Tab bar in Files - why a new widget?

[Thomas Pfeiffer]

On Tuesday 13 November 2012 21:26:08 Marco Martin wrote:
> On Tuesday 13 November 2012, Thomas Pfeiffer wrote:
> > >> no separation is a slightly difficult problem (from a technical pov)
> > >> given how components are currently used; the background difference was
> > >> sth i also noted, but we don't currently have appropriate artwork
> > >> available, though we know it is sth we need.
> > 
> > I'm not even sure if we need a textured background for the drawer. Maybe
> > just creating the impression of it being "below" the main window with
> > shadows is already sufficient to separate them visually. In that case, it
> 
> that background is one of the things that i consider quite important
> artwork- wise, to counter a bit the "ocean of gray" effect that
> unfortunately many apps there have

I agree that putting something non-plain-grey in the UI is important. Maybe 
just a different color would do the trick as well, though? I'm just not sure if 
the current texture would look good on a button/tab...

> > could have the same plain background as the tab buttons, as long as they
> > look like they are on the same "level" (same position on the Z axis).
> 
> by the way, also the look of the old tabbar used there wasn't standard, was
> completely done from scratch (at least the current one uses standard
> toolbuttons)
> the standard look is how it looks in the add items ui

Having two different tab bar implementations may be acceptable (one free-
floating above or below the main content, one aligned with things like split 
drawers), but we should not have more than two. And to encourage reuse, both 
kinds should be relatively easy to implement. If we want to allow split 
drawers with tabs in the HIG, developers should not have to re-implement them 
from scratch every time they use them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a 
freely reusable component, but could it be made an option for the split drawer 
component that automatically inserts a button group like in files if 
activated)?