Re: The GTK+ file chooser

[Sven Neumann <sven gimp org>]

Hi,

On Sun, 2009-05-17 at 11:52 -0400, Morten Welinder wrote:
> > What you are showing there are applications using the file-chooser
> > incorrectly. In particular they don't set the window size large enough
> > (or they forget to remember the user-chosen size).
> 
> Add a preview: no space left for files.
> Add a filter: no space left for files.
> Add file format selector: no space left for files.
> 
> Solution?  Blame the applications.
> 
> Fixing the size-request method is only the beginning.  Right
> now anything you add canibalizes internal space instead of
> requesting more.  Fixing that is a start, but then you would
> quickly end up with a dialog bigger than the screen.

GIMP uses a GTK+ file-chooser with preview and format selector and an
extra widget. I admit it is not a small dialog, but it still fits on the
screen we design the application for. For netbooks or similar hardware
with smaller screens, it would certainly make sense to squeeze out some
pixels. This could be done using style properties (and perhaps can
already be done).

> "Places" is wasting acres of real estate right now and it cannot
> even be squeezed: side divider can extend it, but not shrink it.

For my typical use of the file-chooser, "Places" is very important. I
use it all the time. But surely there are a few pixels there that could
be saved. Not sure if it would be a good idea to allow the user to
collapse it.


Sven