GNOME/GTK App Patterns

[Ikey Doherty <michael i doherty intel com>]

Hello all,

Writing here to check if anyone is working on anything similar atm..

Right now I'm experimenting with Material Design in my own desktop,
and it occurred to me the same problem will manifest there as currently
exists within GTK applications.

I remember talking to Allan Day about patterns in applications before.
Essentially it would simplify the creation of "apps" by using standard
patterns, such as for selection, content, etc.

I first encountered this problem when trying to emulate the look of
gnome-tweak-tool. Part of this problem was solved by the introduction
of GtkSidebar, however the overall look requires tweaking, by using
a GtkSizeGroup, a layout and some custom CSS to get it working.

In my mind, it seems simpler that a gtk call to create a predefined
pattern could be used instead, defined in an enum of currently supported
patterns. These could easily be implemented using GTK templating.

My other thought on this would be to make it extensible, allowing
custom implementations of these patterns at runtime, possibly
via an environmental variable or configuration file. This would allow
custom desktop vendors to provide their own look n feel for these
common patterns, enabling greater integration in their respective
desktops, while following standard patterns that could greatly
simplify the implementation of apps.

Its not too hard to imagine a generic pattern interface, with
proxying of callbacks and standard model routines (i.e. content
views)

So, is anyone working on something similar before I end up
duplicating someone elses work? :) This will be implemented
as POC on GitHub under the name libbudgie until its in such
shape that it will be suitable for submitting upstream to GTK
for review.

Cheers,
Ikey
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