Re: Proposal for small change in FileChooser

[Milosz Derezynski <internalerror gmail com>]

I'm sorry, I've accidentally pasted some nonsense garbage into the message.

It should read:

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I would like to propose a small change to FileChooser (and perhaps, going with it, to Nautilus).

Currently the column name and sorting arrows are name on the far left and sorting arrow on the far right. This is stressful for getting an instant glance at what the current sorting is. My proposal would be to put the arrow right _next_ to the column's name (most important for the "Name" column since it's the widest one).

Before you tune out of this proposal (because I realize it won't look as "tidy" anymore), please compare it to the attached link of a screenshot of an MPD client I am writing.

The current playback position is placed inside the position scale at the rightmost, unlike most players which have the current time at the far left and some have remaining time (or I think some have total track time) at the far right and the seeking/position widget in between.

The reason I designed my seeking scale widget the way it is is because you have the visual cue of how far the track has progressed as well as the exact time itself at one glance; it saves "eye-time" for looking back and forth because you have both the approximate progression of the track as a visual cue through the progress bar and the exact time in one place; it's instant relation, and visible at a single glance. You don't have to look back and forth.

I know that this sounds like a minor detail perhaps not worth discussing but I think, while it would be maybe removing some "tidyness" from the FileChooser's appearance, it would on the other hand add to usability.

Screenshot link of MPD client: http://i.imgur.com/biz0Q.png

(Post-note and reason: I change the sorting in FC quite often and when I reopen it it takes me 1-2 seconds more to realize what the current sorting is than it would take would the arrow be next to the column's name. 1-2 seconds is not a big deal if you use FC once a day, but when using FileChooser all day, it adds up. Also, but that's me personally now, it's a bit irritating having to look back and forth. I should perhaps add that I am currently using a rather small screen on a netbook which makes the problem even worse since on a big screen it is probably easier to see the column's name and sorting arrow at one glance.)

What do you think?

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Order through Chaos