf" into fonts:// => Get a new file called "Foo 
Bold", and no new "foob.ttf" file) 

Remeber that vfs folders are not only what is shown in nautilus. It is an 
API that applications use. Breaking well known semantics is like breaking 
API in a library.

In the pipe-dream future we will be able to set specific icons using 
metadata. At the moment you have to do this using one of:
* desktop file
* .directory file
* use a specific mimetype

Although only the mimetype one has any chance of working in apps other 
than nautilus, and the .directory one needs small modifications to 
nautilus to be enabled too.

-- 
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 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
                   alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
He's a hate-fuelled vegetarian master criminal moving from town to town, 
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