Re: GnomePrinterSelector private?

[Chema Celorio <chema ximian com>]

On Sun, 2003-01-12 at 19:32, David Cooke wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've just picked up on this thread.  I sent in a message a year or so ago 
> asking why the gnome-print team seemed to be limiting developers' options, 
> but I did not get a reply.
> 
> At 13:10 08/01/03 -0500, you wrote:
> 
> >I have been wanting to declare the API of gnome-print stable [*1], and
> >are feeling _very_ close to it. I stopped installing headers that I
> >wasn't sure why app developers would need to use them, this is something
> >that I'd like to discuss further.
> 
> This seems an inherently conservative approach, in which you are not 
> leaving options open that you have not foreseen.

Exposing internals without a very good reason is just asking for
trouble. As much as leaving options open is important, having a stable
API is much more important. You screw developers more by breaking the
API than by not offering some options. This is why a conservative
aproach is better, plus if someone needs more flexibility is very easy
to raise the issue up in the maling list.

> 
> The distinctive feature of the program is, again, that the output is 
> formatted for a precise page size: changing the printer after the 
> formatting is done will prevent output if the printable area is known and 
> is smaller.  The program therefore requires the printer to be set, and 
> rather than prompt the user beforehand, sets a default printer.  I found 
> that under gnome-print, I could not at the time set the printer, which 
> seemed to me bizarre.

You can do it now with:
gnome_print_config_set (config, "Printer", "PrinterID");

> I haven't looked to see how gnome-print has evolved lately.  I would 
> suggest, though, that the usability of any framework is likely to benefit 
> from a certain generosity, in providing the facilities that a developer 
> might need, rather than only those that you can be certain they will.

API stability is more important than flexibility. If there is something
that applications need to do we can either expose it or fix gnome-print.

regards,
Chema