Re: [Nautilus-list] remembering different properties in different directories?

[Ryan Muldoon <rpmuldoon students wisc edu>]

On Tue, 2001-10-16 at 13:56, John Sullivan wrote:
> on 10/16/01 10:11 AM, Ryan Muldoon at rpmuldoon students wisc edu wrote:
> 
> > One thing that I was thinking would be pretty cool, and possibly easy
> > enough for me to try my hand at implementing, was letting nautilus
> > remember different window attributes for different directories.
> > 
> > For example, if I click on my home dir, I'd like the default nautilus
> > size window, with icons and the sidebar.  But, I'd like to click on my
> > music directory, and get a tall window with no sidebar or location bar.
> > 
> > Basically, I'd like to be able to have Nautilus remember the following
> > things *per directory*:
> > - window geometry
> > - window position
> > - Hide/show sidebar (and perhaps what tab is up)
> > - hide/show toolbar
> > - hide/show location bar
> > - hide/show status bar
> > - View (Of course, nautilus already does this)
> > 
> > One issue that I can see is that users may be weirded out if their
> > window keeps jumping around and changing as they click on different
> > folders.  But this is only relevant in the case that clicking a folder
> > doesn't open a new window.  A possible workaround (that I don't really
> > like) is to only have this work with desktop icons.  Another is only
> > make this option available when you're in the "open folders in new
> > window" mode.  
> > 
> > So, here are my questions for the list:
> > 1. Is this a desireable/useful feature (that would be accepted)?
> 
> Window geometry & position are already saved per-directory in "open folders
> in new window" mode. 

Are they?  It doesn't seem to work for me then......

I think they could also be usefully done per-directory
> in "open folders in same window" mode, if some thought was put into when to
> save the positions (Any time the window is moved or resized? Only when the
> window is closed? If the user types a new location into an existing window,
> do you remember the current size/position with the new location?). It's
> clear to me that you would only restore the positions when opening a new
> window -- moving the window when you navigate within the window to a
> different URL is obviously silly.
> 
> I would argue that the sidebar/toolbar/location bar/status bar visibility is
> in most people's usage patterns not generally dependent on directory. That
> is, I think that people who like having the location bar up would want it up
> all the time, and people who don't like it would want it down all the time.
> I'd like to hear more reasons for making it directory-specific.
> 
The best use case I can see for it is something like a music directory
or a documents directory, where you typically use it for a quick drag
and drop to an application.  I'd like a long list view with nothing
else, to show the maximum number of elements at once.  other times, when
I'm just in my home dir, or a download directory, I probably am planning
on moving some files around.  For me, I have an "installed" directory
where I keep all of the rpms I have installed that didn't come with the
distro.  This is basically for backup purposes, and is a "destination
directory" - I don't really do anything with it beyond put stuff there,
so I don't need a toolbar, sidebar, locationbar, etc.  My documents
directory is another "destination directory", but I prefer icons in it,
so I can get file previews.  so the widow is going to be wider.  Music
is going to be another "destination directory" where I like a long list
view and nothing else.  My "Pictures" directory I like to be wide so I
can see big icon previews without having to scroll much.  The rest of my
computer, however, I am more likely to move things around more
frequently, without defined "destinations".  Like a download directory. 
Or Trash.  I guess that that is the best justification that I can come
up with right now.

> > 2. Is this something that could be done relatively easily?
> 
> It's easy to add any particular piece of info to the per-directory metadata.
> It would be easy to check the per-directory preferences and show/hide the
> bars when switching locations or opening a new window. To finish the job,
> when the per-directory setting changes (e.g. the user selects the "Hide
> toolbar" menu item), you'd also have to check for other open windows showing
> the same location, and change them also. This would probably feel odd, but
> if you didn't do it you'd be inconsistent.
> 
hmm....yeah, I didn't think of that.  Good point.

> > 3. Does the geometry/position stuff have to coordinate with sawfish
> > somehow?
> 
> The window manager might have to get involved if you try to save the window
> position right at the moment the window is resized/moved. I seem to recall
> that there was no straightforward way to notice the user dragging the window
> to a new location. If you only save the window position when the window is
> closed, then the window manager shouldn't need to get involved -- I'm 99%
> sure that this is how it currently works in "open folders in new window"
> mode.
> 
> > 4. What files are relevant to this work?
> 
> Sorry, I haven't got the sources handy at this moment and my memory isn't
> good enough to answer this.
> 
I appreciate your input!

	--Ryan

> John
>