Re: Connect to Server dialog

[Maciej Katafiasz <mnews22 wp pl>]

W liście z śro, 14-07-2004, godz. 14:29, Bryan Clark pisze: 
> > > I would prefer it if username field was hidden initially and only come
> > > into play if its relevant (ie as you say after choosing the other
> > > stuff). Some services might not require a username as such? 
> > 
> > True, although jumping dialogs aren't very pleasant... perhaps just
> > greying it out would be sufficient.
> 
> Having the entry come and go wouldn't be ideal.  Just always asking for
> a username and pre-filling it with your username is our best play for
> this situation.  Making the entry insensitive is an option for those
> services we know don't require one... like below.  Where host keys are
> used, there's just no good way to be smart about that, we might as well
> include the username and try to outsmart ourselves.

Isn't always including username entry kinda one-size-fits-all approach?
Different protocols may need some esoteric options, which don't fit in
username/password scheme. IMHO, jumping shouldn't be that bad, as it
will only happpen in lower, not-yet-filled part of dialog (provided that
order of widgets is correct, which IMHO should be something like
(parentheses mean "jumping" fields, slashes denote hint text)):

 _______________________________________________
[v]__New Network Connection____________[_][ ][X]|
|                                               |
| Service (or Type?) :  [ Public FTP        |v]	|   (0)
| Server :		[ ftp://foo.bar.baz |v] |   (1)
| Mount Point :	       	  /mnt/foo/bar [Browse] |   (2)
|                                               |
| [Help]		     [Cancel] [Connect] |
'-----------------------------------------------'

 __________________________________________________
[v]__New Network Connection_______________[_][ ][X]|
|                                                  |
| Service (or Type?) :     [ FTP(With Username)|v] |
| Server : 		   [ ftp://foo.bar.baz |v] |
| (Username :) 		   [ Foonisher           ] |   (3)
|   ([ ] Use remembered password)                  |
|    /You will be asked for password if necessary/ |
| Mount Point :              /mnt/foo/bar [Browse] |
|                                                  |
| [Help]      			[Cancel] [Connect] |
'--------------------------------------------------' 

 _______________________________________________
[v]__New Network Connection____________[_][ ][X]|
|                                               |
| Service (or Type?) :  [ FrobnicaTTP       |v] |
| Server : 		[ ftp://foo.bar.baz |v] |
| (Username :) 		[ Foonisher           ] |
| ([ ] Use Lart-o-tron)                         |
| Mount Point :           /mnt/foo/bar [Browse] |
|                                               |
| [Help]           	     [Cancel] [Connect] |
'-----------------------------------------------' 

(0) I'm not sure whether Service or Type is better word here. Whatever
the wording, each protocol entry should have tooltip to explain it a
bit, so that FTP variants can describe difference, etc. In fact, all
controls should have tooltips :)
(1) Are we going to use dropdown here, or rather entry + browse dialog?
What about recent servers then?
(2) Shouldn't it rather be GnomeFileEntry instead? And of course,
obligatory tooltip to explain what is mount point.
(3) Username should be prefilled with username taken from keyring, and
if that info is not available, with user's login name. As server will be
chosen first, we shouldn't be afraid of destroying whatever user typed
in already.

One thing that concerns me is, how is dialog going to know which
protocol type needs what controls, and more importantly, what is the
logic behind them (ie, which checkbox grays out which entry, what info
is obligatory, etc.) Are implementations going to register some
FooProtocolConnectionDialogBody types inherited from GtkWidget, that
will be inserted inbetween Server and Mount point controls? As available
protocols are registered at runtime, this seems like only sensible
approach, no?

-- 
"Tautologizm to coś tautologicznego"
   Maciej Katafiasz <mnews2 wp pl>
       http://mathrick.blog.pl