Review Request: Add "Open File Manager" action to KFileDialog toolbar

[Andreas Hartmetz]

On Saturday 30 January 2010 15:02:07 Parker Coates wrote:
> > On 2010-01-28 20:44:45, David Faure wrote:
> > > One could wonder if the file dialog really needs to have "open with"
> > > menu items. After all this dialog is used to select a file (existing
> > > or to be created) for the current application, not for opening files
> > > into another application. It seems some users are starting to expect a
> > > mini-file-manager in there, which is not exactly what it is. Maybe the
> > > usability group could give their input about this.
> > 
> > Aaron Seigo wrote:
> >     "One could wonder if the file dialog really needs to have "open with"
> >     menu items."
> >     
> >     agreed; what exactly are the use cases for this? right now, i don't
> >     see any.
> > 
> > Harsh J wrote:
> >     I s'pose it could be helpful to quickly open a file in an alternate
> >     program (something like the mini-file-manager) without having to
> >     hunt it back down in a proper file manager, to check.
> >     
> >     Since the dialogs' last location is usually stored (or set based on
> >     some scenario), its easier this way to open an opened file in
> >     alternate/other sort of programs - when an application does not
> >     provide a direct way to do so.
> > 
> > Aaron Seigo wrote:
> >     is this something that people actually do? it's usually possible to
> >     imagine a way to use something, but would it actually be used in
> >     this manner? is it a workflow we want to enable/encourage?
> >     
> >     to me it really sounds like a work-around for other (possible)
> >     inefficiencies. it at least doesn't match the stated purpose of
> >     these dialogs.
> > 
> > David Faure wrote:
> >     Yep. I thought we had a "Open this directory in a file manager"
> >     button / menu item, but I can't find it anymore. If we had that
> >     back, then opening a file from the current directory in another
> >     application would simply be two clicks away. I see the point in not
> >     having to navigate again there in another app, that's exactly what
> >     "open a file manager" would solve, in a more generic way than "open
> >     with". It can also be useful for renaming/moving/copying files, etc.
> >     ;)
> > 
> > Harsh J wrote:
> >     Ok, I'll change it to this in some time. A button would be more
> >     easier to spot than a menu item, as per Hayiri Bakici :)
> >     
> >     Although Konsole gives the same kind of option in a menu item,
> >     probably cause of the lack of buttons in it I guess.
> 
> "It seems some users are starting to expect a mini-file-manager in there"
> 
> While I'm not sure that I agree with this proposal, I do agree with Harsh
> and Sebas that there are plenty of times that I've wanted to do more in a
> KFileDialog than was supported. Maybe the solution would be to add a way
> to quickly open the default file manager at the current file dialog
> location. That would allow reasonably quick access to full file
> management, without turning KFileDialog into some kind of DolphinMini.
> (Porpoise?)
> 
I strongly agree.
Opening in the default file manager is more powerful and doesn't add 
functionality to the file dialog that doesn't belong there.
In some typical use cases (e.g. working on a LaTeX document with lots of 
images) it's also more convenient: when the file manager is open you can just 
rename, move, and open the images for editing from there without opening the 
file dialog in Kile again.