Where to add file sort priority support?

[Rolf Magnus]

On Wednesday 10 July 2002 17:51, Sean Pecor wrote:

> Hey folks,
>
> I want to experiment with a particular approach to the prioritization of
> files within a file manager view. My goal is to create a priority field,
> but I'm not sure how best to approach this problem. I'm hoping for some
> suggestions, even if your only suggestion is that this isn't currently
> possible :)

Reminds me of something I saw in gnome's nautilus. In the properties dialog of 
a file, you can add "emblems" to it. Those are small icons that are laid over 
a corner of the file's icon, with stuff like "Urgent" or "Special".

> A priority field could be an integer value, perhaps represented to the user
> as an index to a customizable list of enumerated strings. So a priority 1
> could be "Not important", priority 2 could be defined as "Important" and
> priority 3 could be "Very important" etc.

Well, if the strings are customizable, you'd get some quite strange results if 
one user looks at files from another user. The same value that means "Best 
music I have" for one user might mean "Junk" for another user.

> A priority field is an important part of large Intranets, which I develop.
> Seeing them in use within a large taxonomy convinces me that this is a
> valuable feature for the average PC user. How to support them is the big
> question.

The optimum way is through the file system. But not all file systems support 
metadata and even if they did, there would be the need for a standardized 
format for this.
If you don't use such a facility, you'd need to save the data into an extra 
file.

> The argument that each application should support this itself
> with its own features (Noatun should have library support etc, Kate should
> have project management etc) means more work for the individual programmer
> and potentially dozens of different approaches that don't lend themselves
> to one another in terms of GUI ease of use. Plus a user gets locked down to
> one editor that supports this. If Konqueror can handle it then it can
> potentially work with any applications you prefer.

Only if you start it from konqueror.